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 109
... noticed him hovering round the door of a café , unable to make up his mind to enter . At last he decided to go in and sat down at a table at the back of the room . It was the time when , acting under orders , café - proprietors deferred ...
... noticed him hovering round the door of a café , unable to make up his mind to enter . At last he decided to go in and sat down at a table at the back of the room . It was the time when , acting under orders , café - proprietors deferred ...
Page 204
... noticed that , for the first time since the outbreak of plague , he was smiling . " Then why don't you stop my going ? You could easily manage it . " Rieux shook his head with his usual deliberateness . It was none of his business , he ...
... noticed that , for the first time since the outbreak of plague , he was smiling . " Then why don't you stop my going ? You could easily manage it . " Rieux shook his head with his usual deliberateness . It was none of his business , he ...
Page 222
... noticed to be stumbling over his words . A yet more noteworthy change was that instead of saying " you " he now said " we . " However , his voice grew gradually firmer as he proceeded . He started by recalling that for many a long month ...
... noticed to be stumbling over his words . A yet more noteworthy change was that instead of saying " you " he now said " we . " However , his voice grew gradually firmer as he proceeded . He started by recalling that for many a long month ...
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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