I think the comparison of Houellebecq to Camus is unfair to Houellebecq. While it may be said fairly that Houellebecq’s characters are basically ciphers, at least they are ciphers, which makes them at the very least reflections of some living human being. Camus’s characters, such as those in The Stranger, are not even that much. The Stranger is an Existentialist morality play.