Why is The Stranger so beloved? It poses the central conundrum of existentialism, but doesn't offer much in the way of a solution. Is it just because Albert Camus was early to the existentialist party?
On an unrelated note, I love the cover. It's so harsh on the eyes. It gives you a good feeling for the ideas in the book.
If you want solutions, read a self-help book.
>>8109901
All I'm saying is that philosophers like Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and the like offered solutions to mans existential crisis.
In The Stranger, Mersault just edgelords himself to death. When he killed the Arab guy, he basically dies too. When he comes to the realization that life is meaningless, he becomes a non-entity.
Why did Camus write the ending like he did? Obviously, if he had the same mentality as Mersault he would never have written anything in the first place.
>>8109949
>Nietzsche
Shitty 'Übermensch' that has been discredited to Hell and back.
>Kierkegaard
>Le leap of faith
>Le find a truth that is true for you
>>8109949
Read something else by Camus. Merseult is pretty far removed from Camus and he's certainly not like characters in Sartre's books.
I think the first half up to the death of the Arab shows a character modeling something, perhaps nihilism. Merseult's mom likely undergoes the same transformation in the nursing home that Merseult does later in prison (recognizing the futility and shortness of her remaining life, she chooses to love), and he is likely showing the reaction of another type of intellectual to someone dying an absurd death. In the second half Merseult becomes the hero as he begins to really think about things and have an internal life; culminating in his absurd death as a rebellion against the absurdity of his life.
He is not a good guy. He's a bad guy redeemed in prison.
>>8109966
Spookfag pls go
>>8109949
not quite. Yes, he has become something of a half-person in his nihilism, but his death sentence gives his life meaning because he accepts the absurd. His happiness within prison walls is Sisyphus' happiness.
>>8109892
Read 'The Plague' or 'A Happy Death'
>>8109949
Your mistake is in thinking The Stranger is an end point to the idea of Absurdism. It's the starting point. That's why there is no solution given. Read the Myth of Sisyphus if you want the solution. Camus suggest we accept the absurd. Rather than committing suicide or taking the leap, Camus says life will be lived more fully and more passionately if you accept the absurd for what it is without circumnavigating what it entails.
