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 26
... standing all the way ; by lining up at the box - office of theaters and then not buying a seat ; and so forth . " Then , immediately following these eccentricities of thought and expression , we come on a detailed description of the ...
... standing all the way ; by lining up at the box - office of theaters and then not buying a seat ; and so forth . " Then , immediately following these eccentricities of thought and expression , we come on a detailed description of the ...
Page 57
... standing beside the dining - table when the doctor entered his room that evening . A detective story lay open on the tablecloth . But the night was closing in and it would have been difficult to read in the growing darkness . Most ...
... standing beside the dining - table when the doctor entered his room that evening . A detective story lay open on the tablecloth . But the night was closing in and it would have been difficult to read in the growing darkness . Most ...
Page 119
... standing on the running - boards and hanging in clus- ters from the handrails . A queer thing is how the passengers all try to keep their backs turned to their neighbors- twisting themselves into grotesque attitudes in the attempt— the ...
... standing on the running - boards and hanging in clus- ters from the handrails . A queer thing is how the passengers all try to keep their backs turned to their neighbors- twisting themselves into grotesque attitudes in the attempt— the ...
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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