Albert Camus - novel - 1942 - p. 28 

Often held up as a prime exemplar of the “philosophy of the absurd” its author espoused, The Stranger tells the story of a French man named Meursault who kills another man--an Arab--following a confrontation in Algiers, a French colonial stronghold. In the first part of the novel, Meursault learns of his mother’s death and responds in a manner viewed as cold and emotionless, declining to view her body and instead going for a swim that turns into a movie date and a romantic relationship with his former coworker Marie. 

In a later section, Meursault testifies on behalf of his neighbor, Raymond, who has beaten his girlfriend, who is of Moorish descent, after accusing her of infidelity. Meursault believes Raymond and indicates as much in court; the latter merely receives a warning. Meursault later encounters the brother of Raymond’s girlfriend and shoots him after an argument leads the brother to brandish a knife. Meursault is jailed and put on trial, where the judge interprets his general terseness and refusal to express remorse as evidence of guilt and malice; the prosecutor cites Meursault's behavior following his mother’s death as additional evidence of an uncaring nature. Meursault is sentenced to public guillotining. 

Though told from a first-person perspective, the novel is distinctive for the paucity of justification, reflection, and emotion its narrator shares.

Key elements: crime, Europe, infidelity, suicide