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| Picture courtesy of reidsreading |
Major Characters:
Meursault- He is away from the world around him. Nothing really matters to him like it would to other people. Meursault is not really a sensitive guy. He seems not to care about his mother's death or that Marie is falling in love with him. He really doesn't know what's good and what's bad.
Raymond- Raymond is not a nice guy. He is a catalyst in this book. He beats up his mistress and get's Meursault to kill his mistress' brother who is an Arab since Raymond came into conflict with him and made Meursault come into conflict with him.
Marie- She is Meursault's former co-worker and becomes his girlfriend. Marie loves to be around Meursault even though he could care less. She is a sweet women and is very passionate. She gets very disappointed when Meursault expresses his feelings about love and marriage.
Minor Characters:
The Director- He is the manager of the nursing home where Meursault's mom spent the last 3 years in. He helps Meursault get through his mom's death before the funeral even though he's not very sad as he thinks Meursault is.
The Arab- The brother of Raymond's mistress. He is killed by Meursault even though he did nothing wrong at all. He is very mysterious in the book which makes the crime Meursault committed very strange and difficult to understand.
Plot:
At the beginning of the book, Meursault receives a telegram saying that his mother had died. He then goes to the nursing home where his mother was staying the past 3 years and attends the funeral with a man who his mom had grown very close to while at the nursing home. While staying in the town his mom was in, he meets Marie who is his former co-worker. They go on a date and she spends the night. When Meursault wakes up, Marie is gone. Then that day, Meursault goes back home and meets up with Raymond who tells Meursault about him assulting his mistress and him getting in a fight with her brother. Raymond wants to torment his mistress even more by writing her a letter so Meursault agrees to do it for him. The next weekend gets a little crazy. Marie goes to Meursaults apartment and all of a sudden they hear a commotion coming from the hallway. Raymond gets summoned for beating up his mistress and Meursault agrees to testify on his behalf. A few days later Marie and Meursault get engaged after a very long conversation about both of their views on marriage. Marie, Meursault, and Raymond go to a beach. While Marie is away in the room, Meursault and Raymond run into the Arabs which one of them is Raymond's mistress' brother. Raymond wants to shoot him but Meursault takes away the gun. Later on that night, Meursault shoots Raymond's mistress' brother. Meursault gets thrown in jail.....If you want to know what happens to Meursault, please go check The Stranger by Albert Camus out! :)
Rating:
I would give this book a 3 out of 5. At the beginning it was hard to get into the book but as I read I got more and more into it. I think more towards the end was my favorite part. I really don't want to ruin the ending for anyone so lets just say the ending gets very suspenseful. Meursault character also confused me. He just seems like a very creepy guy. He doesn't care about anyone or anything. He is very careless. I feel bad for Marie and her having to deal with hi. Otherwise I would recommend this book to anyone who likes very characters in a book and who likes suspenseful books.
Other reviews
http://teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/101121/The-Stranger-by-Albert-Camus/
http://www.ratracerefuge.com/bookreviews/camus-the-stranger.html
