Product Description
A haunting tale of human resilience in the face of unrelieved horror, Camus' novel about a bubonic plague ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature.
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Amazon.com Review
The Nobel prize-winning Albert Camus, who died in 1960, could not have known how grimly current his existentialist novel of epidemic and death would remain. Set in Algeria, in northern Africa, The Plague is a powerful study of human life and its meaning in the face of a deadly virus that sweeps dispassionately through the city, taking a vast percentage of the population with it.
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 "A town thrown back upon itself" ( linda_in_maine )
In the 21st century we expect to control and conquer disease. How can we imagine the horror of The Plague? Albert Camus gave us a chilling story, set in the Algerian city of Oran. First the rats bleed and die, and then people begin to fall sick with the dreaded bubonic plague. As the weekly death toll rises, officials seal off the city and the long exile begins.
The hospitals fill up and public buildings are requisitioned for makeshift plague wards. Quarantine camps are established. The usual burial arrangements are inadequate so the corpses are eventually interred in communal graves without the presence of mourners.
The narrator is unnamed until the end. The central character is Dr. Rieux who goes about his rounds of caring and organizing, somehow able to carry on in the absurd atmosphere of death, exile, deprivation and bereavement. "There lay certitude, there in the daily round...The thing was to do your job as it should be done."
The other characters find their own way of carrying on -- the civil servant in pursuit of the perfect opening sentence for his book, the priest preaching God's flail of retribution, the journalist on assignment when the city is was sealed and now frantic to escape to his wife, the fearful criminal living for the first time in a community of fear, the vacationer sharing his passion for collective responsibility with Dr. Rieux one starry night.
Of course The Plague is about an epidemic only on its most superficial level. Camus, Algerian-born himself, was a committed anti-totalitarian fresh from the French Resistance in 1947 when THE PLAGUE was published. His characters act out his personal philosophy in the absurdist 1940s world: they keep doing the right thing while believing that it won't make a difference, while knowing that to do anything else is to be complicit in the wickedness of the world. The book is easy to read but much more challenging to think about, which makes a good case for the reading.
Linda Bulger, 2008
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Find meaning in a meaningless existence ( bhoevel )
To an extent, all of Camus' novels are vehicles for his philosophy. Camus' philosophy begins with a simple idea, that life is absurd. Camus did not believe in God -- did not believe human actions hold any ultimate higher meaning -- he thought "death would undermine the value of anything that precedes it." From this, Camus drew that life was "absurd." In The Stranger, Camus illustrates this principle of the absurd. Only towards the end of The Stranger does Camus bring up another point in his worldview, and that is, that life is worth living. In The Plague, Camus introduces a concept he called "Revolt"; that is, revolting against the absurdity and meaningless of existence. It seems like an oxymoron, but here Camus wants to try to make sense of an absurd life.
There you have a brief overview of Camus' philosophical ideas. In the Plague, Camus briefly criticizes the Catholic Church. If you are a Christian who is particularly sensative to opposing world-views, you may find Camus' non-faith to be offensive. With an open mind, however, it is likely you will find much said by Camus that is true. Actually, this book often feels a lot like a christian parable.
If you want a straight and simple story as opposed to Camus' philosophical ideal laced story, then you might look elsewhere. Still, read the rest of my review. You may find the plot, which I will discuss next, is something that interests you regardless of philosophy.
The city of Oran is quarantined due to the outbreak of a deadly plague. No one is allowed to leave or enter. The narrative focuses on a handful of people living in the quarantined city, as well as on the general conditions of life in Oran while the plague wreaks havoc. Actually, the native begins just before the plot, and ends shortly after the quarantine is lifted. The characters discuss life during plague conditions. Their activities range from writing a book, to trying to escape, to discussing football, above all, the main focus is given to combating the plague. About the Oran--bureaucracy, religion, burial procedures, and quarantine conditions are popular plot points, as is attempting to define the general outlook of the populous during the hard times of Plague infestation. One of his common themes is separation from a loved one.
I hope I have been of some help. Personally, I find Camus' ideas to be captivating. I loved the Stranger and the Plague, and look forward to reading more of his books soon. Although the Plague reaches farther than the Stranger, I cannot conclude that it is the better of the two novels. Personally, I felt Stranger to be more to my liking; Stranger felt more natural and therefore more complete as a novel; whereas the people, places, and events of The Plague felt constructed as if only for novelistic purposes.
I strongly suggest you at least look at this The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (Everyman's Library) before you buy the Plague, or any other work by Albert Camus. Thought it is Five Dollars more expensive, it includes 4 books and 2 essays (The Plague, The Fall, Exile, Myth of Sisyphus, and Reflections on the Guillotine) and a helpfull introduction from David Bellos. It draws from two translators (Gilbert and O'Brien) and has a durrable cloth bound frame that should outlast any paperback.
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 talk about a depression attack ( c_baez )
if you like to feel depressed, then by all means read this book....it is dark and imaginary smells are those of death....yuk....totally discusting.
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Tragically relevant
In light of the constant scare of chemical warfare we are faced with in this age where even the barbarians in the middle east have access to technology, this book still has much to offer.
There is one major theme in this novel and that is stay maintain a level head. Many of the casualties in the story are victimized by their own fear and irrational actions. From the rushed and fatal antidote to the brutallity inside the quarantined city.
This book also holds relevence to the fear that had gripped society in the 80's with the AIDS scare.
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Camus ...interesting as always...
The Plague is another of Camus's magnificently constructed plots, a story created as a way to present his philosophy of life and existence.
The novel is about a plague that sweeps the Algerian city of Oran. Characters deal with the plague and the imprisonment they face because of the disease in different ways, but all characters mature greatly along the way. Interestingly, the ethical, noble, and charismatic characters like Dr. Rieux and Tarrou-just like Camus-are atheist. Both characters think all humans are bound up with a destiny of death, and that their existence has no higher spiritual dimension.
Another interesting transformation that Camus portrays is the religious point of view presented through Father Paneloux, who's explanation of the plague at the beginning was a punishment sent from God to the people of Oran for their sins, but when Father Paneloux sees innocent children are suffering, Paneloux's explanation of the plague changes to say it is a possible divine test from god of people's faith. Paneloux reaction when he got the disease was very predictable as a religious man. Even though, Camus always rejected religion, the way he dealt with Paneloux ending shows a tremendous respect to what humans choose to believe.
The process of maturity transforms each character based on their ethics and morals. Again, Camus has an outstanding way of analyzing humans and existence.
Not to ruin the pleasure of finding out; but the reader might enjoy the special reflections of Camus's own understanding of people on the development of Raymond Rambert, Joseph Grand, and Jean Tarrou. At the end of the novel Dr. Rieux, the narrator, presents a brilliant summary about human suffering and their ability to forget or ignore life's absurdity.
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