Albert Camus
The Foreigner


The story „The Foreigner“ was published in 1969 by the Odeon publishing house in Prague. It was translated into Czech from the French original in 1963 by Miloslav Žilina.



The plot (děj) of this novel, influnced from the existentialism is set in Alger in the middle of the 20st century.

The Foreigner is based on the life of a clerk Meursault, whose mother dies at the beginn of the book (the first part) and he goes to the funeral. But he doesn’t feel any sadness (zármutek) and his feelings are intact (nedotčeny). He goes back to Alger, where he meets Mary, his former (bývalý) colleaque and he spends with her some love nights, but without love. For Meursault neighbour he writes a letter to the neighbours mistress and it comes to conflict between the neighbour and the brother of the mistress, when he has been separated from her. Meursault, walking on the beach, meets the brother and under the influence of sunshine heat, but without special reasons, he kills him cold-bloodedly.
The next part of the book is situated in the prison. Meursault was arrested (zatčený) and cross-questioned (vyslíchán). He is sitting behind the bars (mříže) and he is thinking about sense of his life, about his mum… Subsequently (následně) he is condemned (odsouzen) and given death sentence (trest smrti). But he doesn’t notice this situation and he accepts his death with big equanimity (vyrovnanost) and with peace in his soul.

The typical qualities of Meursault are: he resists (vzpírat se) common (běžný) social conventions, he regards (považovat) himself as hypocritical and herewith (tím) he get estranged (odcizit se) from people. That all is one to him (je mu všechno jedno). Nothing is important for him, he doesn’t feel any sorrow about anything or anybody, sometimes he is ruthless (bezcitný) and cynical.

This book calls out unique feelings. The reader becomes narky and fed-up (naštvaný) with the Meursaults placidity (mírnost, klidnost) in the difficult situations of his life. It makes me unquiet and restless (neklidný) and I must think of his behaviour all the time. The book is dripping and exciting, because he doesn’t leave the reader cool.