It may be the translation in my admittedly rather old copy of Camus’ “The Outsider”, but the language is, very occasionally, decidedly archaic. [My copy is, I confess, nearly forty years’ old – which is when I read it last. Its pages are yellowing at the edges..!] But the style is also incredibly sparse, even brutal, which fits so well the extraordinary philosophy of the protagonist. Camus’ portrait of Meursault – like Kafka’s anti-heroes perhaps – is profound to the point of being scary sometimes!
“The Outsider” is, in its own desperate, dark, existentialist way, an absolute classic – but not something to be read for a little light relief..!
Ian Gouge - Writer 