July 16, 2026, Seward Folly

Dreamland Books and Yarn Staff Book Review by Shandra Conley

As a child I remember how it felt to be a passenger in the back of my parents’ car as they drove us to whatever destination was in store that day. Whether it be the grocery store, my grandparents’ house, or simply McDonald’s for a little treat, my childmind did not truly make the connections of these journeys. At this stage in life, the navigational aspects of a trip held no meaning to me. Everything was simply a passing landscape that inevitably led us to the familiar end point. It was not until I was in the driver’s seat that things began to set in: the streets had names, the buildings became markers, and the landscape was no longer just passing by. Even as the connections began to solidify as an adult, those childhood memories of the disconnected moments still hold their own space, almost as if they were the memories of a stranger.  

In the novel “The Stranger,” Albert Camus takes us through moments in a seemingly ordinary man’s life. We may not know much about this man, but Camus does a brilliant job of making the readers continue to wonder about who he is and what will happen next as we follow his journey. Camus’ novel is broken into two parts, sort of creating a before-and-after feel. The first part holds an almost disconnected aspect to it, just as a child in the backseat of a car, while the second part begins to hold the perception of being in the driver’s seat on this particular journey. 

“The Stranger” is a great book if you are looking for a quick read, coming in at 123 pages in total.  Although short, Camus is able to take you through multiple big events in the main character’s life, and it makes you feel like nothing was off the table in this one. Death, a marriage proposal, a ploy for violence, a missing dog, a beach vacation, and a murder. 

It is hard to imagine all of this fitting into the mere 123 pages; however, Camus executes it with ease. In this novel, I truly believe there was nothing that felt like it was unnecessary to include because each detail gave us a closer look at how this man is navigating his world. We may not understand the choices being made throughout the novel by the main character; nevertheless, the world is full of strangers and sometimes the prevailing one is ourselves.