Thomas Lang's story about The Outsider
« Back to The Book That Changed My Life
Author: Albert Camus
SynopsisMeursault leads an apparently unremarkable bachelor life in Algiers until he commits a random act of violence. His lack of emotion and failure to show remorse only serve to increase his guilt in the eyes of the law, and challenges the fundamental values of society – a set of rules so binding that any person breaking them is condemned as an outsider. The Outsider is a classic existentialist novel
My Story
I was 18 years old lying flat and relaxed on the carpet at home listening to the radio as the lovely colours of the summer evening faded. Stephen Murray was reading 'The Outsider' by Albert Camus and I Iistened entranced. The startling opening led me into another world. The power of the language held me and I realised what words could do when carefully woven by a master craftsman. When it ended I felt changed. The world had altered and me with it - as if a cool stream of ideas had swept through my being. I realised then as never before that words and literature were for me. I had seemed destined then for a career in engineering but now after a life of teaching and lecturing on literature I still remember that evening sweetly.
Post new comment