Camus is one of my favorite authors and I found myself both loving and hating this book, and I've also found that I agree with most of the 1-star comments in this video (the ones that actually had something to say at least lol), especially the one about the ideas being dated. I think that's the main issue of the book - we live in a time when nihilism and apathy are not a scandalous yet novel attitude, but something we associate with immaturity. Even Nietzsche is starting to be considered something for brooding teenage boys lol. So it is hard to take The Stranger seriously unless you understand the context in which it was written. For me, what made this book so great was the writing, but I did also find the ideas which the author presents as fascinating to be quite outdated. But yeah, ultimately I feel like people regard it as a boring and immature work simply because they're not taking into account that it was written in a different time. It's also quite frustrating when people decide that a book is bad because they didn't like the protagonist's personality. It's one thing when an unpleasant character is presented as a hero by the narrative, but I don't think it's the case here, you're not exactly meant to like him but rather delve into his psyche. Thank you for the video, it's brave of you to read negative reviews of your favorite book! Hahah
It’s a very good point you’ve made about how nihilism and apathy are no longer as scandalous as they once used to be! And I completely agree with you when it comes to how frustrating it is when entire works are dismissed because the main character isn’t likeable . To be honest, my favorite books are those where the main characters are flawed. I won’t get much out of a book if the main character is perfect in every way and always makes the right decisions. Not only do I not see the benefit in such a case but it’s also just not entertaining. Thank you for taking the time to construct this comment ❤️
Camus is one of my favorite authors and I found myself both loving and hating this book, and I've also found that I agree with most of the 1-star comments in this video (the ones that actually had something to say at least lol), especially the one about the ideas being dated. I think that's the main issue of the book - we live in a time when nihilism and apathy are not a scandalous yet novel attitude, but something we associate with immaturity. Even Nietzsche is starting to be considered something for brooding teenage boys lol. So it is hard to take The Stranger seriously unless you understand the context in which it was written. For me, what made this book so great was the writing, but I did also find the ideas which the author presents as fascinating to be quite outdated. But yeah, ultimately I feel like people regard it as a boring and immature work simply because they're not taking into account that it was written in a different time.
It's also quite frustrating when people decide that a book is bad because they didn't like the protagonist's personality. It's one thing when an unpleasant character is presented as a hero by the narrative, but I don't think it's the case here, you're not exactly meant to like him but rather delve into his psyche.
Thank you for the video, it's brave of you to read negative reviews of your favorite book! Hahah
It’s a very good point you’ve made about how nihilism and apathy are no longer as scandalous as they once used to be!
And I completely agree with you when it comes to how frustrating it is when entire works are dismissed because the main character isn’t likeable . To be honest, my favorite books are those where the main characters are flawed. I won’t get much out of a book if the main character is perfect in every way and always makes the right decisions. Not only do I not see the benefit in such a case but it’s also just not entertaining.
Thank you for taking the time to construct this comment ❤️