In 1947, Camus published “The Plague.” The book is less a diagnosis of the bubonic plague — the disease of its title — than it is of the totalitarian plagues of the 20th century. With Nazism just extinguished and communism newly resurgent, the book became a bestseller. Its popular success, along with the critical success of “The Stranger,” published during the German occupation, made Camus into the poster boy for French existentialism — a term Camus always rejected, but that nevertheless clings to his life and work. The novels plot is simple: Bubonic plague strikes the Algerian city of Oran. Quarantined and isolated from the rest of the world, the citys inhabitants at first struggle to accept their transformed reality, then seek ways to resist. Given the force of the diseases spread — the body count climbs relentlessly during the torrid summer months — resistance seems futile. Even the novels narrator, the dedicated Dr. Bernard Rieux, downplays the impact of the sanitation teams in Oran in stemming the plagues advance.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 15:19:51 +0000
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