The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, including identity and society. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 30-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Kamel Daoud
• Presentation of The Meursault Investigation
• Summary of The Meursault Investigation
• Character study
  • Harun Ouled El-Assasse
  • Musa Ouled El-Assasse
  • The mother
  • Meriem
• Analysis of The Meursault Investigation
  • A sociological novel
  • A simple and direct language
  • Diversion
  • The Absurd

About The Meursault Investigation

The Meursault Investigation was first published in 2013 in Algeria. It was directly inspired by The Outsider by Albert Camus (the protagonist of Camus’s novel is a man called Meursault), but it approaches the story from a completely different angle. Here, the narrator is a man named Harun Ouled El-Assasse, who is the brother of the Arab Meursault murdered in The Outsider.

The Meursault Investigation takes an interesting look at many of the themes that Camus himself examined, including identity and the Absurd. In addition, by setting Harun up as Meursault’s double, Daoud examines society from an Arab’s point of view.

About Kamel Daoud

Kamel Daoud is an Algerian author and journalist. After studying literature at university, he made the decision to write in French rather than Arabic, because he felt the latter was too saturated with ideology.

He was hired by the Quotidien d’Oran in 1994 and released his first piece of literature, a short story collection called Le Minotaure 504, in 2011. Daoud is very politically engaged, and took an active part in the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011. The Meursault Investigation is his first novel, which he decided to write to raise awareness in Algeria of the problems in the country.