The Plague“Its relevance lashes you across the face.” —Stephen Metcalf, The Los Angeles Times • “A redemptive book, one that wills the reader to believe, even in a time of despair.” —Roger Lowenstein, The Washington Post A haunting tale of human resilience and hope in the face of unrelieved horror, Albert Camus' iconic novel about an epidemic ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature. 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 a few, like Dr. Rieux, resist the terror. An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France's suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence. |
From inside the book
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Page 173
... body was forbidden , with the result that a person dying in the evening spent the night alone , and those who died in the daytime were promptly buried . Needless to say , the family was notified , but in most cases , since the deceased ...
... body was forbidden , with the result that a person dying in the evening spent the night alone , and those who died in the daytime were promptly buried . Needless to say , the family was notified , but in most cases , since the deceased ...
Page 214
... body . Suddenly it stiffened , and seemed to give a little at the waist , as slowly the arms and legs spread out X - wise . From the body , naked under an army blanket , rose a smell of damp wool and stale sweat . The boy had gritted ...
... body . Suddenly it stiffened , and seemed to give a little at the waist , as slowly the arms and legs spread out X - wise . From the body , naked under an army blanket , rose a smell of damp wool and stale sweat . The boy had gritted ...
Page 289
... body and he now was spitting blood . The ganglia had ceased swelling , but they were still there , like lumps of iron embedded in the joints . Rieux decided that lancing them was impracticable . Now and then , in the in- tervals between ...
... body and he now was spitting blood . The ganglia had ceased swelling , but they were still there , like lumps of iron embedded in the joints . Rieux decided that lancing them was impracticable . Now and then , in the in- tervals between ...
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Common terms and phrases
Albert Camus ambulance anyhow asthma began Bois de Boulogne Booker Prize breath café called camp Castel coming concierge Cottard crowd dark dead rats death disease doctor door entered epidemic exile eyes face Father Paneloux feeling fellow citizens felt fever FLAUBERT'S PARROT followed gates gave gazed going Gonzales Grand hand heard heart hope horse hoofs hospital hour idea journalist knew light living looked mind morning mother narrator never night once Oran Othon patient pestilence Philip Roth picture plague pneumonic plague police Prefect quarantine quicklime railway directory Rambert realized Rieux asked Rieux replied round sanitary seemed silence smile sort sound street streetcars suffering talking Tarrou asked tell there's thing thought told took town townsfolk trying turned voice waiting walked walls week wife window words