Albert Camus The Stranger ISBN 13: 9780679720201

The Stranger - Softcover

9780679720201: The Stranger
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
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." First published in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
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

About the Author:
Born in Algeria in 1913, Albert Camus published The Stranger–now one of the most widely read novels of this century–in 1942. Celebrated in intellectual circles, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherVintage
  • Publication date1989
  • ISBN 10 0679720200
  • ISBN 13 9780679720201
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages123
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780679420262: The Stranger

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780679420262
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993
Hardcover

  • 9781530138562: The Stranger (English Edition)

    Create..., 2016
    Softcover

  • 9780394533056: The Stranger

    Knopf, 1988
    Hardcover

  • 9780075478126: The Stranger

    McGraw..., 1989
    Softcover

  • 9781535468961: The Stranger (French Edition)

    Create..., 2016
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Albert Camus
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Red's Corner LLC
(Brookhaven, GA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. All orders ship by next business day! This is a new paperback book. For USED books, we cannot guarantee supplemental materials such as CDs, DVDs, access codes and other materials. We are a small company and very thankful for your business!. Seller Inventory # 4CNO3H001JG7

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 4.69
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.49
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Albert Camus
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Barnes & Nooyen Books
(Spring, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. New Condition, Paperback book, Seller Inventory # 2402210039

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.44
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Albert Camus
Published by Random House (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Softcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
Books Puddle
(New York, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. pp. 144. Seller Inventory # 26823712

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 8.69
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Albert Camus
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lakeside Books
(Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780679720201

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 8.82
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Albert Camus
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Soft Cover Quantity: 10
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780679720201

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 12.89
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Camus, Albert
Published by Vintage Books USA 3/13/1989 (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Paperback or Softback Quantity: 5
Seller:
BargainBookStores
(Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. The Stranger 0.3. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780679720201

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.51
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Albert Camus
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Paperback Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0679720200

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Camus, Albert; Ward, Matthew (TRN)
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 413383-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 11.14
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Albert Camus
Published by Vintage (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Paperback Quantity: 12
Seller:
Bookstore99
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: NEW. Brand New, We ship to PO , APO and FPO adresses in U.S.A .Choose Expedited Shipping for FASTER DELIVERY.Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # IN_9780679720201

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.93
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

CAMUS, ALBERT
Published by Penguin Random House (1989)
ISBN 10: 0679720200 ISBN 13: 9780679720201
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0679720200

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.12
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book