The Stranger

Of late, I eschewed literature especially a serious one for it brings saturnine moods. Content with my reading of Haurki Murakami, I have been intentionally trying to avoid any serious reading for a year or so. I mean no offense to Haruki Murakami but I no longer find myself of same temperament. I read “The Stranger” many years back and found it again by chance encounter with my old collection. The Stranger reminds me my all time favourite Doestovesky’s crime and punishment primarily owing to common existentialism theme of these novels. Meursault & Rodya are altogether too different characters. Doestovesky has portrayed a philosopher in Rodya albeit a troubled one. Rodya justifies everything by philosophizing that extraordinary people are beyond any moral codes but he thinks and feels everything and is oversensitive in nature. His internal chaos beautifully depicted by Doestovesky is a central theme of novel but Meursault is altogether different. It is his apathy which is essence of the novel. Meursault has no emotions. He says since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter. One of my literary friend often paraphrases Meursualt’s words “I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world”. Somewhere someone said, probably in Shawshank Redemption that hope is a good thing, probably the best. I felt that Meursualt's soul plunged into abysmal depths for it completely lost hope but we can't blame Camus. Afterall, Camus is not recommended for casual readers.