Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12363 in Books
• Published on: 1972-02-25
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 278 pages

Customer Reviews

LA MEJOR NOVELA DE CAMUS
A review by Luciano Lupini.Camus reached fame with his elaborations about the concept of the absurd (the purposeless search of the meaning of existence in a universe void of any)in three works: The Stranger, a novel; Caligula, a teathrical opus; and The Myth of Sisyphus, a recopilation of philosophical essays.
In his second famous novel, The Plague, we find a different Camus. Perhaps, more concerned about moral values and solidarity between human beings, in the face of massive destruction.

The plot of the novel unfolds in the city of Oran, Algeria. The central image has to do with a rat invasion that causes a plague epidemy, with disastrous consecuences. Here we find metaphorically portraited the invasion by the Nazis in 1943 of non occupied France (Camus said that the Nazis came like rats).
Then we find a description of the evolution of the plague, the reaction of the authorities (at first, self denial), the progressive isolation of the town from outside world, and on the onset the "normalization" of the tragedy (people grow accostumed to live with it, and become zombies). After the evolution and the growth of the problem, the inhabitants become completely isolated from the outside, and become prisoners in the inside, due to the drastic measures taken by the authorities. The plague becomes a collective problem that requires recognition and reaction by all. We have here a clear metaphorical reference to the need of a collective reaction to the Vichy government by all the citizens. The call to participate and react becomes a moral issue. Camus then describes with certain detail the soccer stadium where people are forcibly concentrated by the authorities, and this is an allusion to the Nazi concentration camps. More than the persons, the protagonist of this novel is the city.
In the sense that the values of solidarity and participation against a common disaster or enemy are called for, this novel is much more developed, from an ethical standpoint, than The Stranger.

Albert Camus' "La Peste"
I found 'La Peste' to be a novel of incredible intelligence and depth. Camus provides us with an intriguing insight into his strong philosophic beliefs and feelings, especially towards religion and at the same time takes us on a painful and astounding journey. To place it in the 'tragedy' genre seems almost inadequate.

La Peste - forever unique, poignant, transcends age and time
I first read La Peste under duress as a 17 year old for my French A levels in 1988. I remember so clearly putting off the reading of this foreign book. A month later, with almost all other subjects pushed aside, I was converted. There is one moment in the book where as a hardened 17 year old, I burst into tears whose stains remain on that page until this day (I won't spoil it for you who have not read it).
This book awakened my love for foreign literature. I am now 40 and I still love to re-read this classic, such is the power of not just the storytelling in that moment, but the story construction, characters, content and nuances. Each scene is vivid, each emotion real.
My life has moved around the world - as well as around the UK - since 1988, but wherever I have gone La Peste has come with me. Impossible to convey on film, the characters come alive in your mind so clearly, the scenes exquisitely described and you are there, in the middle of it all. Camus not only created a masterpiece in writing this classic, he produced a book that nothing has surpassed since.
For TV buffs, this is literature's equivalent to "The Wire" or "Faulty Towers". For Film critics, this is your Casablanca.
Today's authors should read (weep) and learn...........