Title: The Plague
(Originally written in French)
Setting: Oran, Algeria
Author: Albert Camus
(French-Algerian, 1913-1960)
Originally published: 1947
Page count: 306
Dates read: 7/29/19-8/7/19
2019 book goal progress: 19 out of 41
Back to the Classics category:
Classic From Africa, Asia, Oceania, or Australia. (Novel set there, or author from there.)
Read my other book reviews for the challenge HERE.
Description on back of book:
A gripping tale of unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways humankind confronts death. The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance profoundly relevant to our times. In Oran, a coastal town in North Africa, the plague begins as a series of portents, unheeded by the people. It gradually becomes an omnipresent reality, obliteration all traces of the past and driving its victims to almost unearthly extremes of suffering, madness, and compassion.
First sentence:
"The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194- at Oran."
Favorite quotes:
"When war breaks out, people say: 'It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may well be 'too stupid,' that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a kind of knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves."
"As things are, I'm willing to be as I am; I've learned modesty. All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. I grant we should add a third category: that of the true healers. But it's a fact one doesn't come across many of them, and anyhow it must be a hard vocation."
"The tale he had to tell could not be one of final victory. It could only be the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers."
CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6 - ⭐⭐⭐
Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 6
Writing Style - 6
Plot - 4
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 5
What is a CAWPILE Rating?
Review:
Originally published: 1947
Page count: 306
Dates read: 7/29/19-8/7/19
2019 book goal progress: 19 out of 41
Back to the Classics category:
Classic From Africa, Asia, Oceania, or Australia. (Novel set there, or author from there.)
Read my other book reviews for the challenge HERE.
Description on back of book:
A gripping tale of unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways humankind confronts death. The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance profoundly relevant to our times. In Oran, a coastal town in North Africa, the plague begins as a series of portents, unheeded by the people. It gradually becomes an omnipresent reality, obliteration all traces of the past and driving its victims to almost unearthly extremes of suffering, madness, and compassion.
First sentence:
"The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194- at Oran."
Favorite quotes:
"When war breaks out, people say: 'It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may well be 'too stupid,' that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a kind of knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves."
"As things are, I'm willing to be as I am; I've learned modesty. All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. I grant we should add a third category: that of the true healers. But it's a fact one doesn't come across many of them, and anyhow it must be a hard vocation."
"The tale he had to tell could not be one of final victory. It could only be the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers."
CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6 - ⭐⭐⭐
Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 6
Writing Style - 6
Plot - 4
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 5
What is a CAWPILE Rating?
Review:
This is a pretty straitforward and predictable book. It's mostly an overview of how the town changed throughout the different stages of the plague from the gates closing and no one being allowed in or out to denial to panic and anger to despondency and lethargy to tentative hope to the gates opening again. I think I would've enjoyed the book more if it had a closer look into one or two characters instead of such a broad picture.
You do get to see brief glimpses into 5 different characters in the book: Rieux (a doctor), Tarrou (volunteers to help the doctor), Rambert (visiting journalist that gets stuck in Oran), Grand (writer trying to get in touch with a lost love), and Cottard (there's a warrant for his arrest). I would have loved to find out more about all of these characters from before, during, and after the plague. I think Tarrou interested me the most - he's an ex-rebel dealing with an existential crisis and I really wanted to know more of his background and philosophical worldview. I also liked Grand and wanted to know if he was able to get further into his writing.
You don't find out who the narrator is until the very end. I had some guesses, but none were right. I really wanted it to be Grand and that he ditched the fiction book he was struggling to write and wrote The Plague instead, but it wasn't him. We also never discover what Cottard did to have a warrant out for his arrest. The book does end on a sad note (1 of the 5 dies), but that just felt right for the book. It circles back to Tarroa's philosophy of life, which is that the plague is just a metaphor for all the evil in the world. It may seem gone, but it's always there even if dormant and you never know when it will strike again.
With that in mind, I challenge you to go read the "Favorite Quotes" listed above and replace 'pestilences' with 'evil/preditor/bad person/etc.' When they say 'healer' they're talking about people willing to challenge the status quo and change the world for the better.
You do get to see brief glimpses into 5 different characters in the book: Rieux (a doctor), Tarrou (volunteers to help the doctor), Rambert (visiting journalist that gets stuck in Oran), Grand (writer trying to get in touch with a lost love), and Cottard (there's a warrant for his arrest). I would have loved to find out more about all of these characters from before, during, and after the plague. I think Tarrou interested me the most - he's an ex-rebel dealing with an existential crisis and I really wanted to know more of his background and philosophical worldview. I also liked Grand and wanted to know if he was able to get further into his writing.
You don't find out who the narrator is until the very end. I had some guesses, but none were right. I really wanted it to be Grand and that he ditched the fiction book he was struggling to write and wrote The Plague instead, but it wasn't him. We also never discover what Cottard did to have a warrant out for his arrest. The book does end on a sad note (1 of the 5 dies), but that just felt right for the book. It circles back to Tarroa's philosophy of life, which is that the plague is just a metaphor for all the evil in the world. It may seem gone, but it's always there even if dormant and you never know when it will strike again.
With that in mind, I challenge you to go read the "Favorite Quotes" listed above and replace 'pestilences' with 'evil/preditor/bad person/etc.' When they say 'healer' they're talking about people willing to challenge the status quo and change the world for the better.
Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Albert Camus
have the last words:
"The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolance, if they lack understanding. On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. The soul of the murder is blind; and there can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clearsightedness."
have the last words:
"The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolance, if they lack understanding. On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. The soul of the murder is blind; and there can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clearsightedness."
I've always wondered what this book was about. Did you think it was easy to read? Or was it slow going? I haven't chosen my classic from Africa, Asia or Oceania yet, so I'm looking for possibilities. :)
ReplyDeleteThe translation is written in simple language - so it's easy in that sense. It's not that gripping of a tale - I kinda figured there would be characters hanging on the balance and you'd wonder if they'd pull through or not. There's some of that in the end, but not much. If you focus on the 5 characters and how different aspects of them are slowly revealed, then it's pretty decent. The main thing that got me through the book was wanting to find out who the narrator is. Tarrou also opens up about a third of the way through the book and I really liked enjoyed his story. I also considered Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie for this category.
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