Translations
Translations of The Stranger
20 translations are recorded in our catalogue.
These are the translated editions we hold records for. A translation we have not catalogued is missing from this list, not from the world.
This book in English
What we found when we looked into it
Written by a person, from the sources listed at the end. Where critics disagree, this says so rather than picking a winner. It is not a catalogue record and does not claim the same authority as the table above.
Researched 2026-08-18. The French original (1942) and every English translation of it post-date 1930 — **no PD English translation of this novel exists.** UK editions are typically titled *The Outsider*; US editions *The Stranger*.
Translations
| Translator | Year | Title used | Publisher/Imprint | Copyright status | In print? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart Gilbert | 1946 | The Outsider/The Stranger | Hamish Hamilton (UK) / Knopf (US) | In copyright | No — reported out of print per sourced comparison below |
| Joseph Laredo | 1982 | The Outsider | Hamish Hamilton (UK/Commonwealth) | In copyright | Yes |
| Kate Griffith | 1982 | The Stranger | — | In copyright | No — reported "obscure/unavailable" |
| Matthew Ward | 1988 | The Stranger | Vintage International (US) | In copyright | Yes |
| Sandra Smith | 2012/2013 | The Outsider | Penguin Classics (UK) | In copyright | Yes |
Reception
- Per welovetranslations.com, accessed 2026-08-18 (independent comparison blog, citing named scholarly assessments): Gilbert's 1946 version, historically the standard English text, is now judged to "misrepresent Camus's text in important ways," criticized as "too loose... by modern standards, overinterpreting, paraphrasing, embellishing, and expanding," with the scholarly characterization that "Gilbert seems to act as a co-author rather than translator, adding adjectives, splitting paragraphs, and breaking and creating new sentences whenever he pleases."
- Matthew Ward (1988) is called "the international standard for those wishing to contribute to Camus Studies in English" and is credited with the famous, deliberate change of the opening line to "Maman died today" (vs. Gilbert's "Mother died today"), defended by Ward as reflecting "the curious feeling Meursault has for his mother" — per the same comparison source.
- Sandra Smith (2012) is described as "very close to Camus's original," containing "none of Gilbert's extra flourishes," and Ward's older version is judged "every bit as good as hers" by the same source — i.e., the comparison explicitly declines to rank Ward above or below Smith, presenting them as equally strong, different-generation options. Claire Messud, The New York Review of Books (professional critic, no commercial stake), reviewed the Smith retranslation in a 2014 piece specifically framed around what a "new" L'Étranger offers — nybooks.com, accessed 2026-08-18 (full critical assessment not independently extracted from this specific article in this pass; cited as evidence of a real major-outlet review existing, not for a specific quoted verdict).
- Laredo's UK-market 1982 version is called "a certainly competent, painstaking rendering" though "markedly British and colloquial," per the same comparison — positioned as commercially overshadowed by Ward/Smith rather than critically rejected.
Parallel excerpt
No public-domain English translation exists for this title. Per the format rules, an excerpt is skipped rather than fabricated. A short, attributed quote from a review is permitted (≤15 words): Ward's translation is described by the comparison source cited above as "the international standard for those wishing to contribute to Camus Studies in English."
Decision guide
Sources agree Gilbert (1946) is the dated, historically important but now-superseded choice — the strongest across-the-board negative verdict of any translation in this whole batch ("acts as a co-author," per named scholarly characterization). Between the two live modern options, the sourced material is explicit that it will not pick a winner: Ward is the long-standing US academic/critical standard; Smith is closer to a literal register and drew a dedicated NYRB review on its own terms. The honest guide for the site: Ward if you want the version most other English-language Camus scholarship references; Smith if you want the tightest fidelity to Camus's spare style; Laredo if it's what's on the shelf in a UK/Commonwealth edition and "The Outsider" title matters to you. Do not present one as definitively better — the source used to build this dossier explicitly refuses to.