The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Kategorie: Bildung
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• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 28

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Meursault Investigation with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, which is a sort of epilogue to Camus’ novel The Stranger. It raises interesting questions about the Algerian identity and the French occupation, as it focuses on the family of ‘the Arab’ killed by Meursault, and their attempts to uncover the truth behind this murder. The book has been listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the 150 best novels of the year and has been awarded the Prix Goncourt for first novels, one of the most coveted French prizes for literature. Daoud is is an Algerian writer and, while The Meursault Investigation is his only novel, he is known for his popular newspaper column. This debut novel is an interesting take on a classic piece of literature, and is a must-read for anybody who enjoyed The Stranger. 

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This easy-to-follow reading guide brings you:
   • A complete plot summary
   • Character studies
   • Key themes and symbols
   • Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

Kamel Daoud

Francophone Algerian author and journalist

Born in Mostaganem (Algeria) in 1970Notable works:La fable du nain (2003), novelL’arabe et le Vaste Pays de Ô… (2008), short storyLe Minotaure 504 (2011), short story collection

After completing university studies in literature, Kamel Douad decided to write in French, believing the Arabic language to be overloaded with ideology. He was hired in 1994 by the Quotidien d’Oran, he published chronicles before becoming editor-in-chief. Politically engaged, he took part in the protests of the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011. That same year, he published his short story collection, Le Minotaure 504, which was nominated for the short story Prix Goncourt. Sensitive to the growing politicization of Islam and the growing importance of religious movements, he decided to write The Meursault Investigation, a re-writing of The Stranger by Camus (French writer, 1913-1960) from another perspective, to raise awareness in Algeria of the country’s dysfunctions.

The Meursault Investigation

An endangered national identity

Genre: sociological novelReference edition: Douad, K. (2014) Meursault, contre-enquête. Paris: Actes Sud.1First edition: 2013 (Algeria), 2014 (France)Themes: crime, identity, Algeria, Albert Camus, the Absurd, existence

The Meursault Investigation is Kamel Daoud’s first novel. This work, which received the Prix Goncourt for a debut novel in 2015 and was directly inspired by The Stranger by Camus, approaches the story from another perspective: that of the Arab killed by Meursault, the main character of Camus’ novel. The writer offers a new narrator, Harun, the brother of the deceased, who tries to understand Camus’ depersonalization of the victim.

In the aftermath of the ‘Arab Spring’, he wishes his fellow citizens (as well as the reader) to become aware of the new challenges involved in the reconstruction of the country: improving the situation of the people, marking its autonomy from the world powers, breaking away from ideologies that might impede revolutionary values, and, above all, not mixing politics and religion.

1 Quotes taken from the reference edition have been translated by BrightSummaries.com.

Summary

A stolen identity

Many years after the events, Harun Ouled El-Assasse speaks about the murder of his brother Musa by a Frenchman called Meursault, on a beach in Algiers in 1945. The family of the deceased still does not know the reasons behind this act. But what irks Harun the most is not so much the remaining unanswered questions, as the concise style of the novel published by the murderer, namely The Other, which erases all traces of his brother. This novel was given to him by Meriem, a PhD student. As he and his mother had remained ignorant of its publication, its reading came as a shock.

Convinced that Meursault, the author of The Other