Book Review #115
The Plague
by Albert Camus
Camus' searing tale of a coastal town in North Africa infected with a plague deserves its status as a classic. It manages to be both epic and intimate at the same time. The descriptive passages of illness and death are graphic, painful and occasionally heartbreaking. Camus describes the reactions to the plague by various townspeople in ways that are at times sardonic, existential, melancholy, hopeful yet always relatable and thought provoking. His novel is especially prescient today, as a viral pandemic spreads throughout our world. It forces us to ask ourselves, just as it does Camus' characters, how do we react in a time of crisis, how has our world changed and what kind of world do we want to create once the plague/virus finally leaves us? And who will we be in this new world?
by Albert Camus
Camus' searing tale of a coastal town in North Africa infected with a plague deserves its status as a classic. It manages to be both epic and intimate at the same time. The descriptive passages of illness and death are graphic, painful and occasionally heartbreaking. Camus describes the reactions to the plague by various townspeople in ways that are at times sardonic, existential, melancholy, hopeful yet always relatable and thought provoking. His novel is especially prescient today, as a viral pandemic spreads throughout our world. It forces us to ask ourselves, just as it does Camus' characters, how do we react in a time of crisis, how has our world changed and what kind of world do we want to create once the plague/virus finally leaves us? And who will we be in this new world?
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