Reviews - Rutto | The StoryGraph

4.48k reviews for:

It's been over five years since I read The Plague, and it is still my favourite book. The writing is excellent, the characters really come alive, there is humour and sadness and moments of awe. There is the human condition and a great gripping narrative. And on top of all this, the quarantined town where many give in but a dedicated band risk their lives to fight the plague is an excellent a multi-layered allegory for the Nazi occupation of France. Truly a book that succeeds on so many levels; The Stranger pales in comparison.

bananabell's review against another edition

Like a long slow monotonous tread in l i m bo , which is what a plague feels like. Style was very documentarian and dry but not without instances of humanity. Camus’ love for people keeps the story together, evinced in the few moments of life and warmth, as well as his elegant/sharp/ haunting descriptions (which are also unfortunately too few in number). *Kinda spoiler* the long sigh of relief as the plague receded I felt, too. Not sure I can say I’ve felt something so resolute and transitional but I can certainly understand the relief. The narrator refuses to give into ‘abstractions’ but nevertheless ends up formulating a philosophy which encompasses a whole way of seeing the world. All about how to just tread on in an attempt to be a middling saint or healer. Noble, but not fully convincing in hope. All in all, respect to Camus for chronicling what is not an easy thing to document compared to its other sinister parallel, war, and its purgatory of morbid boredom.

maxmerkel's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

danto's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The neutrality of the tone is almost brutally cold, yet the book still manages to be deeply touching. Also read this during the covid-pandemic - the parallels were wild (given the book is written in 1947).