The Plague

Deeply depressing but inspiring at the same time. Everyone comes together in times of extroardinary crisis, across belief or non--belief systems, philosophies, opinions go out the window, there is no more room for selfishness, materialism, rivalries, wars, etc.. Everyone is TRULY in the same boat and the OTHER IS YOU.

Amazing

This book was alright. I think it's a good book to read at least once. Very interesting. I liked the history of it.

This is a great book. In many ways I actually find it a hopeful one too. The Stranger presents the reader with a stark portrait of the absurd but offers little or no reprieve. In The Plague Camus's humanism finds its expression in the the character of Dr. Rieux and in the hope Camus places in human solidarity. I was especially touched by the episode where Tarrou and Rieux go swimming. It...more

This is a great book. In many ways I actually find it a hopeful one too. The Stranger presents the reader with a stark portrait of the absurd but offers little or no reprieve. In The Plague Camus's humanism finds its expression in the the character of Dr. Rieux and in the hope Camus places in human solidarity. I was especially touched by the episode where Tarrou and Rieux go swimming. It may be true that our lives have no "meaning" and in the end randomness and chance rather than God or fate shapes our ends nevertheless there is camraderie and genuine pleasure to be had in this life.   hide

I am not going to tell you what this is about. If you haven't read the book this will be of no use to you. My concern is with the humanist aspect. That is, Camus accepts or demands that there is at least a pssiblity for human connectedness. In this way he departs from Sartre in say the book Nausia were Sartre fictionalizes the existential experiance of being in the world. This is a sence of being...more

I am not going to tell you what this is about. If you haven't read the book this will be of no use to you. My concern is with the humanist aspect. That is, Camus accepts or demands that there is at least a pssiblity for human connectedness. In this way he departs from Sartre in say the book Nausia were Sartre fictionalizes the existential experiance of being in the world. This is a sence of being that is essentially rootless were all sense of community or compassion is a social construct. Sartre is important to consider here for the most part because politically these two friends began heading in opposite directions. Camus feared the continuous revolution of Communism and began to cling to what may have been no more than a frail hope that the abstract abillity to reconstruct anothers suffering, stand in anothers boots as it were, was enough to save the us from our selves. The Plague, although frought with doubt, contains just such a thin thread of hope for humanity.   hide

Liked it a lot. There's a good wikipedia article on it for after you read.

An amazing book....as one of the book reviews say "There are things in this book you'll never forget"

This novel is spectacularly well written. Camus does an amazing job, as usual, writing an allegory that is beautiful, yet heartwrenching all the same.

What do you do when evil (death, terror, oppression, plague - you name it) is unleashed upon your once quiet and peaceful world? How do you go about living your life under the shadow of death, when staying alive or catching the bullet / plague is merely a matter of chance? If such an existence is meaningless, then what meaning can you, yourself, construct for it. To me, these are the questions...more

What do you do when evil (death, terror, oppression, plague - you name it) is unleashed upon your once quiet and peaceful world? How do you go about living your life under the shadow of death, when staying alive or catching the bullet / plague is merely a matter of chance? If such an existence is meaningless, then what meaning can you, yourself, construct for it. To me, these are the questions that this book challenges the reader to answer. Dr Rieux is my favorite literary character and The Plague (along with The Fall) is my favorite work of Camus.   hide