Albert Camus: "The Stranger" and "The Plague"

I had only heard of Albert Camus in the last year or so and since then I have read two of his greatest works: The Stranger and The Plague. 

My reasons for reading Camus in the first place was because I heard that he was from Algeria. Being half Algerian myself, I've always felt a connection to the country and it's painful history (colonised by France for 132 years, followed by a bloody war of independence, and then a civil war lasting 11 years). Because of this, I was incredibly eager to read Camus in an attempt to maybe understand my culture a little better. Unfortunately, what I didn't realise was that Camus was born and raised in Algeria to French parents (these individuals were known as pieds noirs). He wasn't Arab or Maghrebi, and his portrayal of Algeria was very much from a French, middle class point of view.

Knowing this therefore made it easier to recognise his biases, baring in mind that both The Stranger and The Plague were published in the 1940's when Algeria was still under French rule. A majority of his characters are not Arab, they are either French or Spanish or Jewish and all of these characters are named. When he does include Arab characters they are usually referred to as 'The Arab'. This is particularly noticeable in The Stranger. I initially thought this to be very strange because it was almost as if these Arab characters were being marginalised. But I soon realised that Camus did not necessarily intend to do this and I began reading the novels in the context in which they were written in. And so even though I was a little disappointed with not being able to learn more about the history of Algeria that I was familiar with, I learned a lot about pied noir Algeria. Essentially, Camus provided me with a different perspective on the story I thought I knew.

After sounding like a disappointed fuss pot, I have to admit that I did really enjoy both books. Camus does a great job of describing the setting and developing his characters, I mean he didn't win the Nobel prize for literature for nothing you know. He uses concepts such as absurdism and existentialism to inject his narratives with a unique flavour, and I found his story telling persuasive and compelling.