The Stranger
by Albert Camus
A detached man in French Algeria commits a senseless act and faces a trial that judges his character more than his crime. A cornerstone of existential fiction. Read the full description
Best for: Readers curious about existential philosophy
The Stranger is #32 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 71 out of 100.
The Stranger: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Stranger’s reading interest has run from #15 to #39 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Stranger was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 1,029 times in the past 12 months, peaking in October 2025 with 117 (36% above its monthly average of 86). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 3% on the three months before. 85% of the adds were “want to read”, 7% “currently reading” and 9% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 753,037 times in the past 12 months, peaking in April 2026 with 89,021 views. The latest three months were down 24% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Stranger (Camus novel).
Awards and honours listed on Wikidata: Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century.
What the data says about The Stranger
- Steady demand. Monthly shelf adds for The Stranger stayed within a narrow band around 86, which is what a book with a constant stream of new readers looks like.
- Busiest and quietest months. October 2025 was its busiest month (117 adds), about 1.9 times its quietest, June 2026 (61).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation -0.16).
- Against its genre. It had 11% more shelf adds than the average Classics book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 1.0% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #29 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 1942 (84 years ago), it is older than 88% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Stranger on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #32 | 71 |
Is The Stranger rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, The Stranger ranks #34 this week, #23 this month, and #33 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Stranger made the Top 100
The Stranger made the list mainly on momentum (+30.6 points) and being read right now (+16.3 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.4). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Stranger
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Stranger open right now than 35% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Classics books
It is #7 of the 11 Classics books on this month’s list.
About The Stranger
A detached man in French Algeria commits a senseless act and faces a trial that judges his character more than his crime. A cornerstone of existential fiction.
Why it’s here: It is short, stark, and endlessly discussed, which keeps it in circulation.
Best for: Readers curious about existential philosophy
At a glance
- First published
- 1942
- Genre
- Classics
- Also described as
- philosophical novel, absurdist literature
- Length
- about 143 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- French
- Languages
- editions in 20 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 468 on Open Library
- Setting
- Algeria
- Characters listed
- Meursault, Raymond Sintès, Marie Cardona, Salamano
- Awards and honours
- Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Absurdity
- Indifference
- Justice and society
What reading it is like
Spare, detached first-person narration in short sentences.
At about 143 pages it is a short read: roughly 3 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
Set in French Algeria and contains violence. A short book, often read in translation.
The premise
Meursault, an emotionally detached man in French Algeria, commits a sudden act of violence and is put on trial where his character is judged as much as his crime.
What you’ll get
- A short, stark novel
- Existential themes
- Sparse, precise writing
You might skip it if you want warm, plot-heavy fiction.
Pairs well with: Metamorphosis · Nineteen Eighty-Four
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #31 and #33
Questions about The Stranger
What rank is The Stranger on the Top 100 books?
The Stranger is #32 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 71 out of 100.
Is The Stranger rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, The Stranger ranks #34 this week, #23 this month, and #33 over the past year.
Why is The Stranger on the Top 100?
The Stranger made the list mainly on momentum (+30.6 points) and being read right now (+16.3 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.4).
How many people are reading The Stranger right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 218 readers currently reading The Stranger, 2,914 who want to read it and 327 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Stranger had over the past year?
1,029 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak October 2025, 117); latest three months down 3% on the prior three; 753,037 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 24% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Stranger best for?
Readers curious about existential philosophy.
Ask a question about The Stranger
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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