La Peste (Folio Series, 42)

… is a small village in the high rugged southcentral mountainous region of France called the Auvergne. During the Second World War Albert Camus lived in this village for approximately a year, and wrote one of his most famous works, “The Plague.” The novel is set on the other side of the Mediterranean, in the port city of Oran, in then French Algeria. The novel is set in the 1940’s, and appears to be based on a cholera epidemic that devastated Oran in the prior century, in 1849.Oran is ugly, says Camus. There is no design to it. There is no greenery. It is all about business, and making money. The population is approximately 200,000. The novel can be read at several levels. There is, simply, the Public Health issue of a plague epidemic. Camus seemed to know this issue fairly well. He cites several historical precedents. He knows the pathology of the disease itself, and how it might mutate. There is the initial denial of the problem, particularly by the non-medical authorities, who do not want to “create panic” (always a worthwhile goal) in the population. But denial usually leads to a delay in undertaking the appropriate prophylactic and counter measures. Are sufficient vaccines available, and are they of the right genetic strain? Misinformation repeatedly sweeps through the population, since the authorities repeatedly attempt to “spin” their own version of events. And then how does it finally end? Sometimes the plague killed virtually everyone in a city. Most famously, the “Black Death” of the 14th century killed a third of Europe’s population. Camus uses the figure of 100 million deaths throughout human history due to the plague. Like so much of life in general, there are simple so many unknowns on how the plague bacillus spreads through a population. More recent epidemics, such as AIDS and Ebola came to mind, which have followed a similar trajectory of outbreak, spread, countermeasure, and eventual subsidence, with reservoirs remaining, as Camus reminds us, set to irrupt again under the right circumstances.It is an absurd world! (And recent events have made it even a bit more absurd!) Camus, who would win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, was famous for contributing to a philosophy known as absurdism. How does a rationale person live, in a world without a god, and deal honorable with so much absurdity?This novel address the issue of absurdity. Camus populates the novel with 15-20 characters. The story is told from the point of view of a “narrator,” whose identity is only revealed at the end. There is Father Paneloux, a Jesuit, who preaches in the grand cathedral to overflow crowd, tells the Biblical stories of the plague in Egypt and blames the people’s sins for god’s wrath. He too would have his hour of trial, and he seeks god’s salvation, and eschews the more earthly remedies. There is Raymond Rambert, a reporter and a non-native of Oran, who is caught in the city when the gates are shut, so that no one can leave, and spread the plague to other locales. He plots, and schemes on ways of getting back to Paris to see his girlfriend. He is a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Which side, he is asked? “The side that lost.” He has had enough of struggles, and yet when he has the actual opportunity to leave, stays, to fight another “good fight” thereby providing meaning to his life. There is the thin, gawky city functionary, Joseph Grand, who faithfully records the statistics that are the quantitative measure of the impact of the plague.The main character, Dr. Bernard Rieux, is an admirable one. No grand outlook. Simple a good doctor, whose calling has lead him to fight the disease, treat the patients, even at serious risk to himself. When others whine about separation from love ones, he never mentions his own separation from his wife, who lives outside the walls. It is the small daily acts of good, like visiting the old asthmatic patient who is one of the survivors, that provides the necessary meaning to his life.It has been a long overdue reading of a classic work. For it was a quarter century after the fictional depiction of the plague in Oran that I would personally have to deal with the plague. As a Medical Corpsman in Vietnam I gave approximately 200-300 inoculations against the plague to the men in my unit. The concern about the plague was not “abstract,” and there were always those above cited rumors of cases occurring and yes, like the authorities in Oran, the American military censored all talk of the disease (not wanting to “create panic”). What was not “abstract” were the rats, and they were our daily living companions. We had the ability and did practice the proper field sanitation to prevent cholera. But we did not have the ability to properly dispose and bury all kitchen waste which was simple dumped outside the firebase, in the open, and proved to be a wonderful breeding-ground for our furry friends. Just like something out of the Middle Ages. I never saw an actual case of the plague, nor even a “suspected” one as Rieux might cautiously classify. A recent internet search confirmed that the plague was widespread in South Vietnam by 1970, and there were eight confirmed cases of American soldiers, who had been inoculated, contracting the disease.Camus’ work resonated strongly. A much overdue read. 5-stars, plus.

Classic story of a city cut off from the world because of a plague epidemic, and how its citizens come to terms with the situation. Usually seen as an allegory for Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the story. The writing is notable for its neutral, observation-driven tone, without embellishments to convey emotion or beauty.

Sad to read, but the story is so well and thoroughly told it feels like one is there on the Algerian coast. Really enjoyed reading it in French.

Characters living in Oran count bodies while waiting for the quarantine to be lifted. The local government and administrators do not get much help from the outside or the climate. Rats are not our friends, the animals or the human impersonators of rats.

I bought this book because we are in the midst of a pandemic. Written in the 1950's and fiction, it amazingly reflects how our lives have been changed by Covid. It was reassuring to read it. And it is a great way to practice your French!

One of the great classic novels. While not an easy read and with a perspective that may be hard to follow in the age of the Iphones, should probably be read by most people.

This is one of my favorite books. A must read!

Good copy, good condition!

an excellent study in human psychology. Very well written, his best book. Don't waste your time with "La Chute" or "L'etranger", they do not hold a candle to La Peste.I very much enjoyed this read.

Em relação ao escritor argelino, Camus, não preciso fazer sequer uma avaliação: sensacional. Muito menos sobre esta obra, A Peste, que é extremamente atual em tempos pandêmicos. Um ponto a ser observado é que apesar deste estilo de livro de "bolso" ser ótimo para a leitura, com tamanho bom das letras também, quando terminada a leitura fica como na foto que eu postei. No mínimo destruído.

Produit conforme a la description

Ho acquistato questo libro in versione francese. La misura del libro è adeguata e anche i caratteri sono piuttosto grandi.

Ce livre, comme toutes les œuvres de Camus, incite à la réflexion. Ceux qui s'intéressent à la philosophie de cet auteur doivent l'avoir lu.