He shoots the Arab four times with such jarring apathy, with his only explanation being that he did it due to the intolerable heat. During a beach trip with Marie and Raymond, Mersault proceeds to kill the Arab. The young woman’s brother, an unnamed Arab, begins tailing Raymond. With his help, Raymond manages to lure his mistress back into his apartment, where he proceeds to beat her up after suspecting her of carrying on an affair. Upon returning to the city, he immediately takes on a girlfriend, Marie, and makes friends with his neighbor, Raymond-a shady, woman-beater who is generally disliked in the neighborhood.
Mersault observes, “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (p.24) The way he describes what ought to have been a tragic occurrence also speaks volumes of how his brain was wired. His indifferent behavior doesn’t escape the notice of the home’s director and caretaker. He doesn’t divulge what he feels about the matter, opting instead to offer a commentary about the wake and the long walk to the funeral. When he gets to the home, he refuses to see his mother for the last time, choosing to keep the casket closed. It’s important to note his matter-of-fact tone, when he talks about needing to borrow a black tie and catch the two o’clock bus to Marengo, where the old people’s home was located. The novel begins with Mersault’s acknowledgment of his mother’s death. Though all roads lead to pointless murder and an equally ludicrous trial, these translations offer nuances that could shift your perception of the novel’s protagonist. In reading this book under a different translator-whether it be Joseph Laredo or Sandra Smith-you may encounter a different version of Mersault-one that’s either more apathetic or sympathetic depending on who you’re reading. The novel unfolds through Mersault’s perspective, and is divided into two main parts-before he committed the crime, and after his arrest.Īs a side note, let me start off by saying, translation matters.īear in mind that the Mersault I met was the byproduct of Matthew Ward’s translation.
The story follows the life of its main character, Mersault, as he goes from learning about his mother’s death to being tried for one of the most senseless murders in the history of literature. L’Étranger, translated as The Stranger, is arguably the most popular work of French novelist, author, and philosopher, Albert Camus. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” Thus begins one of the most striking, complex, and widely read novels of the twentieth century. *Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 First Published: 1942, Libraire Galliimard
0 kommentar(er)
