The Outsider

Albert Camus (1942)
Originally published in French as L'Etranger in 1942 this was seen as a work of existentialism, a label Camus himself avoided. Camus was born in Algeria, and had previously been on the youth team for Algeria as a goalkeeper. The book speaks of emotional disengagement and the protaganists failure to connect with what society regarded as normal behaviour. Other reviewers have mentioned how Camus draws out the sensations as being important: heat, light, colour, smell rather than emotion. This is indeed true as it has been regarded as one of the most influential works of fiction of the 20th Century.
The emotional disengagement felt by the protganaist does strike a chord with me, I have to say. Nonetheless, it doesn't resonate with me as much as it has done many other readers. Perhaps a second reading would explain why Camus later won the Nobel prize for literature.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/apr/12/books.comment