Camus may be my favorite writer next to one Henry Charles Bukowski and I have the Gilbert and Ward translations. They both exhibit the flaws and choices that characterize the difficulties in translating from any language to another language (even one so simple as French to English): colloquialism vs. literalness. Here are the introductory lines from both. On the surface, I prefer the Gilbert translation as it's much more natural to my eyes and ears (even if it is a bit out-dated):
Gilbert:
Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. The telegram from the home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.
The home for aged persons is at Marengo some fifty miles from Algiers. With the two-o'clock bus I should get there well before nightfall.
Ward:
Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: 'Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.
The old people's home is at Marengo, about eighty kilometers from Algiers. I'll take the two o'clock bus and get there in the afternoon.
Now, here's the original text in French from the 1957 Gallimard publication (minus the accents that aren't simple to include):
Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou Peut-etre hier, je ne sais pas. J'ai recu un telegramme de l'aisle: "Mere decedee. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingues. Cela ne veut rien dire. C'etait peut-etre hier.
L'aisle de vieillards est a Marengo, a quatre-vingts kilometres d'Alger. Je prendrai l'autobus a duex heures et j'arriverai dans l'apres-midi.
Bottom line:
Typos aside, the Ward version is clearly more faithful to the original text, but to me, it's stilted and awkward to read. Especially the line "That doesn't mean anything." Umm, sure it does, it means your mother is dead. I much prefer Gilbert's stretch of "Which leaves the matter doubtful..." but that's a literary addition.
But Camus' intent was to focus the reader on the fixation on details that don't relate to the matter at hand. So perhaps Ward's translation does a better job of being literal and necessarily awkward. The Stranger describes an awkward series of events.
Gilbert is the more natural read; Ward is the more literal rendering. Read both; they're short.
Sorry, I haven't seen the Smith or Laredo translations.