Lisa's Reviews > The Plague
The Plague
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Lisa's review
bookshelves: nobels, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, favorites, so-good-it-hurts, unforgettable
Jun 25, 2014
bookshelves: nobels, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, favorites, so-good-it-hurts, unforgettable
If you lived in an ordinary community quite unexpectedly facing an existential stress test, what would you do?
How would you deal with the situation, and which character traits of yours would all of a sudden come to the surface? How would you treat your friends, neighbours and fellow citizens? What would you do to change the situation?
These questions have been haunting me ever since I first read “La Peste” in school, over two decades ago. I have reread it since then, with the same fascination, and with growing compassion and understanding for the less heroic characters and their fears and petty actions. To me, it is a masterpiece, one of the great examples of timeless world literature. As a student, even though I was worrying just as much about exam questions, French vocabulary and grammar difficulties as about the message, I felt that I finally grasped the totalitarian systems of the 20th century, and their strange morbid attraction despite (or because of) their absolute negativity. I asked myself to what extent I would have remained human facing the terror of the rats and their invisible, yet deadly load.
One thing, though, remained completely unthinkable to me as a young adolescent, despite the horror of the reading experience, and the sincere sympathy for the generations of Europeans that had experienced societies worse than plague-ridden. I thought it COULD NOT happen again. Not here, not in Western civilisation, not with our KNOWLEDGE! Being an adolescent in Germany in the mid-1990s, I was convinced that walls were breaking down, that democracy was on the rise, that human rights and welfare were secure goods, and that the world was beyond the plague of totalitarian, all-consuming ideas spreading like wildfire - like a plague befalling a whole community.
“C’est impossible, tout le monde sait qu’elle a disparu de l’Occident.”
In a way, I was in the situation of doctor Rieux at the very beginning of the story, convinced that the plague was completely gone. But Rieux, narrator and participant in the story, documenting his own private worries along with the catastrophe of the spreading plague, has to choose between sticking to his ideas or to accept the evidence he witnesses. Chronicling the development of his community in crisis, as well as actively working to help those stricken with the plague, he slowly but steadily grows as a human being and realises that nothing is actually ever GONE!
Even in the end, when people are celebrating their survival of the epidemic, in drunken happiness forgetting all their losses, their suffering, their fears and pain, he stays vigilant. For he has learned something beyond the lesson of the immediate crisis:
“Écoutant, en effet, les cris d’allégresse qui montaient de la ville, Rieux se souvenait que cette allégresse était toujours menacée. Car il savait ce que cette foule en joie ignorait, et qu’on peut lire dans les livres, que le bacille de la peste ne meurt ni ne disparaît jamais, qu’il peut rester pendant des dizaines d’années endormi dans les meubles et le linge, qu’il attend patiemment dans les chambres, les caves, les malles, les mouchoirs et les paperasses, et que, peut-être, le jour viendrait où, pour le malheur et l’enseignement des hommes, la peste réveillerait ses rats et les enverrait mourir dans une cité heureuse.”
What would you do if you saw those rats? Who would you choose to be? It is time to dig out the masterpieces of existential questions again, I think. Knowledge of the different facets of human nature under stress can never be overestimated as a means to choose wisely, should your town be stricken unexpectedly by a plague. I wish I knew for sure I would make a decent appearance in Camus’ scenario.
But fear is powerful!
How would you deal with the situation, and which character traits of yours would all of a sudden come to the surface? How would you treat your friends, neighbours and fellow citizens? What would you do to change the situation?
These questions have been haunting me ever since I first read “La Peste” in school, over two decades ago. I have reread it since then, with the same fascination, and with growing compassion and understanding for the less heroic characters and their fears and petty actions. To me, it is a masterpiece, one of the great examples of timeless world literature. As a student, even though I was worrying just as much about exam questions, French vocabulary and grammar difficulties as about the message, I felt that I finally grasped the totalitarian systems of the 20th century, and their strange morbid attraction despite (or because of) their absolute negativity. I asked myself to what extent I would have remained human facing the terror of the rats and their invisible, yet deadly load.
One thing, though, remained completely unthinkable to me as a young adolescent, despite the horror of the reading experience, and the sincere sympathy for the generations of Europeans that had experienced societies worse than plague-ridden. I thought it COULD NOT happen again. Not here, not in Western civilisation, not with our KNOWLEDGE! Being an adolescent in Germany in the mid-1990s, I was convinced that walls were breaking down, that democracy was on the rise, that human rights and welfare were secure goods, and that the world was beyond the plague of totalitarian, all-consuming ideas spreading like wildfire - like a plague befalling a whole community.
“C’est impossible, tout le monde sait qu’elle a disparu de l’Occident.”
In a way, I was in the situation of doctor Rieux at the very beginning of the story, convinced that the plague was completely gone. But Rieux, narrator and participant in the story, documenting his own private worries along with the catastrophe of the spreading plague, has to choose between sticking to his ideas or to accept the evidence he witnesses. Chronicling the development of his community in crisis, as well as actively working to help those stricken with the plague, he slowly but steadily grows as a human being and realises that nothing is actually ever GONE!
Even in the end, when people are celebrating their survival of the epidemic, in drunken happiness forgetting all their losses, their suffering, their fears and pain, he stays vigilant. For he has learned something beyond the lesson of the immediate crisis:
“Écoutant, en effet, les cris d’allégresse qui montaient de la ville, Rieux se souvenait que cette allégresse était toujours menacée. Car il savait ce que cette foule en joie ignorait, et qu’on peut lire dans les livres, que le bacille de la peste ne meurt ni ne disparaît jamais, qu’il peut rester pendant des dizaines d’années endormi dans les meubles et le linge, qu’il attend patiemment dans les chambres, les caves, les malles, les mouchoirs et les paperasses, et que, peut-être, le jour viendrait où, pour le malheur et l’enseignement des hommes, la peste réveillerait ses rats et les enverrait mourir dans une cité heureuse.”
What would you do if you saw those rats? Who would you choose to be? It is time to dig out the masterpieces of existential questions again, I think. Knowledge of the different facets of human nature under stress can never be overestimated as a means to choose wisely, should your town be stricken unexpectedly by a plague. I wish I knew for sure I would make a decent appearance in Camus’ scenario.
But fear is powerful!
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
June 25, 2014
– Shelved
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
nobels
August 9, 2014
– Shelved as:
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die
July 23, 2017
– Shelved as:
favorites
July 23, 2017
– Shelved as:
so-good-it-hurts
July 23, 2017
– Shelved as:
unforgettable
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message 1:
by
Jacob
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rated it 4 stars
Jul 23, 2017 09:44AM
![Jacob Overmark](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1649354338p1/41670556.jpg)
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![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
That is a powerful quote. And sadly, I think you are right. It takes heroism to resist the plagues of stupidity that a raging around the world, forcing too many people to live in plague-like environments, isolated from the rest of humanity. Maybe we have lost a proper sense of what decency means at all?
![Jacob Overmark](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1649354338p1/41670556.jpg)
Maybe we have ... When more and more plague ridden rats of all kinds are craving our attention it becomes harder to chose the battles to fight. Where should I begin, 3rd World issues, environment, corrupt politicians, you name it. Some say that the perceived responsibility arising from our access to all of the world by pressing the Enter button is breaking them down. Who are the strong ones who will lead on in battle?
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Yes, there might be some truth in that. When I was a child, we got news twice a day - in the morning newspaper and on the evening television news. Between that, we had time to think, talk, digest, reglect. Now we can get involved in the hopeless mess at all times. I for one feel sickened by it. But I have also changed my approach to environment, politics etc as a result. I speak up more.
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Thank you very much for your kind words, Jackie!
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Thank you, Jaline! That means a lot to me. I primarily write them to get my own thoughts organised, and to get to the core of why I like or dislike a specific book.
![Jaline](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1530498058p1/7234171.jpg)
Thank you, Jaline! That means a lot to me. I primarily write them to get my own thoughts organised, and to get to the core of why I like or dislike a specific book."
You are welcome - and you do a great job of it! :)
![Rakhi Dalal](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1557596257p1/3655942.jpg)
![Agnieszka](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1371835955p1/2446508.jpg)
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Thank you so much, Eleanor! Camus at his best is simply overwhelming.
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
To me, that is the scariest question of all, having grown up in the shadow of European history. If fascism spread again, what would my actions be? Taking terror into account, there is an uncomfortable question mark.
![Jay Green](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1674471976p1/39595324.jpg)
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Yes, well put, Agnieszka! It is so true to life, despite creating an entirely fictional, artificial setting. It is one of the books I return to over and over again.
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Thanks, Jay! I agree with you wholeheartedly. Camus works well in translation as well.
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Thank you, Michelle! I can definitely recommend it - it hasn't lost any of its relevance.
![MihaElla](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1724953346p1/36408043.jpg)
![Czarny Pies](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1400687408p1/29160274.jpg)
![Charlotte](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1549660025p1/87301950.jpg)
![Dimitri](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1577098217p1/22308947.jpg)
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
His whole approach to the quarantined psyche is so insightful. The novel can stand for any kind of extreme situation, in which you "fall out of time".
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Passé simple :-)
Not sure you need any specific knowledge of that era - it is rather an allegory than a historical account. I think you will love it, Dimitri!
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Happy we share that love, Lisa!
![Caterina](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1487431115p1/5558460.jpg)
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Yes, exactly! Thanks Caterina!
![Nocturnalux](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1708076932p1/18314688.jpg)
Of course, it would not solve anything and it would probably only cause more harm than good but I doubt I'd be able to stop myself. Especially if I were under the strain everyone is under.
That sermon was absolutely horrifying already but going on about 'loving the plague' after witnessing the agony and death of a child...no, just, no. Punch in the face it'd be.
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Of course, it woul..."
Religion is a bizarre deviation of human thought processes. Unfortunately, punch in the facecwould just send the priest down that road even further. Not sure what would help...
I could live with Christian sacrificial lambs if those priests sacrificed themselves in accordance with their beliefs. But usually they outsource the suffering to women, children and poor...
![Lisa](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1480492067p1/32532774.jpg)
Home with cough, fever and shivers, I say: I didn't see those damn rats coming...
![Catherine Davison](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1661909287p1/6179719.jpg)