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 78
... deaths might not have been due to plague . Also , no one in the town had any idea of the average weekly death - rate in ordinary times . The population of the town was about two hundred thousand . There was no know- ing if the present death ...
... deaths might not have been due to plague . Also , no one in the town had any idea of the average weekly death - rate in ordinary times . The population of the town was about two hundred thousand . There was no know- ing if the present death ...
Page 227
... Death at Marseille were to be trusted , only four of the eighty - one monks in the Mercy Monastery survived the ep- idemic . And of these four three took to flight . Thus far the chronicler , and it was not his task to tell us more than ...
... Death at Marseille were to be trusted , only four of the eighty - one monks in the Mercy Monastery survived the ep- idemic . And of these four three took to flight . Thus far the chronicler , and it was not his task to tell us more than ...
Page 253
Albert Camus. indirectly , for good reasons or for bad , brings death to anyone or justifies others ' putting him to death . " That , too , is why this epidemic has taught me nothing new , except that I must fight it at your side . I ...
Albert Camus. indirectly , for good reasons or for bad , brings death to anyone or justifies others ' putting him to death . " That , too , is why this epidemic has taught me nothing new , except that I must fight it at your side . I ...
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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