The first read on The Stranger was incredibly boring. I could not wait to finish the book about the creep with no emotions. The second reading was much more interesting since I was finding more demensions to Mersault. It was very interesting to see the exestentialist and absurdist influences in the book, and see how similar it was to the myth of Sysiphus. However, it was still an unexciting read that I couldn't wait to be done with...To me a great work of literature is a book/novel/poem/what have you, that demonstrates an important life lesson, but is suddle about it. It also should be an entertaining read that makes the reader want to read the book. My favorite english book ever is The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Excellent one liners, interesting plot, and a story that still manages to shed light on the important things in life...However, a book's entertainment value will vary from reader to reader, so it would not be a consistent rubric. I still consider it important though. While The Stranger does reveal some life lessons suddly, it has zero entertainment value. It should be saved for analyzation in college level classes for those that are all gung-ho about English...
A side note about what should be considered good literature: The author needs to have purposely put the life lessons in the book...The Lord of the Flies author conducted an interview where he clearly states that there was no purpose or moral to the book, he just wrote it for the story line...And the poor sophmores have to analyze for weeks looking for lessons on true human nature...
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