The Stranger, by Albert Camus: **3/4

Certainly an intriguing read, but not as good as I had hoped. It tells the story of a guy who tells it like it is and seems to be lacking in feelings. For this, he struggles in life, as everyone assumes that his lack of feelings reflect a bad person. I can get with this concept - he was a refreshing character. There's something interesting about a lead character that is so dry and devoid of humanity. But I find him hard to relate to. I'd feel worse for the main character after he gets himself in trouble, except that he has no real feelings, so I don't have to have any either.

This reminds me of an argument I had with a friend of mine who wrote a screenplay in which the main character ultimately commits suicide after having a horrifying experience. He felt that it was a tragic end to the story, and that it would be the ultimate sad experience for the viewer. I understood his point, but I felt that it was problematic because, since I couldn't imagine killing myself, I lost my sympathy for the main character. I don't know if there is a genuine literary theory out there about this kind of thing, but I believe that an element of the enjoyment of a movie or book or some kind of story comes from our common bond with the characters in it. That's why, for example, in the movie, Leaving Las Vegas, Elizabeth Shue's character (the hooker) is really the lead and not Nicholas Cage's drunk. Yes, the story is about Cage's character drinking himself to death, but as seen through the eyes of Shue's hooker, with whom we can sympathize. She feels badly because she's fallen for Cage, and she hurts watching him ruin himself. Of course Cage hurts too. But really we're feeling Shue's hurt, we're rooting with her for Cage to fix himself. But in my friend's script, there is a disconnection, because we can no longer root for anyone, which doesn't feel right to me. This is a long explanation for why in The Stranger, I had a hard time sympathizing with the lead. He didn't really care about what happened to him, and he made decisions that didn't make sense to me. Maybe for a reader that has no feelings or emotions, it would be an unparalleled read. For me, it was interesting, but not striking.
(winter 2000 - 2001)

Close this window