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Petra: hiatus, finding it hard to communicate's Reviews > The Plague
The Plague
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Petra: hiatus, finding it hard to communicate's review
bookshelves: 2014-reviews, 2014-read, fiction, reviewed, 10-star-books
May 12, 2014
bookshelves: 2014-reviews, 2014-read, fiction, reviewed, 10-star-books
Read The Plague free here. Coronovirus is the name of the 21stC plague. If you don't know what existentialism is, reading this and relating to the world we have today and how it's looking for the next week, month and perhaps even longer, will show you. Coronavirus has no favourites, everyone's in line to catch it, it's just a wrong-place-at-the-right-time disease. Some will die, and there won't be any huge funerals and memorial services either. Eventually there may be mass funerals, unattended as in the book. Let's hope it doesn't get to that.
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This was as much an existentialist tract as it was a book about the descent of a town into plague; the gradient of the decline increasing exponentially until they reach the pit. There it is death and smoke and groans and every bit the imagined hell of those with a religious consciousness.
But the plague has no relationship to religion. The innocent die as much as the guilty. Shady people are sly by night, criminals escape justice, the great and the good sleep peacefully in their beds but the plague is the great equalizer: they all die. This is an atheist world where nothing has rhyme or reason and blaming it on fate or an angry god or questioning why the deities have ignored the supplicants increasing praises, appeals and desperate petitions is futile. Even they see it is pointless and in the end the comforting rituals of death and consignment of the remains have mostly been abandoned. The plague strikes almost all and those whom it leaves, aren't special in any way.
Pacing is not something I tend to notice in a novel, but I did in this one, it is outstanding. The pacing matches the descent into hell and the recovery into sunlight in a brisk sea air absolutely perfectly. At the end, after all the pain and darkness I felt relieved and refreshed, an unusual feeling for the end of a book.
10 stars, golden ones.
revised Sept 2019
________________________________
This was as much an existentialist tract as it was a book about the descent of a town into plague; the gradient of the decline increasing exponentially until they reach the pit. There it is death and smoke and groans and every bit the imagined hell of those with a religious consciousness.
But the plague has no relationship to religion. The innocent die as much as the guilty. Shady people are sly by night, criminals escape justice, the great and the good sleep peacefully in their beds but the plague is the great equalizer: they all die. This is an atheist world where nothing has rhyme or reason and blaming it on fate or an angry god or questioning why the deities have ignored the supplicants increasing praises, appeals and desperate petitions is futile. Even they see it is pointless and in the end the comforting rituals of death and consignment of the remains have mostly been abandoned. The plague strikes almost all and those whom it leaves, aren't special in any way.
Pacing is not something I tend to notice in a novel, but I did in this one, it is outstanding. The pacing matches the descent into hell and the recovery into sunlight in a brisk sea air absolutely perfectly. At the end, after all the pain and darkness I felt relieved and refreshed, an unusual feeling for the end of a book.
10 stars, golden ones.
revised Sept 2019
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Reading Progress
May 8, 2014
–
Started Reading
May 12, 2014
– Shelved
May 12, 2014
– Shelved as:
2014-read
May 12, 2014
– Shelved as:
2014-reviews
May 12, 2014
– Shelved as:
fiction
May 12, 2014
–
Finished Reading
May 5, 2015
– Shelved as:
reviewed
March 7, 2016
– Shelved as:
10-star-books
Comments Showing 1-50 of 64 (64 new)
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Karen
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May 12, 2014 07:21PM
Across the world, what like minds MsBSP! Guess what I checked out of library yesterday? A new translation (by Sandra Smith) of The Outsider. Eeerie! I've saved The Plague for too long it seems. Thanks for a motivating review.
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Karen wrote: "Across the world, what like minds MsBSP! Guess what I checked out of library yesterday? A new translation (by Sandra Smith) of The Outsider. Eeerie! I've saved The Plague ..."The Outsider wasn't a Camus was it?
Great review, Ms Bubbles. I tried to read The Plague when I was 17. It made me feel physically sick and I had to stop. Maybe I could cope now that life has taught me to be less squeamish.
Ms Bubbles SockieP wrote: "Karen wrote: "Across the world, what like minds MsBSP! Guess what I checked out of library yesterday? A new translation (by Sandra Smith) of The Outsider. Eeerie! I've saved The ... i Yes indeed Petra. This 1942 Camus work translated here in 2012 has always been known to us as book The Stranger or L'Etranger. This translator notes her passion & challenge to 'right the wrongs' of previous linguistic interpretations. Many nuanced changes here apart from the title preference. I'm eager to tuck into it in next day or so.
I know it as The Stranger but I did read on Wikipedia that there are translations of it entitled The Outsider. I have read it, but forgotten it, and I think I will read it again. However, I would rather read a translation done in Camus' lifetime than one many years after his death. I think the ones he knew about are likely to be more what he meant, or at least ones he didn't object to. Later translations might be more what the translator thinks the author might have meant.
Hindsight (and academic study) could be an advantage here. The translator is particularly sensitive to Camus's philosophy of the Absurd and in this work (she notes) "the ethical question he poses through the character of Tarrou in The Plague of whether it is possible to be a saint without a God." She points out words and phrasing that have several levels of interpretation in translation. For my money, might just read two English versions side by side, this one and one from the era.
I read books because I enjoy them. I can't see I would get enjoyment from reading two translations side by side to compare them. But you know, different strokes for different folks and if you do that, then I would be very interested indeed in any review you might write.
Big smiles to different strokes. Already downloaded another translation and decided I'll go triptych and read the French en choeur --il me plait. ;~}
Karen wrote: "Big smiles to different strokes. Already downloaded another translation and decided I'll go triptych and read the French en choeur --il me plait. ;~}"Be sure to write a review. Or more than one.
Rubbing my hands in anticipation as I have this one waiting on my shelves. Intrigued by your closing sentence and inspired by this succinct yet highly informative review.
Thank you :-) Time to read some more Camus.
Excellent review Petra!!!
Thank you Cora & Carol. It was as easy to write that review as it was to read the book. Not very often you get books heavy with philosophical meaning that are easy, enjoyable reads.
Great review, Petra! I read it a long time ago, it deserves a revisit. But I have endless unread books on my to-read-shelf, perhaps one day... Thanks for sharing. L.
Wonderfully done, Petra. I couldn't write anything about this book, so I'm glad I found this review today. I share the feelings you mentioned in your last paragraph.
Florencia wrote: " I share the feelings you mentioned in your last paragraph."The brilliance and originality of Camus.
Thank you Lizzy and Florencia.
Can't believe I've never read The Plague. Even less now, another great review, Petra!
Thomas wrote: "Can't believe I've never read The Plague. Even less now, another great review, Petra!"It became more relevant to me after hurricanes Irma and Maria where 80% of all buildings suffered major damage. Religion, fate, all of that was made obvious to everyone rational that they were just human constructs. Afterwards though people went to church to thank God for not sparing their lives if not their property. No one was like why did God kill other people, why the hurricanes and floods at all. The book is about a disease, not hurricanes. Same difference.
I must be one of the last people on Earth who have not read it yet. Added to my to-read list.
WarpDrive wrote: "I must be one of the last people on Earth who have not read it yet. Added to my to-read list."Worth it. Although it is a 'heavy' classic, it's a very easy and enjoyable read. Camus was an amazing writer, very concise.
One of my all time favorites.
Fine review, Petra.
TBV wrote: "Fine review, Petra."Thank you. The devastation of Irma, Maria and the floods, all within 6 weeks, illustrated the perfect truth of the book. I couldn't understand the number of people who went to church despite seeing their was no rhyme or reason for the 80% of people who had major damage against the 20% who didn't.
MilagroB wrote: "Great review, Petra. Right on target. Can't add a thing."Thank you. Despite the existentialist nature of the present crisis, the churches around here will (when gatherings are allowed again) of people thanking God for sparing them and not blaming God for sending the plague. Indeed some churchers will preach that the plague of coronavirus was sent because the world is evil and not question why deaths occurred among people who had lived blameless lives.
It was just like that after Irma and Maria.
Sounds interesting. I've just been looking at "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century" by Barbara Tuchman. Here's the blurb: The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a chaos of war, fear and the Plague. Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the century, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived.
Just thinking of comparing and contrasting, as we were taught.
I'm looking forward to being able to stay home with no apologies, again. I did this for over a year for my eye surgeries, and thus listened to so many books and plays in the last couple of years. I just spent 4 months in Arizona, repairing my vitamin D from all that, and home for the current 'social distancing' craze.
For me, it's just the perfect time for people to do a little deep thought and philosophising, if they don't completely loose their shit. (Thus, the run on toilet paper, unequalled in history.)
JZ wrote: " time for people to do a little deep thought and philosophising, if they don't completely loose their shit. ..."Some people have lost it already. The anti-vaccine people are saying it was invented as a population control measure as there is a vaccine available which will be forced on them. This is supposed to be funded by Bill Gates. These anti-vax people have shown how communities have been endangered by them already and also how, as with all conspiracy theorists, facts are considered a hoax. This could be a very dangerous movement.
In many ways this sounds like my kind of book Petra. I didn't connect with The Outsider (which I read years ago and maybe didn't have enough of a world view to appreciate) so I have kept clear of Camus since then. Maybe it's time to revisit him.
Jonathan wrote: "I didn't connect with The Outsider (which I read years ago..."This is nothing like The Outsider. It is very plainly written, there are no people who are introspective or otherwise, no scenes to decipher. It is just a history of how a plague hit a small town and how life disintegrated because of it. Just as we are witnessing the beginnings of here with Coronavirus. Because of this, the book is extremely relatable.
"Some people have lost it already."omg, yes! I went grocery shopping today, and found no peanut butter, toilet paper, bleach, frozen veg, (at all), fish sticks, french fries, veggie burgers, bread, milk other than 1%, bagged carrots, canned beans, meat, or salsa, (really?) or odd things, like paper products and cleaners.
Lots of chips, tea, candy, still a lot of wine and beer, but that's dissipating as I watch.
sigh
It makes me long for the isolation of the desert BLM lands.
Petra-X wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "I didn't connect with The Outsider (which I read years ago..."This is nothing like The Outsider. It is very plainly written, there are no people who are introspec..."
Sounds just right, Thanks :-)
message 32:
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Petra: hiatus, finding it hard to communicate
(last edited Mar 20, 2020 06:55AM)
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Jonathan wrote: "Sounds just right, Thanks :-)..."I just posted a link to a free copy, so you can try it.
I'm a homebody, so being forced to "shelter in place" has been absolute bliss for me. However, I'm one of the lucky few being paid to do so. My heart goes out to those who are now unemployed, and truly hurting.
Agree. We're all in Oran now.
Awesome review Petra ! May you and your loved ones stay safe !
Melki wrote: "I'm a homebody, so being forced to "shelter in place" has been absolute bliss for me...."I know what you mean. When I am on the island, which is effing boring, I don't really care if I have to stay home (so long as I can go out to dinner once a week). I do my partying in Florida, which is why I am in isolation now.
Lisa wrote: "Agree. We're all in Oran now."And we're staying for the forseeable future it would seem.
Jaidee wrote: "Awesome review Petra ! May you and your loved ones stay safe !"Thank you. We've had it and recovered. I'm almost at the end of the isolation period.
I started listening to "Black Death at the Golden Gate: The Race to Save America from the Bubonic Plague" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
but I had to stop when they spoke about burning the Chinatown tenaments with the people inside, and guns outside.
JZ wrote: "but I had to stop when they spoke about burning the Chinatown tenaments with the people inside, and guns outside..."OMG. That is horrific. There are always groups of people who think that they should have the power of life or death over others and never think of putting themselves in their victim's situation.
Wow! Humans can be completely insane. I'm so grateful to hear the many feel good stories coming out of this.
Lisa wrote: "Wow! Humans can be completely insane. I'm so grateful to hear the many feel good stories coming out of this."The media has to write something besides coronavirus mortality stories. No winners in this war.
Define existentialism as it functions in this novel.
Martin wrote: "Define existentialism as it functions in this novel."Is this a sock puppet account you keep to use once every three years to make peremptory comments from?
Define sock puppet for I’m not up on such prescient tropes. I rarely frequent this site, though after reading The Plague decided to so. Camus disregarded and abstained from the label of writing existential tracts. However, I believe he did traffic in such underlining pinning, but in the specific manner associated with certain philosophers like Kierkegaard and Heidegger. Kierkegaard for his examination of the self in relationship to the self among other selves and Heidegger for his totem of self realized as a dichotomy of inauthentic and authentic states of being. My interest is how you regard the aspect of existentialism in specific terms within a very seminal work. I’m hoping for a discussion in search of understanding. You note my absence from this forum as if it distracts from my inquires and the status of my account. This I find interesting but really of no importance to my post and I’m ok with that. Again just explain your understanding of existentialism as you see it specifically related to the novel. Long time ago I took a class at a university called Existentialism and Literature. The professor was an enigmatic figure on campus presence on campus who had very exacting ways he approached existentialism. His name is Hubert Dreyfuss and he’s on podcasts associated with UCB. Definitely worth a listen. Best to you and so glad that others see Camus as a worthy guide these times.
First you comment with a sock puppet account, then you use your real one, (tl;dr)and demand definitions and explanations of my review. Really, why would I want to engage with you?
We can’t prevent ourselves to think about the current situation but the death probability is not comparable to the plague described by Camus.
Guillaume wrote: "the death probability is not comparable to the plague described by Camus."Camus wrote fiction. We are living this pandemic. Or dying.
Well.....I guess I'll have to read it! As described it sounds like it has some similarities to Stephen King's "Under the Dome".
Thomas wrote: "As described it sounds like it has some similarities to Stephen King's "Under the Dome"."I've never read Under the Dome, but that's an interesting idea that Stephen King transformed an existential novel into a thriller!
