heaven sometimes burrows;

been doing a lot of thinking about the stranger since i finished it a few weeks ago... reading it is such a weird experience because despite the fact it's written in first person pov, i never feel like i understand or relate to meursault the way that pov is supposed to work. i guess i technically never understood or related to humbert humbert in my read of lolita either, but at least the way his narration went made me feel something. reading the stranger is a lot like just reading the newspaper: things have happened, and you think, oh, that's a shame and flip to the next page.

i wonder if that's sort of a failing on my part or if that's something intentional, though. i haven't read any analyses on it yet and i don't remember anything from the english class we were supposed to read it for... i feel like it is intentional given the title, though.

the stranger. even to the reader, meursault remains that way. we get a glimpse into his mind and we follow his actions and yet he still doesn't feel any closer to us... it's really interesting. the stranger is also one of my least favorite books but it gives me a lot to think about with regards to writing, how things work or don't work. i should go back and reread the other books i didn't like and see why i didn't like them. except i think i know why i didn't like wise blood (i didn't care) but i'd probably appreciate that one more now as an adult maybe?

anyway to make this cringe i'm pretty interested in how meursault's canto will go in limco given his book lol