A short novel set in French Algeria, narrated by Meursault, a quiet clerk who seems oddly detached from the events of his own life. After his mother's funeral he returns to ordinary pleasures: the sea, a love affair, friendships of convenience. A chance involvement with a neighbour's quarrel draws him into violence and then into the machinery of the law.
The book is known for its plain, cool style and its portrait of a man who refuses to pretend to feelings he does not have. It is a central text of the idea of the absurd, and still one of the most read French novels of the twentieth century.
Quotes
Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.
I hope the dogs don't bark tonight. I always think it's mine.
I was assailed by memories of a life that wasn't mine anymore, but one in which I'd found the simplest and most lasting joys.
Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter.