Favorite Writer

I have a couple of favorite writers that stood out to me over the years. One that particularly stands out is Albert Camus, the prolific existentialist writer who's most famous work, The Stranger, became one of my favorite books. The story of a French Algerian named Meursault, written in the first person, captivated me from the first sentence which reads, "Mother died today. Or was it yesterday. I don't remember." I was shocked to believe that someone could forget the date of their mother's death! How could a man lose interest in something as important and disheartening as that? As I continued to read the novel, I noticed Camus used very simple language to describe complex ideas. For example, Meursault only describes the bear essence of his existence and only experiences physical pleasure. The protagonist describes smoking cigarettes and swimming. When his girlfriend, Marie, asked him if he loved her, Meursault replied that it did not matter. The main character did not feel anything more than skin deep. He was almost an animal created by the meaninglessness of modern society. His world and our world are just man-made fabrications within the real world we inhabit. Camus was a genius! He said this and more only using the language of a high schooler! The Stranger is usually the first full novel students learning French read!

Albert Camus' other novel entitled The Plague, was another work of fiction that truly impressed and seduced my imagination. This book recounted the disastrous effects that epidemics have on its victims, but more importantly, its survivors! The town of Oran is blocked off from the rest of the world as the bubonic plague rips though its populace. A doctor by the name of Rieux teams up with other survivors in order to make an attempt to slow down the plague's destruction. The plague suddenly went into remission after a year and the town was reopened to the outside world, but its living residence would never be the same again. Funny how an epidemic could drastically change someone without ever entering their body. 

This creative and intelligent author spoke to me because he thought outside of the box! He questioned all that could be questioned and more. Camus even claimed that human existence was absurd, ridiculous and meaningless. He critiqued society, its morals, its culture and everything in between. I was an avid reader of political and social novels such as: 1984, Animal Farm, The Outsider, Native Son, and Invisible Man (By Ralph Ellison) in high school. Novels that made the reader question his own existence moved me more than any other literary work. Also Camus' The Stranger, made me realize that, in the end, nothing really matters because existence has its ups and downs as well as its lefts and rights. You must make the best out of any situation.