Roving Eye
Book Review
The Stranger
Author: Albert Camus
Reviewed by Ayesha Umar

The stranger is one of the most widely read and popular classic novels. It is Albert Camus' first novel and is the story of a young Algerian Frenchman Meursault.

The story opens with the haunting lines: "Maman died today. Or perhaps yesterday I don't know." In the beginning the protagonist has been shown attending his mother's funeral where he expresses no grief. The next day he returns to his city, goes swimming, meets with his girlfriend, and watches a comedy movie in the theater. He lives his life normally and befriends his neighbour Raymond. He unintentionally gets involved in a dispute between Raymond and his girlfriend that results in the murder of an Arab man at the hands of Meursault.

Meursault is arrested and tried in the court. He gets the capital punishment. The story itself is very simple, but the writer has emphasized on the protagonist's emotional detachment from everything in his life. He doesn't feel anything for anyone including himself. He is unmoved by his mother's death, even refuses to see her face one last time. He likes spending time with Marie, his girlfriend but marriage is the last thing on his mind. He expresses no remorse about killing the Arab. The murder takes place in a very bizarre situation and he thinks it just happened without his fault. He lives in the present and looks at everything objectively. He doesn't believe in fantasy. He even denies religion. He thinks when the man eventually dies it doesn't matter what he does on earth.

The stranger is a slim novel that is engaging and thought provoking. While reading it one doesn't feel any sympathy for Meursault because of his nihilistic attitude. The story is bleak and tends to cause depression as it is a complete departure from the typical novels where romanticism is the key feature, but still it is a fantastic read and all those people who appreciate classy literature and don't mind giving a try to different themes would definitely find it very interesting.

Movie Review
I Am Legend

Reviewed by Faiza Iqtidar

The story revolves around a scientist named Robert Neville (Will Smith), who is in search of a cure to a deadly, unstoppable virus. The virus spread so soon that every human gets infected. Neville is the only human survivor in the city of New York. He may be the last human, but is not alone; the victims who are infected are all around him.

These mutated victims have qualities of zombies and vampires; they eat humans and can infect them, too. They fear light and only come out at night in the dark.

Somehow, Neville survives for three years and manages to send radio messages to other survivors who are not infected. He is left alone and is desperate to find another human to talk to and also to find the cure to the infection.

Just when he is about to be attacked by the infected, he is saved by a woman. She hears the radio message and comes to him with her son.

Special effects and the action sequences are awesome. Will

Smith's acting is, as usual an Oscar wining performance. The movie makers did their best and almost reached perfection. Will Smith has a long list of movies in which he always succeeds in saving the planet. Will he be able to save the planet this time? Will they find the other survivors? Are the infected curable? If you want to find out the answers to these questions, watch the movie.