The Plague – Albert Camus
// February 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // books, reading, review
A plague strikes a small town in Northern Africa. The trials and tribulations of different characters and how they respond to adversity. The ability of a community to persevere in the face of destruction. The disease tests the mettle of men and how some give up and others rise up.
I like the build up to the epidemic. It starts with the vermin dying away. The townspeople realize this is an evil omen. The first case is considered an oddity and authorities don’t pay any attention. But gradually the enormity of their troubles dawns upon them – the lucky and the resourceful are rushed away, while the determined, the poor and the expendable stay to endure.
The epidemic is the protagonist. The disease follows the known pattern. There is the first wave that chokes the town in grief and then slowly the people learn to live with the disease chewing them away. There is a lull in the disease and the spirits are up but the disease fights, the more virulent strain hits back. There is always that ambiguous hope of a vaccine. The disease finally fades away, the scars from the town are cleaned away, the ones etched into the minds of survivors remains.
Its a short intense novel.
