The Stranger is not merely one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, but one of the books likely to outlive it. Written in 1946, Camus's compelling and troubling tale of a disaffected, apparently amoral young man has earned a durable popularity (and remains a staple of U.S. high school literature courses) in part because it reveals so vividly the anxieties of its time. Alienation, the fear of anonymity, spiritual doubt--all could have been given a purely modern inflection in the hands of a lesser talent than Camus, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and was noted for his existentialist aesthetic. The remarkable trick of The Stranger, however, is that it's not mired in period philosophy.
The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. "She wanted to know if I loved her," he says of his girlfriend. "I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with "the gentle indifference of the world" remains as compelling as it was when Camus first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."
The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. "She wanted to know if I loved her," he says of his girlfriend. "I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with "the gentle indifference of the world" remains as compelling as it was when Camus first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."
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Used availability for Albert Camus's The Stranger
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Hardback Editions
1993 : Leather Bound
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: The Easton Press Availability: Amazon More details... |
March 1989 : Library Binding
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-88103-247-6 / 978-0-88103-247-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Topeka Bindery Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1989 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: vintage international Availability: Amazon More details... |
June 1988 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-89966-623-X / 978-0-89966-623-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Buccaneer Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
March 1988 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-394-53305-4 / 978-0-394-53305-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Knopf Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
March 1988 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-07-543227-7 / 978-0-07-543227-2 (USA edition) Publisher: McGraw-Hill Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1985 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
October 1983 : Hardback
| Title: Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-89190-220-1 / 978-0-89190-220-1 (USA edition) Publisher: Amereon Ltd Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1971 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Heritage Press Availability: Amazon More details... |
1967 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
1966 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
1965 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
1958 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc Availability: Amazon More details... |
1957 : Hardback
| Title: THE STRANGER Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
1951 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon More details... |
1948 : Hardback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
December 1946 : Hardback
| Title: Stranger Author(s): Camus Albert ISBN: 0-394-44748-4 / 978-0-394-44748-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
Paperback Editions
November 2006 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 1-4067-1128-4 / 978-1-4067-1128-8 (UK edition) Publisher: Read Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
May 2001 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger (Wheeler Softcover) Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 1-58724-032-7 / 9781587240324 (USA edition) Publisher: Wheeler Publishing Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1998 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
March 1989 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage International Availability: Amazon More details... |
March 1989 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-679-72020-0 / 978-0-679-72020-1 (USA edition) Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
March 1989 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-07-547812-9 / 978-0-07-547812-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1988 : Paperback
| Title: THE STRANGER Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
July 1987 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger (Keynotes) Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-394-75490-5 / 978-0-394-75490-1 (USA edition) Publisher: Random House Inc (P) Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1972 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon More details... |
1964 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage (V-2), New York Availability: Amazon More details... |
1962 : Mass Market Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vingage Availability: Amazon More details... |
1961 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger: A Novel (A Vintage Book, V-2) Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books: New York Availability: Amazon More details... |
1960 : Paperback
| Title: THE STRANGER Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
1959 : Mass Market Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon More details... |
1958 : Mass Market Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
1957 : Mass Market Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage K-2 Availability: Amazon More details... |
1956 : Paperback
| Title: THE STRANGER Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
1955 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
September 1954 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-394-70002-3 / 978-0-394-70002-1 (USA edition) Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1946 : Paperback
| Title: THE STRANGER Author(s): CAMUS ALBERT Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon More details... |
1942 : Paperback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
Audio Editions
December 2005 : Audio Cassette
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 1-4193-4533-8 / 978-1-4193-4533-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Recorded Books Availability: Amazon More details... |
May 2005 : Audio CD
| Title: Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 1-4193-3731-9 / 978-1-4193-4535-7 (USA edition) Publisher: Recorded Books Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
Other Editions
February 1993 : Unknown
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-679-42026-6 / 978-0-679-42026-2 (USA edition) Publisher: Everyman's Library Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
March 1989 : Turtleback
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-606-01426-8 / 978-0-606-01426-7 (USA edition) Publisher: Demco Media Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
July 1977 : Unknown
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus ISBN: 0-8124-1669-4 / 978-0-8124-1669-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Perfection Learning Prebound Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1971 : Unknown
| Title: The Stranger Author(s): Albert Camus Publisher: Printed for the memebers of the Limited Editions Club [by Vermont Print. Co.] Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
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