Stranger Things I Have Not Seen

Hey All,

I finished The Stranger.  It's a fine book.  I understand why it's such a revered classic, for sure, but is not fully my style.  Which might beg the question, What is your style, Bryan?  Well, my answer to that is that my preferred style of book is fluid.  Which means what I like changes all the time, as I'm sure is the case with most of us (though I do know a few people who only like certain kinds of books, and that will never change).  Actually, I mentioned in an earlier post that I really only like fiction, so I guess that's my style.  But within fiction there are so many styles to choose from.  If I try to pin it down, I suppose I'd say I'm a fan of modern American fiction.  That's broad enough, no?  The authors with whom I am currently enamoured are Michael Chabon, Jonathan Ames, Joseph Boyden (Canadian, I know.  So we'll call what I like modern North American fiction), Jonathan Lethem, John Updike, Philip Roth, and their ilk.  Of course, there are lots of others, but that's where my taste falls right now.  Except maybe Roth; I might be over him, now.


I find that I can connect, in some way, shape, or form, in all of the above authors' books, but I didn't find that in The Stranger.  I'm sure that if I looked hard enough, I could.  But what strikes me about this book is that it, more than any of the previous three books I've read during this project of mine, has elicited thoughts about the world beyond it’s pages.  I have a whole bunch of examples of what I mean, but I've moved on to another book, so I don't want to write about them.  I'll just say that The Stranger is a worthwhile read.  It's short and easy, though challenging if you want it to be.

I will say one thing about The Stranger.  It wasn’t until I read the actual words “I told them I killed an Arab”, that I realized that this book is the source for the lyrics to The Cure’s song, “Killing an Arab”.  As the lyrics go, the narrator is “Standing on the beach / With a gun in my hand / Staring at the sea / Staring at the sand / Staring down the barrel / At the Arab on the ground / I can see his open mouth / But I hear no sound / I’m alive / I’m dead / I’m the stranger / Killing an Arab".  

Cool.  I remember hearing that song played on my older brother's stereo lots when we were kids.

As I said, though, I've moved on from Albert Camus.  He has been replaced by Nick Hornby, and his Songbook, as recommended by Andrew Eaton.  We shall see how they compare...

-Bryan