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 224
... speak , with our backs to the wall . Indeed , we all were up against the wall that plague had built around us , and in its lethal shadow we must work out our salvation . He , Father Paneloux , refused to have recourse to simple devices ...
... speak , with our backs to the wall . Indeed , we all were up against the wall that plague had built around us , and in its lethal shadow we must work out our salvation . He , Father Paneloux , refused to have recourse to simple devices ...
Page 271
... speaking , the epidemic was in retreat all along the line ; the official communiqués , which had at first encouraged no ... speak , achieved its purpose . Nevertheless , it seemed as if nothing had changed in the town . Silent as ever by ...
... speaking , the epidemic was in retreat all along the line ; the official communiqués , which had at first encouraged no ... speak , achieved its purpose . Nevertheless , it seemed as if nothing had changed in the town . Silent as ever by ...
Page 302
... speak for all . But there was at least one of our townsfolk for whom Dr. Rieux could not speak , the man of whom Tarrou said one day to Rieux : " His only real crime is that of having in his heart approved of something that killed off ...
... speak for all . But there was at least one of our townsfolk for whom Dr. Rieux could not speak , the man of whom Tarrou said one day to Rieux : " His only real crime is that of having in his heart approved of something that killed off ...
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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