- Mass Market Paperback: 278 pages
- Publisher: Gallimard; 1 edition (25 Feb 1972)
- Language French
- ISBN-10: 2070360423
- ISBN-13: 978-2070360420
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 16.5 x 1.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 187,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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...........
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...........
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I studied this text for "A" Level French way back in 1974. I found it very difficult then, both for the language, and for the inherent context. Too young at the time perhaps to fully comprehend the issues that Camus was addressing. At 55 years old now, and being a nurse since I was 18 years old, I far more appreciate the issues of mortality that Camus addresses in his major oeuvre.
I also recommend the commentary text by Jacqueline Levi-Valensi, (folio- foliotheque ISBN 978-2-07-038352-8) ) which has made me appreciate more fully the historical context of the novel.
I also recommend the commentary text by Jacqueline Levi-Valensi, (folio- foliotheque ISBN 978-2-07-038352-8) ) which has made me appreciate more fully the historical context of the novel.
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