The Stranger (novel) - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

The 1995 song Noch koroche dnya ("Night is Shorter than Day") by the Russian heavy metal band Aria is based on Meursault's encounter with the chaplain in the final scene of the novel. It is also narrated from Meursault's first-person perspective and includes (in Russian) the line, "The cries of hate will be my reward / Upon my death, I will not be alone."

The 1979 first single "Killing an Arab" by The Cure was recorded at the same time as their first LP in the UK, Three Imaginary Boys (1979) but not included on the album. However it was included on the band's first US album, Boys Don't Cry (1980). Composer Robert Smith has said that the song "was a short poetic attempt at condensing my impression of the key moments in L'Étranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus" (Cure News number 11, October 1991).

Tuxedomoon - "Stranger"/"Love/No Hope", 7", 1979

The passage in which Meursault accepts his impending execution was read over the end of the song "Asa Phelps Is Dead" by The Lawrence Arms; read by guitarist Chris McCaughan, the excerpt parallels certain themes in the song's lyrics by bassist Brendan Kelly.

The lead singer, Rody Walker of the Canadian Metal band Protest The Hero has the quotation 'It is better to burn than to disappear.' as his first tattoo on his right arm. Note that the phrase "It is better to burn than to disappear" does not appear in the French original. In the Stuart Gilbert translation, this phrase appears between the following two sentences in the original: "Je me suis mis à crier à plein gosier et je l'ai insulté et je lui ai dit de ne pas prier. Je l'avais pris par le collet de sa soutane."

In the second season The Sopranos episode D-Girl, Anthony Soprano Jr tells his parents that life is absurd, that the hypothetical death of his friends would be "interesting," and that there is no god. Tony and Carmilla ask where this is coming from. Meadow Soprano appears at this moment and explains that Anthony was assigned The Stranger in English class, stating "This is education."

In the film Jacob's Ladder (film), Jacob Singer is seen with The Stranger on the subway. The book is again seen later in the film as Jacob rummages through a drawer.

In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby starring Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen, Cohen's character is reading a copy of L'Etranger while he is driving his NASCAR race car.

In the 2006 movie Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Andrew Lincoln's character, Jamie, pretends to know what the book is about.

In the video game Team Fortress 2, the Spy class (who is portrayed as French) has an unlockable pistol called "L'Etranger." As an additional nod to the novel, the gun is part of weapon/costume set called "The Saharan Spy." The in-game design is modeled on the Nagant M1895.

In Titus Andronicus' 2007 debut, 'The Airing of Grievances' a quote from The Stranger, followed by a track called 'Albert Camus' are included

Drama TV series Gossip Girl includes several references to Camus. In the fifth season, the character of Dan Humphrey is gifted a copy of The Stranger by Louis Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, in exchange for keeping a secret. The title of the book intimates Humphrey's long-standing "outsider" status, but the book itself also foreshadows the moral ambiguity of Grimaldi. The elusive character of Gossip Girl also pays tribute to the writer, asserting "Camus said that life is the sum of our choices. Choose wisely and fortune smiles upon you. But choose poorly? You never know what price you'll have to pay."