The Plague, by Albert Camus

The Plague is a 1947 novel written by French author Albert Camus which explores various characters' reactions to the onset of Bubonic plague in a small Algerian village. The populace displays a wide range of emotion towards the epidemic, with denial seen as the first response by almost all characters. This gives way to avoidance and complacency in many to downright collusion and profit for a few.  The heroes, if there really are any in this novel, are those that stand up to fight the plague's spread and heal the afflicted. Indeed, the author's final conclusion on the human condition is that “there is more to admire than to despise” - just.

The Plague can be seen as an allegory to the German occupation of France during World War II although the novel treats these events as nonexistent. It seems as if each sentence has at least two meanings, one standard fiction and another an oblique reference to the French leaders and populaces' resistance to Nazi occupation, or, in many cases, lack thereof.  As a French citizen, Camus himself witnessed the spread of Naziism and the fall of France in just 100 days to the shock of seemingly everyone, especially since France had just been victor in a war with Germany just 20 years earlier.

Any way the book is read, it is a pessimistic view on much of society, with the good deeds of a very few only just outweighing the bad of the many. A history buff would certainly like this book, as well as fans of Kafka.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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