I've read this book (actually read it in the original French for French class in high school). He's and existentialist writer. Existentialism, in essence, is the belief that life is meaningless and our actions, and the consequences therein, are meaningless as well. The book wasn't that bad but would probably be considered inflammatory by today's ignorant masses. It was this book that inspired Robert Smith of The Cure to write the song "Killing an Arab", which also was misconstrued as an inflammatory act of hate.
Another existentialist write is Jean-Paul Sartre. He wrote the book Huis-clos (No Exit), which gave os the famous line "L'enfer, c'est les autres", "Hell, it is the other people". I really enjoyed reading this one (again in French class) because it's a thinker. You have three different people but yet you can seem to relate with each one in a different way.
I think they are both good books to read.