Albert Camus
The Outsider
It's been a while since I read any of Albert's books and this makes me want to read more. A short story about a man who has few emotions for his fellow man and is a real outsider. Not from conventional society in which he lives and gets on pretty well but from society as the force that binds us together in communities. Feelings for our main character vary from disgust to sympathy - as in feeling sorry for him rather than empathising. Although in many ways we all tread a narrow path between community and selfishness so at times we do empathise too. The climax of the book drives home Camus' point of the story and although hardly climatic as such does leave you thinking about like, society, family, relationships, religion (if you still bother to think about it) and finally death. I'm sure you can find numerous books and PhD theses on this book so I won't try to analyse any more. A final point though, the writing and descriptions of nature are brilliantly evocative which make an impressing counterpoint to the societal observations. Must re-read more of his stuff.
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