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The Plague

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 52,590 ratings · 1,612 reviews

The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame and revenge, and a few, like the unheroic hero Dr Rieux, join forces...more

Paperback, 238 pages

Published April 1st 2008 by Penguin Group(CA) (first published 1947)

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Feb 01, 2010 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: darkness, favorites, read-in-2010, good-fiction, important-message, tough-guys-and-gals, transformative-experience

Ah, death; it's always there, isn't it? It is a terrible fate, doomed upon us all, that could take place at any time, in millions of different ways. The Jews who witnessed the holocaust are aware of this. The people of Haiti know this. The mother who lost her only child in a car accident is aware of this. Most individuals (and groups of individuals) spend their days fighting the fact of death, lying to themselves, using clever ways to avoid its ever-present reality. Looking death in its cold, in...more Ah, death; it's always there, isn't it? It is a terrible fate, doomed upon us all, that could take place at any time, in millions of different ways. The Jews who witnessed the holocaust are aware of this. The people of Haiti know this. The mother who lost her only child in a car accident is aware of this. Most individuals (and groups of individuals) spend their days fighting the fact of death, lying to themselves, using clever ways to avoid its ever-present reality. Looking death in its cold, indiscriminating eye, is perhaps the most difficult thing one can do. But the result from doing so -- when taken with time -- is a clear-eyed vision of the world we live in; the result of which is an inner-strength of which few know. But for those that have candidly looked into the eye of death -- for those that keep its hard reality within their awareness -- there is a wisdom and depth that emanates.

The people of Camus' Oran -- formerly thoughtless, happy citizens that were, like many of us now, going about their merry ways not knowing how lucky they truly were -- become stricken by the plague. It is a rotten disease -- full of physical suffering, spreading rapidly, unceasingly -- that causes the town's citizens to be quarantined within the town. No getting out. There they must go on, trying to cope and survive -- some while kept away from their loved ones who are outside Oran's walls -- all, while surrounded by the constant death of their peers.

The Plague is much about death, but it’s also about how we choose to live. Do we live like the people of Oran, going through each day without truly thinking, taking things for granted, going through the motions in an ignorant, opiated stupor? Or do we look death -- and by extension, life -- in the eye, taking nothing for granted, noticing and appreciating our complexities and gifts, endeavoring for truth, and striving to be good people? No matter how painful and difficult, do we face reality with courage? Do we overcome? Are we striving to be true heroes to others and to ourselves?

There are fates worse than death. Like living life half-heartedly, without truth, without passion. Without conviction. Without sacrifice. And without love.
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Apr 05, 2013 Rakhi Dalal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I read “The Plague” right after reading “Swann’s Way”. Of course it wasn’t a deliberate move. But as I moved on, I realized that reading of ‘The Plague’ had rendered something quite remarkable in the way I realized and appreciated both works. Both works embody a reality. ‘Swann’s Way’ speaks of the reality that is long gone by and one wish to remember and cherish, whereas, ‘The Plague’ makes one more acutely aware of the bleakness of actual reality when imposed through an epidemic such as plague...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Sartre

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books, africa, bookcrossing-books, read-in-2011, le-french

Life is brief... Camus knew this and had the fact proved first hand when he was smooshed in a car accident at the relatively young age of 46. Death is coming people and nothing can stop it. But the question is, do you ignore this fact and live in a kind of blissful fluffy world where it seems nothing can go wrong? Or do you pre-emptively stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye?

Some have argued that Camus should have stuck to journalism, being a politically aware bad-ass and...more Life is brief... Camus knew this and had the fact proved first hand when he was smooshed in a car accident at the relatively young age of 46. Death is coming people and nothing can stop it. But the question is, do you ignore this fact and live in a kind of blissful fluffy world where it seems nothing can go wrong? Or do you pre-emptively stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye?

Some have argued that Camus should have stuck to journalism, being a politically aware bad-ass and philosophising in short essays, rather than writing fiction. Personally I am appreciative of his multi-faceted output. After all, what is life without a bit of a variety? Presumably variety is essential as a philosopher. It probably helps alleviate any innate tendancies toward navel gazing for a start.

By introducing the plague (first bubonic then pneumonia flavoured) into the sleepy colonial town of Oran, people are force to address death head on. Humans are generally unwilling to do this because the leering and bony face of death is one we like to avoid mostly (sorry Death, if you're reading this). Watching a society being forced to address its own mortality is an interesting social experiment as it encourages to the surface a number of defining characteristics. Some people immediately barricade themselves indoors fearing the worst. Others try to make a run for it ASAP and don't give a monkeys about those they are leaving behind (or the fact that they might be carriers themselves). A further group give in to gay abandon and enjoy a work free, potentially consequence free environment by embracing that fact that life is short so it may as well end with a party. Some continue to work, hoping they can rely on routine to trick them into believing that it will all be ok.

Many die, some survive and by the time its nearly all over the plague has abated and the survivors are already forgetting that they were ever so close to death. Is the fact that humans can be stupid and have short memories a new and enlightening idea? Nope.

Bottom line is that whichever philosophical group you fall into (you can choose between realism, rationalism, nihilism, existentialism, pragmatism and idealism to name but a few) you cannot escape the fact that death always has the final word. If anyone knows what that word is likely to be then please let me know.

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May 01, 2012 يحيى استانبولي rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: روايات

الطاعون!

كثير من الموتى هنا: ربما عشرون ألف إنسان.. وتسعون ألف جرذ.. والكل سواء..
وأتساءل: من يحاسب الكاتب على ضحاياه؟ هنالك أعداد غفيرة من القتلى يتحتم عدم السكوت عنها!!

في مواجهة الوباء: كل انسان يموت في اليوم عدة مرات، وتفقد العلاقات الإنسانية ألقها مرة وتتهيج وتتضخم مرات..،

في مدينة موبوءة، تصبح رؤية الأطفال وهم يسقطون صرعى اختبارا حقيقيا للإيمان المتبقي في القلوب.. حيث المئات يساقون إلى حتوفهم صاحبين معهم التقيحات والدمامل..

لا مزيد ليقال هنا غير كلمات من رحم الرواية ذاتها: لا تهمني البطولة ولا...more

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Apr 20, 2008 Kristopher Jansma rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookblog

by Albert Camus

I have been on the hunt for books that might fit with my new Fall semester course on Apocalyptic Literature, and this one seemed like a natural fit. I'd read a bit of Camus before - The Stranger, of course, and The Fall... though I don't remember anything about that one. Camus, like Sartre, falls under the heading in my mind of philosophers who probably shouldn't have gone into creative writing (see entry on Nausea, and also a sentiment soon to be repeated as I try to read Ayn Ran...more by Albert Camus

I have been on the hunt for books that might fit with my new Fall semester course on Apocalyptic Literature, and this one seemed like a natural fit. I'd read a bit of Camus before - The Stranger, of course, and The Fall... though I don't remember anything about that one. Camus, like Sartre, falls under the heading in my mind of philosophers who probably shouldn't have gone into creative writing (see entry on Nausea, and also a sentiment soon to be repeated as I try to read Ayn Rand). But Sartre is certainly on the better end of that spectrum - he doesn't entirely let all his big ideas overpower the story. The Stranger, with it's unreliable narrator and suspense, is an excellent book. Unfortunately, The Plague just didn't do it for me.

The story begins excitingly enough, with the little town of Oran in the 1940s slowly being overrun with dead rats. The townsfolk don't seem particularly alarmed at first, but in true human fashion, slowly anxiety begins to build as people begin to get sick as well, and the dead rats begin to number in the hundreds each day. Still the people are slow to react, as we always are, because no one wants to face the seriousness of a Plague. The story follows the town's doctor, Rieux, who of course struggles to raise the alarm and Rambert , a journalist who winds up stuck in the town when it is eventually cordoned off. This is all exciting enough, but soon Part I is over and Part II begins. The bulk of the novel (through Part IV) is spent simply waiting out the plague. Dr. Rieux, of course, struggles in vain to find a cure. Rambert tries to document the horror. But since I never really cared much about either of them in the first place, and because I somewhat expected Camus to thwart their every effort and refuse a happy ending, the tension really sags in the middle. What was certainly fascinating were the more detached, sociological observations about the day-to-day workings of the town. Some people live in fear but mostly people begin living for the moment, having no real sense of what the future may bring. These expository sections can't quite carry the book for me, though, and they do scream in places of simply espousing Sartre's underlying philosophies, bringing me back to my initial reticence about philosophers/writers.

I will say there was one surprise - the ending was not quite as bleak as I expected. This is probably due to my own misunderstanding of Camus' philosophy... probably less apocalyptic and more the-pointless-human-struggle-goes-on. I won't spoil it, but while it's suitably French (and by French I mean bleak) it isn't quite the end of the world as we know it.

All in all, not a bad book, but not great. I did learn one thing at least, which is also currently confounding my attempts to get into The Fountainhead. People sure do look at you funny when you sit in coffee shops wearing your tweed jacket, reading Camus. Dressing down only helped a little. Eventually I took to hiding the cover in a magazine, and still I got strange looks. But I suppose sometimes in the pursuit of good literature, one must risk being a walking cliche.(less)

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Dec 25, 2007 Kirk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essential-reference

THE PLAGUE is my favorite Camus in part because it treats its subject humanely. While I can appreciate this historical influence of THE STRANGER, I find that famous "writing degree zero" style a bit too stylized for my taste---not so much in Camus, perhaps, but by the many imitators who have latched onto it in an effort to exploit the emotional detachment it allows for. Besides becoming a cheap term that gets used all the time without any philosophical specificity whatsoever, 'existentialism' as...more

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Oct 02, 2007 Poliwalk rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone wanting to ruminate on life, morality and religion.

This book has been one of the most influential in my life. Camus uses the premise of a town infected by the plague and quarantined from the rest of the world to explore some of the great philosophical questions. I find his exploration of religion very astute--that God is either not able to prevent evil and is thus not omnipotent or that God is all powerful and thus condones evil. Either option to Camus is a God not worthy of worship.

Many people read The Stranger and think Camus is a pessimist,...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Eman salem rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

يروي البير كامو قصة مدينة مع الطاعون بدايةً من ظهوره وحتى انحساره القصة التي يرويها طبيب عاصر الاحداث من بدايتها الى نهايتها ، مع ان الرواية مشهورة ويوجد بها الكثير من الافكار فيما يتعلق بالقدر والايمان والموت والحياة وآراء متعددة حول كل من هذه المواضيع ومع ورود بعض الجمل التي تستحق الاقتباس الا انها مملة ، لم استطع ايجاد عيب فيها ، لكنها ليست ممتعة .. عموماً لا بأس من قراءتها . فكرة اخيرة طرحها الكاتب وهي الطاعون كرمز مقارباً بين مرض الطاعون الحقيقي بعوارضه المعروفة و الطاعون كفكرة موجودة في ال...more

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May 23, 2008 Michael Austin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In every literary and artistic movement, I believe, there is one work that stands out as 1) a representative of everything that the movement stands for; and 2) a work of art that can be enjoyed on its own merits by people who do not like, or agree with, the movement that it represents. For me, "I Will Survive" fills this role for disco music; "Spirited Away" fills it for Japanese Anime, and THE PLAGUE does it for French existentialism.

THE PLAGUE makes largely the same argument as THE STRANGER a...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Krishan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ANYONE

A great novel, one of the best I have read.

The Plague tells story of a small town in Algeria that is nearly destroyed by an epidemic of bubonic plague. The people of the town are only dimly aware of the plague as it begins, and once it takes hold, most are too apathetic or weak or confused to fight it. The events are viewed through the eyes of a doctor, and we see all humanity, at its best and worst: loving, killing, sharing, stealing, embracing and suffering.
Written in 1948, It is a parable f...more

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Feb 02, 2009 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's difficult to review a book like this. There is no denying the brilliance of Camus as a writer and philosopher. He wrote with conviction, eloquence, and passion. His characters arouse sympathy and compassion as they struggle through tragic circumstances in a meaningless world. Herein, though, lies the problem. He presupposes a life of meaninglessness in a chance existence, and constructs his philosophy around that presupposition. He understands at least some of the consequences of his positi...more It's difficult to review a book like this. There is no denying the brilliance of Camus as a writer and philosopher. He wrote with conviction, eloquence, and passion. His characters arouse sympathy and compassion as they struggle through tragic circumstances in a meaningless world. Herein, though, lies the problem. He presupposes a life of meaninglessness in a chance existence, and constructs his philosophy around that presupposition. He understands at least some of the consequences of his position, and his stories and novels are suffused with the resulting despair.

The medium for communicating the absurdity and despair of a meaningless world in The Plague is a mediocre city by the name of Orun. There is nothing remarkable about it or its inhabitants. They represent a cross-section of humanity, people in different stages of life, the eccentrics, the mundane, the winners, the losers, the healthy, the sick, the rich, the poor. Regardless of their stage or station in life, however, there is a sense of plodding dully through their lives that exists beneath whatever veneer they are able to construct for themselves. This veneer is peeled back by an outbreak of bubonic plague, which quickly isolates the people of the city in a state of quarantine.

The plague begins slowly, infecting only a few people at first. As time passes, more and more people are infected and the death toll rises. The plague strips the veneer from the citizens and exposes the one thing that all mankind has in common; we are all destined to die. Concern becomes fear, but never gives way to panic. Part of the genius and attractiveness of the novel can be found at this point. The people of the city, cut off from the outside world and faced with an epidemic that reveals their mortality do not descend into despair. They pull together in various acts of solidarity. They do not so much try to find meaning in the plague as they decide to fight against it despite the meaninglessness of it.

There is a heroism in this decision that inspires sympathy for the characters. As the plague wears on for months on end with no respite, they continue to fight for their lives as individuals and as a community. One cannot help but admire them as they endure terrible random suffering. This is not the only theme that Camus explores in the novel. Far from it. He ponders the cruelty of pain inflicted on the innocent, the inability of religion to answer the questions of existence, and much more. The Plague functions well on many levels simultaneously.

So why only three stars? The reason lies in Camus’ pre-supposition that life is absurd and meaningless. A marvelous statue built on a flawed foundation is compromised by that foundation. The same goes for Camus’ writing. As eloquent, articulate, intelligent and passionate as he was, he was also wrong, and could not truly follow his pre-supposition to its conclusion. If existence is meaningless and all is absurdity, then there is no reason to find dignity in the fight against death. This search for dignity is a thread that runs through much of Camus’ work, but why bother? Dignity is meaningless in an absurd world. Reason and logic have no place and cannot even be said to exist. If all is absurdity, then the very word “reason” is empty and devoid of anything. It may trigger an emotional reaction based on reminiscing about a time when there was meaning, but reason itself cannot exist. Based on his presupposition, then, The Plague can ultimately have no meaning and can offer us nothing. I reject that premise. As such, though I recognize the artistic merits of the novel, those merits are compromised by a profound misunderstanding of the nature of reality.
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Feb 13, 2012 M. Özgür rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

En etkili yerlerinden birinde, "Mektup yazmaktan duyulan hafif sevinç bile elimizden alınmıştı" (Meme la regere satisfaction d'ecrire nous fut refusee) diyordu anlatıcı, mektupların gideceği yerlere enfeksiyon riskini taşımasından dolayı. Ve devam ediyordu, "Telgraflar bizim tek kaynağımız olarak kaldı. Akıl, yürek ve tenle birbirine bağlanan varlıklar, on sözcüklük bir telgrafın büyük harflerinde o eski birlikteliğin işaretlerini arayacak hale geldiler...." (Les telegrammes resterent alors notr...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Mehdi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The plague of Albert Camus is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, the writer who wrote that novel while in Algeria, Oran during the Nazi’s occupation of France, nonetheless Albert Camus didn’t get into explaining the suffering that the war have brought as sadness and torment to his native country, he went far beyond that by choosing one the most fatal disease that a human being may have which is the merciless PLAGUE EPIDEMIC.

The story is set Algeria 1960, the plague took place and changed the...more The plague of Albert Camus is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, the writer who wrote that novel while in Algeria, Oran during the Nazi’s occupation of France, nonetheless Albert Camus didn’t get into explaining the suffering that the war have brought as sadness and torment to his native country, he went far beyond that by choosing one the most fatal disease that a human being may have which is the merciless PLAGUE EPIDEMIC.

The story is set Algeria 1960, the plague took place and changed the way all the inhabitants of the city were living, to question all what they’ve been doing until that day. In Dr.Rieux Albert Camus unfold us his novel, in a objective way, through the critical and simplistic reasoning that doctor had throughout the story.

The epidemic certainly frightened all the inhabitants of the city, and pushed them to start questioning themselves, therefore their existence, what have they achieved so far in their lives to regret the death that they may face at any moment. In death people fear the utmost, in death we can’t answer the mysteries of our mortality, in death we’re taking accounts of what we’ve done so far in this life and how appreciate life and make it even better if you’re to be set alive.

The death shatters the convictions, touches the important constituents of our existence, Albert Camus protagonist Dr.Rieux is objectively included in the story as Albert Camus himself, You can feel his spontaneity in dealing with the problems that he might encounter, he sees things from top, and doesn’t get frightened by the epidemic as much as he is so eager to help the people, to cure them if possible.
The novel has many different sub-topics in itself, for instance, the science Vs religion (Dr.rieux vs Paneloux), wherein Albert Camus dared to defend the rationality and the objectivity of science as a ‘’religion’’ to help people find a meaning for their lives, and question the absurdity of a world that has left people bewildered in its sinister mystery.

There are even those who found there joys in experiencing the pestilence, and found that the society is better now under that fatal disease as Albert Camus perfectly embodied this feature in cottar’s character, and who towards the beginning of the story was isolated, anti-social, unfit inside the society, subsequently after the plague took place he started to see that the society has now something in common, whereupon, the citizens socially and involuntary share, and so to dismiss and discard all the nonsense that were taking place during the normal, candid, boring life.

All in all, the plague is a reminder that Human beings should not take their life for granted, they should give a meaning to it, a conviction, and a standpoint towards what is surrounding them. Moreover, one can see that nature might bring us unpredictable phenomenon that may dumbfound us, but with evolving through it, understanding it, grasping its essence, human life will thus have a brighter existential meaning.
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Jan 04, 2009 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french

For some reason, I didn't like La Peste nearly as much I had expected. In fact, I found it pretentious and annoying. Maybe I should re-read it... I have a feeling I missed something. My thoughts during the first reading were that he was way too pleased with himself for having been a hero of the Resistance, and that I no longer found it very odd that Sartre had had a major falling out with him which ended with them no longer speaking to each other.

*************************************************...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those interested in philosophy, sociology, rockin' infectious diseases

You can look at this book in several different ways, many of which involve really big words that make my brain hurt. Straightforwardly, it's a "mostly" engrossing tale of a town isolated from the world and in the grip of pestilence. Metaphorically, sociologically, philosophically, OWWW... see, there it goes. How do you even begin to talk about something like this? "The Plague" is one of those books you can keep in your head for years, realizing new aspects or layers to it without ever even picki...more You can look at this book in several different ways, many of which involve really big words that make my brain hurt. Straightforwardly, it's a "mostly" engrossing tale of a town isolated from the world and in the grip of pestilence. Metaphorically, sociologically, philosophically, OWWW... see, there it goes. How do you even begin to talk about something like this? "The Plague" is one of those books you can keep in your head for years, realizing new aspects or layers to it without ever even picking it up again.
The surface plot isn't what I would call riveting. After a while the crushing decimation of the populace begins to wear on you, and you grow tired of hearing about the darn disease alread... OH! Hey look- you're engrossed in the situation sharing the character's suffering! It's an interesting technique, and makes it hard to think of realistically describing such a situation any other way, but it does make the story drag at times.
The characters are interesting, but it's difficult to relate to them. The effect is hard to describe, but you find yourself thinking more about the IDEA of the characters more than the characters themselves. This works great for the sociological/philosophical aspects of the book that are so intertwined with the narrative, but makes for an awkward relationship at times. Instead of cheering for, or despising anyone, you end up thinking about the role they play and what it means. The only time I remember really feeling for one of the characters was when the "dude who does the thing over and over" almost goes to... "you know" (in a desperate attempt to avoid spoiling anything). Even when the suffering of the child was described in terrible detail, I found myself thinking with cold detachment, "Hmm... yesss, how WOULD it look to see a little person in such agony?" It was rather chilling, and I don't think I want to see even fictional people in that way. I can admire the technique without necessarily liking it.
As a bit of narrative philosophy, "The Plague" works great. I found it much easier to read 50 pages of something with a story around it than 10 of extremely dense logical abstract reasoning. The delivery of very large ideas including: society, life, death, evil, good, religion, obligation, love, attachment, humanity, etc. etc. etc. (Wow, not even sure I realized how many ideas were in this thing) through the narrative is very effective. Things are happening. People deal with them. Seems clear enough, until you walk away and start wondering, "What do I owe my fellow man?" "Where did those relationships come from?" "How is my relationship with one different from another, if it even is?" "What morality drives that?" "What God does or does not provide the foundation of good and evil for that morality?" "Do I want tacos, or a burrito?" (at some point, you DO have to stop thinking about the book).
Sociologically, I'm still trying to sort out just the questions asked. On the one hand you have judgments against the herd mentality, which you see in action. On the other, every time things boil down to the individual, things get interesting. So which are we poor humans? Stupid, mindlessly acting and slaughtered cattle- mere fodder to make a point? Or are we stoically rational beasts capable of compassion and independent thought/morality? Both? Neither? Circumstantial? Who knows. I certainly don't feel any closer, but at least I'm chewing the cud on it still.
All in all, I liked this book a great deal. It made me think, and that makes me happy. From the technique, to the plot, to the characters, it was interesting without being jarringly unfamiliar. As a testament to how much I'm still thinking about some aspects of the book, I entered the name "Tarrou" when I won a high score on a barroom video game. Now THAT'S academia!(less)

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May 13, 2008 Wendi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Tina

What an interesting novel. Sarah had to point out to me how it is a metaphor of the Nazi's and the concentration camps. I read it totally at face value. I just wasn't interested in looking for metaphors.

I like the sociological aspects of the story: how the people react to being locked into their town; how other people use the plague to their advantage while their neighbors suffer; how others realize that the only thing to really do is fight the plague and it's effects.

I love the characters Tar...more

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Nov 30, 2007 Hadisad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

وقتی از کودکیم فقط فکر نکردن همراهم هست...
طاعون، کامو، فصل یکی مانده به آخر، وقتی مردمِ ماه ها قرنطینه ی شهر طاعون زده، جشن رهایی را با باز دیدن عزیزان دور ماندشان هستند:

" ... آن ها با خیال راحت و به رغم همه بدیهیات، آشنایی ما را با آن دنیای دیوانه واری که در آن مرگ انسان مانند مرگ مگس ها عادی بود، با آن وحشیگری مسلم و آن هذیان حساب شده، با آن گرفتاری و زندانی که خود را در تجاوز به همه چیز آزاد می شمرد و با آن بوی مرگ که اگر کسی را نمی کشت مبهوتش می ساخت انکار می کردند. و بالاخره انکار می کردند...more

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Jun 19, 2007 behemothing rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Au restaurant de l'hôtel, il y a toute une famille bien intéressante. Le père est un grand home maigre, habillé du noir, avec un col dur. Il a le milieu du crâne chauve et deux touffes de cheveuc gris, à droite et à gauche. Des petits yeux ronds et durs, un nez mince, une bouche horizontale, lui donnent l'air d'une chouette bien élevée. Il arrive toujours le premier à la porte du restaurant, s'efface, laisse passer sa femme, menue comme une souris noire, et entre alors avec, sur les talons, un p...more

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Dec 05, 2007 Funk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Insightful character sketches of citizens in a town called Oran beleaguered by the plague.

"In the early days when they thought this epidemic much like other epidemics, religion held its ground. But once these people realized their instant peril, they gave their thoughts to pleasure. And all their hideous fears that stamp their face in the daytime are transformed in the fiery dusty nightfall into a sort of hectic exaltation, an unkempt freedom fevering their blood". - Tarrou

"Paneloux is a man of...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, fiction, french

The universe doesn't care about you. You will strive for human connection, but you will die alone. There is no sense in suffering; it is not rational. You have an expiration date.

This is a great study of how different personalities respond to suffering. Some succumb, some fight, some detect the scent of divinity.

See also: Suttree, The Book of Job.

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Mar 27, 2008 Benjamin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Philosophical types

Camus is my other favorite author, along with Dostoevsky. I've read The Stranger and The Fall, as well as most of his nonfiction philosophical treatise The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus' absurdist philosophy is one that I identify with, and I think this philosophy is at its most effective in The Plague. The character of Dr. Rieux is one example of the "absurd hero" who, against all odds and perhaps even logic, fights on against a seemingly indefatigable force. The absurd, at its core, is the nexus of...more

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Mar 06, 2008 Mara rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No one at the moment....

Recommended to Mara by: Ms. Rhode's Modern Thought & Lit class (10th grade)

Shelves: classics, reviewed

This book was probably the most depressing book I've ever read in my life...not to mention the heavy creep factor involved. Granted, I read it in high school and wasn't really enjoying the existential unit of our Modern Thought & Lit class. It might have been all that pre-existing teen angst and sense of impending doom and hopelessness though.... Maybe if I reread it, I'd appreciate it more on an intellectual level. But at the time, it just grossed me out and made everything in life seem hop...more

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Sep 09, 2008 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A sensitively written piece of literature examining the strength and weaknesses of the human spirit and ultimately a study in humanity. Bound together by a common tragedy (the plague itself), the reader sees through the eyes of an array of characters, each with their own philosophies and convictions and ways of handling the stress that the plague brings upon the town. This is a philosophical tale sure to leave the reader with much to think on upon its conclusion.

I enjoyed this book, found the la...more

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Feb 24, 2009 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is honestly the single greatest book I've ever read.
It's a slow and flawless build-up to a chilling final paragraph that left me stunned for hours after I finished the novel.

I could read it hundreds of times and never grow tired of it.

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Dec 12, 2007 Núria rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mios, 2-ni-fu-ni-fa, literatura-en-frances, siglo-xx

Pues no, 'La plaga' no me gustó. Creo que es una buena idea que en forma de relato corto podría haber quedado bien, pero que no da para una novela. Para mi gusto le sobran páginas y páginas y páginas y páginas. Creo que con muchas menos ya habríamos pillado todo el rollo de comparar la plaga con la ocupación nazi y también el rollo de lo implacable que es el horror y lo futil que es luchar contra él. La historia se alarga innecesariamente y se vuelve repetitiva y tediosa. Y los personajes son si...more

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Jun 13, 2007 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: justdamngood

Albert Camus is a compassionate writer whose flowing style and optimism make him a joy to read. While his most read novel, The Stranger, is one that portrays the negative possibilities of living in a world without any given meaning, The Plague shows us just the opposite- that there can be purpose when none seems to exist. A plague has struck the town of Oran, Algeria, and the story follows five main characters as they struggle to face the total isolation imposed upon them by this. An allegory fo...more

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Jul 07, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is difficult to see why "The Stranger" seems to be such a far more common requirement in high school and college than the vastly superior "The Plague;" the latter does such a better job of illustrating Camus' philosophy on the human condition (call it existentialism if you must) and is much more poignant in its descriptions of love, decency, and freedom. Despite the seemingly oppressive subject matter, Camus manages to convey tenderness without being overly sentimental, and showcases reality...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wasn't blown away by this one. It takes a look at how a society reacts to suddenly facing its collective mortality. It's framed as a completely objective account, and though there are a few poignant moments, Camus doesn't provide enough personal connection with the characters to make the story compelling. I expected the book to be horrifying, and I was left lukewarm. Notable, though, that Camus seems to have a fairly optimistic view of people's capacity to work together for the common good (a su...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Ilhem marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: لم-أكملها, أمتلكها

entre Camus et Oran , une histoire pleine d’évènements

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Jan 14, 2008 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

written in 1948, the story of a port town in the south of France that becomes stricken with bubonic plague and quarantined. i learned that a boring story about ordinary people can be amazingly fascinating and interesting. There are no plot turns, there is no suspense...no good-guys or bad-guys...but i got to know and like all the characters so well, I hated putting the book down, and eagerly anticipated picking it up again. when i finished the book, i was sad...i felt i was saying goodbye to som...more

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About Albert Camus

Albert Camus was an Algerian-born French author, philosopher, and journalist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He is often cited as a proponent of existentialism (the philosophy that he was associated with during his own lifetime), but Camus himself rejected this particular label. Specifically, his views contributed to the rise of the more current philosophy known as absurdis...more

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Quotes from The Plague

“I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.” — 443 people liked it

“And he knew, also, what the old man was thinking as his tears flowed, and he, Rieux, thought it too: that a loveless world is a dead world, and always there comes an hour when one is weary of prisons, of one's work, and of devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart.” — 212 people liked it

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