What readers say
This was a really spectacular read. I read the first edition translation from French by Matthew Ward and really enjoyed it. I was expecting to love this story, but not as much as I did. Meursault lives a simple life as an office worker renting an apartment in France, when his mother dies. ‘Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know.’ He feels nothing- no grief, no sadness, just indifference. She was old, living in a care home, there were many years between them. The day after her funeral he goes on a date with a woman, Marie. They swim in the hot summer sun, they see a comedy at the cinema, they do all the things you probably shouldn’t be doing the day after your mother dies. A neighbor in the apartment building befriends Meursault, confiding in him about his turbulent relationship with his girlfriend. He tells Meursault he beats his mistress because she cheats on him. Meursault gets mixed up with this man, the wrong man, leading to his own downfall. What was once a simple life- filled with swimming alongside a beautiful woman in the salty ocean, eavesdropping on the conversations of neighbors between the thin apartment walls, seeing films in the square, opportunities of promotion at work and a life with Marie- comes tumbling down after one weekend spent getting involved in the drama of the wrong acquaintance. I love the prose and the way things are described by the protagonist. I love the ending, the argument on religion and the themes of existentialism. I think everyone should honestly read this book because it’s such a quick read and its language and subject matter is so modern. Perhaps I just love translated, mid-century fiction and am biased. - ‘Deep down I knew perfectly well that it doesn't much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy, since in either case other men and women will naturally go on living-and for thousands of years. In fact, nothing could be clearer. Whether it was now or twenty years from now, I would still be the one dying.’ ‘T