'The Meursault Investigation' cleverly builds on 'The Stranger' by Camus
In a this March, Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud spoke of reading the iconic 1942 classic, 鈥漈he Stranger鈥� by Albert Camus 鈥� in which a man arbitrarily commits murder and is tried and sentenced without remorse 鈥� for the first time in his 20s.
鈥淚 have to admit that I didn鈥檛 like the novel: it is dry, hard. It inspires discomfort, not pleasure. It is fascinating but morbid,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ike everyone else, I read the story of the murder and I didn鈥檛 even think about the murdered Arab. I ignored him. [Camus鈥� protagonist] Meursault鈥檚 genius is to make you forget the crime. Even if you were a victim of it!鈥�
Two decades later, Daoud reclaims that murdered Arab, erasing the anonymity of 鈥淭he Stranger鈥� with his debut novel The Meursault Investigation. Originally published in Algeria in 2013, 鈥淢eursault鈥� made the 2014 shortlist of the enviable Prix Goncourt 鈥� France鈥檚 highest literary honor. Although Daoud missed the academy鈥檚 top nod (Lydie Salvayre鈥檚 鈥淧as Pleuer鈥� won), he earned the life-threatening attention of the extremist Islamist Awakening Front whose leader issued a fatwa against Daoud via Facebook last December. For now, Daoud remains safe, and took the Goncourt podium in early May when 鈥淢eursault鈥� received the 2015 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman (for first novel).
The English translation by the ever-laudable, multi-lingual John Cullen arrived stateside last week. With exponentially increased accessibility, more accolades and prizes are sure to follow (the death threats hopefully not so much). Although familiarity with Camus鈥� 鈥淪tranger鈥� is not necessary 鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 going to outline [that] story before I tell [this story] to you,鈥� the narrator promises 鈥� context, of course, is always an illuminating addition to any reading.
From his first line, 鈥淢ama鈥檚 still alive today,鈥� Daoud both pays homage to and negates Camus鈥� opening, 鈥�Aujourd'hui, Maman est morte,鈥� (鈥淢ama died today.鈥�) The narrator is Harun, who asks his unnamed listener, to 鈥減lease give me your attention.... This is no normal story.鈥� Harun reveals the Arab in 鈥淭he Stranger鈥� was his brother; in the 70 years since his senseless death, Harun鈥檚 鈥渕ore or less 鈥� mission鈥� is to 鈥渟peak in the place of a dead man.鈥�
To do so, Harun learned French 鈥� Meursault鈥檚 language, the colonial language. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to do what was done in this country after Independence: I鈥檓 going take the stones from the old houses the colonists left behind, remove them one by one, and build my own house, my own language. The murderer鈥檚 words and expressions are my unclaimed goods.鈥�
Night after night, in a neighborhood bar, Harun parses his story with a drinking companion whose name, ironically, is asked for but never answered. The sole important name is Musa, Harun鈥檚 brother. Even Meursault is questionable: 鈥淲hat does 鈥楳eursault鈥� mean? Meurt seul, dies alone? Meurt sot, dies a fool? Never dies?鈥�
While Meursault lives on, only Harun remembers Musa. So important is his lost name, Harun admits to naming this bartender and that bartender Musa, as well. 鈥淢usa, Musa, Musa 鈥� I like to repeat that name from time to time so it doesn鈥檛 disappear.鈥�
Just 7 at the time of the murder, for Harun, Musa remains 鈥渁 simple god, a god of few words.鈥� Harun insists on giving his brother an identity, through clothes, shoes, cigarettes, friends, mannerisms, and habits. The sons of a vanished watchman, Musa 鈥渞eplaced my father, and I replaced my brother.鈥�
For decades, desperate mother and leftover son are forced to become accomplices in survival, revenge, and even murder. 鈥淸L]ike a sort of ghost,鈥� Musa, Harun, their mother are trapped between a nameless tragedy and a questionable reality. 鈥淲ho would have believed us? Who? What evidence could we offer?鈥� Without a name, a body, witnesses, Harun finally entrusts another stranger with not just Musa鈥檚 story, but his own confessions, as well.
Like Mohsin Hamid鈥檚 revelations-to-a-stranger in his Booker-shortlisted "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," Daoud fills in, explicates, and rewrites what Camus elided. Echoing Daoud鈥檚 initial reaction to Camus, readers may find that 鈥淢eursault,鈥� too, 鈥渋nspires discomfort, not pleasure,鈥� but that鈥檚 sometimes the price for illumination and epiphany. In just 160 spare pages, Daoud recounts 鈥� and challenges 鈥� not only the original narrative of Meursualt, the anti-hero created by Camus, but through bestowing a name, family, legacy, to a forgotten victim, he sharply deconstructs the troubled decades of French-Algerian history, explores the erasure of identity and the legacy of colonialism, examines the consequences of violent independence and the ensuing, ongoing reconstruction of a national identity.
To begin to understand all that is surely worth an investment of just a few hours of reading.
Terry Hong writes 听, a book blog for the .
