The Stranger by Albert Camus

LLP Week 247: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus

Today is my dad’s birthday. He died in the summer of 2016, so celebrating his birthday without him is not as shocking as it once was. He was a complicated man. He wore very expensive dress shirts but nearly every day carried a dime-store red duffle with the name of his high school, DeWitt Clinton. He drank Coors beer from a yellow can when I was in high school, but in his 70s would go to the Polo Lounge once a year to share a $400 shot of Cognac with a close friend. He was very sick as a child, but also overcame many ailments to compete in basketball and softball up until the week before he died. He flew first class but had a pen pal in prison who made him a wallet which he often carried. He was allergic to dozens of condiments, like mustard and vinegar, but found great joy in eating spoonsful of guacamole during the last few years of his life. He was a comedy writer, but a man who loved talking about books by existentialists. One of his favorites was this book: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. The book opens, “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” The story follows the protagonist and narrator Meursault as he learns of his mother’s death, becomes tangled in a series of unfortunately events, and eventually commits murder. The story contains themes of indifference and insensitivity in the face of an absurd world. What is free will? And how do we pursue our own interests in the world we have been given? Garry often quoted Franz Kafka who wrote, “The meaning of life is that it stops.” But Garry also said, “family is important,” “learn to use a cash register,” and “you cannot die of embarrassment.” Like Camus and his fellow existential writers, Garry found stories with complicated characters and multiple layers of meaning, not only entertaining, but also thrilling and challenging. Perhaps the point of “The Stranger” is not to fully understand its meaning, but to debate it, too. Happy Birthday, Pop! Here’s to you and Camus. To buy this book on Amazon click here https://amzn.to/3ppUM1h