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Summary: SARS
Review: I am re-reading this book after studying this in high school many years ago. Back then, I was told that this book described human philosphical struggle against a meaningless universe. Be that as it may, I find this book even more intriguing as we start to deal with the SARS epidemics (April 2003). The similarity between the epidemics described in Camus' book and the Asian SARS epidemics is striking, particularly people's reaction to the crisis. No need to intelluctualize the story and call it a poliltical or philosphical allegory. This book is even more disturbing when it is read as a literal (fictional) documentory.
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Summary: incredibly descriptive
Review: I initially approached The Plague with feelings of apprehension. It looked unapproachable and dense. When I actually got into it, I found it to be very interesting and to have characters that I could sympathize with. I especially liked Doctor Rieux, the narrator. There were some very beautiful descriptions of nature spread throughout. Even as the plague is killing hundreds of people throughout, the characters go on with their lives and endure. Sometimes you can almost feel the isolation and loneliness of the people, locked up in their homes by the plague and their own natures. I guess that Camus was trying to tell the reader that although life is without meaning, people can try to put meaning into it by doing good and working for just causes.
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Summary: Brilliant
Review: The Plague is definitely one of my favorite novels. It is beautifully written and overwhelmingly insightful. Upon reading it I immediately fell in love with the characters and felt great empathy for their situations. Each character is wonderfully portrayed as both tragic and triumphant. Camus aggresively pursues the meaning of life with an unexpectedly optimistic view considering the bleak situation of the novel. One thing that bothers me about the book, and about Camus' work in general is that there are no central or ever particularly relevant female characters. Woman only ever serve as the objects of the males' affection or interest. Despite this bothersome flaw(?) I recommend this novel to everyone interested in the human condition, their fellow man, or perspectives on life.
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Summary: Interesting, but not great...
Review: I wasn't as taken by the Plague as others. The story raised some strong ethical questions had any of us been put into the same circumstances. Unfortunately for me, the plagued itself lingered a bit too long. I never felt a sense of attachment to any of the characters. On the other hand, Camus offers short bursts of great insight regarding the struggles of being human.
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Summary: Definitely Camus
Review: Although this is a classic work of Camus filled with his signature themes (meaninglessness, death, and sunny skies), I cannot share the enthusiasm of many other reviewers. The book is without doubt a classic piece, but I enjoyed A Happy Death (for example) much better. One cannot wonder about how much gets lost in the translation - much seems choppy, bland, and misplaced. To be fair, however, translating great works may indeed be the most impossible literary task there is. Trying to capture the precise meaning of an author is difficult enough in his own tongue; trying to capture it through the translation of another severely weakens the work by definition. All in all, the book is excellent for Camus' priceless take on life, death, humanity, and the meaning(lessness) of it all. Beware, however, because The Plague is no "page-turner," by any long stretch of the imagination. Rather, it is more a testament to human strength and courage, in the author, protagonist, and reader alike.
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Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: The Plague takes place in a quiet little picturesque town which has been besieged by the plague. Albert Camus tells the story from the perspective of a doctor living in that town. Having never personally lived in a town that was quarantined, I cannot verify the factuality of the story, but the picture Camus draws is truly scary. He recounts the doctor's daily experiences from the first few signs of the plague, to the entire town in a panic and uproar, all the way to the plague's mysterious disappearance. It is somewhat gruesome in parts, so if you get a little queasy, this book may not be for you, but if you are interested in how humanity overall faces the prospect of impending death, and it's helplessness before the reaper, this will prove to be an enlightening study.
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Summary: Wake Up Call
Review: In this adroitly crafted morality tale, Camus draws the reader to the following conclusion: it may only be by suffering deeply that Man is capable of truly fathoming the gift of life.Painting a wrenching descent into doom, Camus demonstrates through some very clever case studies how Man too often is willing to choose the path of least resistance in daily living. While "the only true ideas are those of the shipwrecked," it often takes Mankind too much time to unite for the common good, the author suggests, making obvious parallels to the Nazi experience that befell Europe only a few years prior to publication of this novel. Camus weaves his magic subtly, methodically thrusting the reader into a vortex of dark passion, on the premise that discomfort at best, or pure adversity at worst, may be a necessary tonic against complacency. In this way, Camus suggests, The Human Race may finally inch toward living up to expectations - God's, or its Own.
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Summary: Albert Camus, The Plague
Review: I had to read The Plague for my senior AP English class and while I hated everything we had read so far (Kafka, Faulkner), I really enjoyed Camus. We are also going to start The Stranger soon...However, the symbolism in The Plague for the Nazi occupation in WWII was outstanding. There could not have been a better symbolic revolt than this book. The existentialism was great...I loved this book. It was not merely a bad story with huge symbolic meaning, it was a great story with huge symbolic meaning. Anyone would love it, symbolically or not.
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Summary: In the defense of Man's morality in a world without God
Review: Amazing novel, and one that needed to be written. Far to often are those without a god condemn as morally void. But Camus presents us a world where it is not a connection with God that produces moral responsibility, but, rather, the adandonment of man by God. Camus logically shows us that we are a moral animal because we need to be. We are faced with a universe of ultimate absurdity and infinite void. We have no being we can put our trust and faith in but our selves and our fellow man. I really can't stress how wonderful this novel is. It is what one should read after finishing Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (which
is fantastic in it's own right, though I whole heartedly disagree with the philosophy behind it), to see the oposite, more logical, philosophy. Unfortunetly, I must dock off a star for Gilbert's translation, which reads more like Dickens then Camus at some points. In a perfect world Mathew Ward, the brillant translator of the vintage international version of The Stranger, would come out with a translation of the Plague. Oh well, C'est la vie...
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Summary: Albert Camus's The Plague: Devices and Style
Review: Albert Camus's The Plague is set in the 1940s in Oran, a small city on the Algerian coast. Camus's style consists of a moderately complex writing style. Camus's entire novel is centered around the following conflicts: the men's fights with one another, each man's fight with himself, and the town's fight with the plague. Camus also uses the unique approach of concealing the identity of his narrator until the closing chapters of the novel, which allows the novel to close more entertainingly. Camus frequently uses figurative language such as similes and metaphors throughout The Plague. These devices are used by Camus to enhance his vast amount of imagery. Camus's motifs of love, suffering, and exile are apparent throughout the action of the novel. The use of these motifs allows the reader to relate his own life to that of the characters in The Plague. The theme of The Plague is the message that it is possible to find love and hope in the worst of situations.
In conclusion, I believe that Albert Camus did a superb job in writing this novel. He touched every emotion of his audience when he published a novel that centered on love, death, tragedy, and hope.
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