Wednesday 4 July 2007

What I've Read #1 - The Outsider - Albert Camus

It took a little re-arranging of my schedule....

cashing in a sick day (which constitutes someone other than me looking after my daughter for the day - and I genuinely was sick...not faking.. honest! ) and not picking up the new Laurell K Hamilton which seems to call out to me evey time I pass by its little book nook, but I seem to be finally making a weeny little bit of progress on my "to read" list.

The first book I finished this week was Albert Camus' - The Outsider.
I had to start this book from scratch as I couldnt remember much of what I'd read before, but as the book was only a hundred and something pages long, that didnt matter so much. While I read it, I thought it was an okay book. It doesn't seem to be spectacularly written; no extravagant prose or complicated lex, but therein lies it's charm. The simplicity with which the story is given ensures you see the story and not the overly verbose props that creep into some fiction.

Once I'd finished this book, I thought it a good book, better than the "okay" I'd previously labled it with but I did wonder if it deserved the classic status which its been given.

A few days later and I think it does; with a resounding yes. Mostly because I can remember the book so easily now, even after finishing two others, this is the book that is staying with me. And really, what is a classic if not a book that stays with you long after you've finished reading it?

I give this book a 9

J J J J J J J J J J



2 comments:

Al said...

I like Camus. His spare style is elegantly simple, showing the bones of the story without too much embliishment. "The Plague" is one book that had a profound effect on my thinking.

It also depressed the Hell out of me.

An Extraordinary woman in a mediocre life said...

I agree completely about Camus' writing style...simple but powerful. Think I may have to give the plague a read now. Better whittle my 'list' down some - make that, LOTS, first..lol

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