ed_moore 's review for:

The Plague by Albert Camus

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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“The plague was no respecter of persons and under its despotic rule everyone, from the Governor down to the humblest delinquent, was under sentence and, perhaps for the first time, impartial justice reigned in the prison” 

‘The Plague’ is an absurdist chronicle of the French-Algerian town of Oran and the effects on its community when it is shut off from the world as the town faces an epidemic. Reading this after living through our own epidemic was really interesting as it shed a light on how the human response to catastrophe is very unchanged; in both Camus’ plague and the reality of Covid-19 it beginning with denial and gradually evolving to an absurdist insanity. Camus also layers this with establishing the plague as an allegory for fascist occupation of France, writing in the aftermath of the Second World War. The characters were on the weaker side however, the protagonist Rieux having very little development and more serving as an access point (being a doctor) to the many branches of community in Oran. The ending sequence of events also felt very different in tone to the rest of the book and that it didn’t really fit. It seemed to undermine the primary themes and would’ve been a stronger work if it ended a few pages sooner.