The Stranger by Albert Camus

"Of course, I had to own that he was right; I didn't feel much regret for what I'd done. Still, to my mind he overdid it, and I'd have liked to have a chance of explaining to him, in a quite friendly, almost affectionate way, that I have never been able really to regret anything in all my life."
           -Meursault's reaction to the prosecuting attorney

This novel, written by an Algerian author in 1942 and translated in this version by Daniel Ortega, is one I likely would never have read except for Jenny Torres Sanchez's Because of the Sun. I'll explain:
The May Page Turners book was Because of the Sun and YA fiction writer Sanchez attended our meeting to discuss her latest novel. (Several of us know her personally.) In her book, protagonist Dani, after the death of her mother, is reading The Stranger from her school summer reading list and coincidentally finds herself a stranger to herself much as Meursault experiences at the death of his mother at the beginning of The Stranger. At our book club meeting Ms. Sanchez shared that she had read the Camus novel in high school and it had left an impression on her. (Interestingly my 22-year-old granddaughter saw the book at my house and said she had read it in high school, as well.) So from mentions of The Stranger throughout Because of the Sun and Ms. Sanchez's reflections, I became curious enough to borrow a copy and read the classic (?).

I would rate The Stranger a 3.5. I did not expect to like it at all and I did---a little. I don't care much for stream of consciousness writing and both these novels use it as a narrative device, Camus even more extensively than Sanchez. Both protagonists, Mssr. Meursault and Dani Falls, are difficult-to-like characters at first. Further into the novel the reader becomes more simpatico with Dani, not so much with Meursault. At least one secondary character describes him as "being devoid of the least spark of human feeling." The quote I began with somewhat reflects his lack of compassion.

There are some fairly interesting secondary characters introduced, keeping my attention, and one must finish The Stranger to see what M's fate will be (no spoiler here!) but it IS a short book, only 132 pages.

I now find myself wanting to reread Because of the Sun to see if it will have more meaning after having read The Stranger.