Split into two parts before and after the murder, the first feels slow and plodding, whereas the second part ramps up the intensity and is drastically more enjoyable. It’s this questioning that sets him apart from others. He’s grounded in his philosophy of absurd truths and continually searching for ‘the truth’, even in death. Other than this, everything around him just sort of happens without much input or expression.Ĭountering, Meursault isn’t a full-blown psychopath like Norman Bateman or Lou Ford. You see, he’s a complex character that offers little in the way of feeling.Įmotion is shown only at his constant irritation of the sun, which is a continuous motif throughout, always being too hot or too bright for him. Meursault refuses to show any form of regret for his killing, something that is both jolting and intriguing at the same time. This was a common theme for popular French Literature around the ’40s (also see No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre). The Outsider also falls into the category of philosophical drama, much like Under The Net does. However, don’t expect gruesome CSI styled crime scenes like those found in The Bone Collector. It deals with murder, retribution and the impending sentencing that takes place hereafter.

Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter. When he contemplates the life around him, which includes a girlfriend he’ll marry only if she asks him, and an aggressive pimp who lives next door that wants him to write a letter on his behalf to his mistress – he’ll go along with what others say rather than commit to his own decisions.įirst and foremost, this book is crime fiction.

His attitude is very much along the lines of ‘why try when there’s nothing to change?’ Meursault is a clerk who expresses little emotion and even less ambition.

The story of an everyday man who’s drawn into the senseless murdering of another, and the questions this raises.

The outsider review book