The Stranger, by Albert Camus

Book image courtesy of wonderslist.com

Read and reviewed in October, 2009. Released later

It was a short, but sad and depressing little book. Written in the first person, it's an account of a man who seems to feel alienated from everyone around him. He passes through life as an observer, not as a participant. It begins with the death of his mother, and her funeral. The character, Meursault (whose first name I don't remember, if it was ever given), does not seem to feel any love, grief, or compassion for her. Attending the funeral is simply a duty he must perform. Later we meet his neighbors, acquaintances, his boss and work colleagues, and his girlfriend. He doesn't seem to have any close feeling for any of them, not even his girlfriend. The sun and the heat seemed to be his worst enemies.