Hadn't read anything of substance in French since my high school stint with Lord of the Rings (finally a method to make it last longer than a week)--but it was funny how fast it all came back.
And funny how what I am mainly left with when reading in a different language is a much more...well... impressionistic impression. While LOTR was full of darkness--obscurite, ombres, nuages, etc--L'Etranger was just the opposite--full of blinding light, blinding sun, blinding heat, all of which sharply offset the dark, tragic events--a heady contrast like a photo through too strong a filter, distorting reality. I felt like I had to squint while I was reading, like I was an aveugle myself--but maybe that's Camus' point--that there is no way to see an un-distorted truth.
At least, that's the best I could understand it. Maybe someday I'll read it en anglais and test out my hypothesis.
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