The Stranger – Albert Camus

Gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe.’

Albert Camus’s The Stranger is a haunting exploration of absurdity, alienation, and the quiet defiance of meaninglessness. Meursault, an emotionally detached French Algerian, lives a life dictated by routine—until an impulsive act of violence lands him on trial. But it’s not the murder that shocks society; it’s Meursault’s refusal to feign grief or adhere to social expectations.

Through spare, unflinching prose, Camus unveils a world in which logic collapses, justice becomes arbitrary, and even the sun seems to bear witness. Meursault’s unsettling honesty and indifference force us to confront our own beliefs about morality, purpose, and the absurdity of existence.

A cornerstone of existential literature, The Stranger remains as provocative today as when it was first published—startling in its simplicity, profound in its implications, and unforgettable in its power.