The Plague

By Albert Camus and Laura Marris

“We can finally read the work as Camus meant it to be read. Laura Marris’s new translation of The Plague is, quite simply, the translation we need to have.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

The first new translation of The Plague to be published in the United States in more than seventy years, bringing the Nobel Prize winner's iconic novel to a new generation of readers. • "A redemptive book, one that wills the reader to believe, even in a time of despair." —The Washington Post

The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation, and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr. Rieux, resist the terror.

An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France's suffering under the Nazi occupation, as well as a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence. In this fresh yet careful translation, award-winning translator Laura Marris breathes new life into Albert Camus's ever-resonant tale. Restoring the restrained lyricism of the original French text, and liberating it from the archaisms and assumptions of the previous English translation, Marris grants English readers the closest access we have ever had to the meaning and searing beauty of The Plague.

This updated edition promises to add relevance and urgency to a classic novel of twentieth-century literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593318676

Albert Camus

Albert Camus nació en Argelia el 7 de noviembre de 1913. Fue ensayista, novelista, dramaturgo, filósofo y periodista, y una de las figuras intelectuales más relevantes de la Europa del siglo xx. Autor de aclamadas novelas de corte existencialista como El extranjero o La peste, también de ensayos clave como El mito de Sísifo, recibió el máximo galardón de las letras, el Premio Nobel de Literatura, en 1957. Tres años más tarde, en 1960, falleció en un accidente de coche.

Reviews for The Plague

[larryking1-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To begin, consider this intro from a wonderful review in Literary Hub: "What would it be like to find your town, your state, your country, shut off from the rest of the world, its citizens confined to their homes, as a contagion spreads, infecting thousands, and subjecting thousands more to quarantine? How would you cope if an epidemic disrupted daily life, closing schools, packing hospitals, and putting social gatherings, sporting events and concerts, conferences, festivals and travel plans on indefinite hold?" Now, by accident, I found a thrashed copy of The Plague in a thrift, when it turned out I already owned a beautifully printed edition with an intro by the wonderful Romain Gary (or, in Hollywood, Mr Jean Seberg). To save the wear and tear on that volume, I read from the other, before passing it along. Once, it was owned by one Julia Kovelman, who, from my research, was a 12th grader, maybe ten years ago. I enjoyed her copious underlinings and her scribbled notes, one that should have had a "spoiler alert!" (but were those even invented back then)? When the intensity level in the story ratcheted up, her markings ceased! Had Julia even finished her assignment? Yes, she did! Near the end, she returned. (I suspect Julia may have been somewhat absent-minded as, a time or two, her notes appeared on endpapers and the like for other studies.) However, both of us finished this gripping account, and we are all the better for it, especially Julia, who now is a pretty young sophisticate. I simply know that when she goes out, her gentlemen friends think, "Somehow, Julia is different," and it is because of the lessons she learned from our reading that give her this certain gravitas. As for me, I will tell you, ignore this world-class novel! You are living through your own plague at this very moment! Why on earth would you need yet another one? Oh, not to be pedantic, but this particular plague is a literary metaphor as well for other horrible attributes. As it was written during WWII, I would argue that it actually reveals how the "plague" of Fascism can take over a country.

[jasonlf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel grew on me more and more as I read it. But still seemed to fall short. It tells the story of the arrival and departure of the plague from a French-Algerian town in the 1940s, largely told through the eyes of a local doctor. It is nicely structured, beginning with the ominous signs of dead rats and ending with the return of first rats, then cats, and then dogs marking the departure of the plague. It is all observed in great, with a somewhat less than fully omniscient narrator, who focuses on the impact the plague has on social relations and social order.The observation is often very detached, the engagement with the characters distant and fleeting, which at times makes it more difficult to connect with the book.The Plague is commonly described as an allegory for the Nazi occupation in World War II, but I don't see much beyond some obvious superficial analogies.

[sng0gthomas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad book. I found that there were too many details that had little relation to the story at points.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 One of those books you can read at multiple levels. On the surface, it's about a town hit by a plague and how the inhabitants deal with this. However, the jacket also describes that it can be read as an allegory for France the Nazis. Not sure I'd have got that without being told up front, but under that interpretation it's pretty damning. Well written, and engrosing (almost missed my station, I had my nose so deep in this) but it isn't a feel good book by any stretch of the imagination.

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mixed feelings about this one. The descriptions of the plague and the disruption to the society in Oran are well handled, but I found the characters mostly unsympathetic and/or two dimensional, ironically until near the end when the plague recedes and characters react with human relief, only for a couple of them to succumb in the disease's last ravages. Though this takes place in Oran in north Africa in the 1940s, there is no mention of the war or even of any African inhabitants, and the events indeed almost seem to take place in a time bubble - but perhaps that is, in part, the point. 3.5/5

[flippinpages-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed some but for the most part I found it long-winded. I feel I probably missed what I was supposed to be getting, the sky didn't open up, no aha! moments but I admit near the end I was starting to skim just to finish it. Didn't understand the point of Tarrou's journal or the big deal who the narrator of the story turns out to be (the reader finds out at the very end). Glad I finally read Camus but this will be the last.

[jsburbidge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure that this is the best of Camus' novels - that just might be La Chute - but it is nevertheless a monumental work.There is no structural experimentation here: but it combines highly effective narration over its arc, the presentation in a sober and undramatic way of the approach to life Camus put forth in his non-fiction works, and a quasi-allegorical perspective on the past occupation of France by the Germans. Camus' prose is spare and clean, effective and with an understated elegance.Well worth reading, and rereading.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In relation to timeline The Plague is simple. It covers the duration of a bubonic plague. The story begins with the death of rats. First, a few rats are found here and there until they are everywhere; dying by the thousands all across the Algerian city of Oran. Then, the plague increases in intensity and starts killing hundreds of people until finally, colder temperatures arrive and the plague is mercifully over. But, The Plague on a philosophical level is much deeper than the spread of a disease. Dr. Bernard Rieux is a doctor trying to save the community of Oran from the ravages of a plague. Even though Dr. Rieux patiently tries to care for everyone in the makeshift infirmaries most of his patients die. It appears to be a losing battle. Soon it is obvious the bigger question on Dr. Bernard Rieux's mind concerns humanity. For him, the struggle between good and evil is all apparent. He observes how people react to the disease, are influenced by the disease, and are changed by the disease. In the end, the whole point of the didactic lesson for Dr. Rieux is that we all need someone. Rieux's biggest discovery is that he is content to continue the crusade against any disease, any suffering, any pain or death.

[michaeldwebb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think I completely missed the point of this, as I enjoyed it as a really great story about a town isolated by Plague. I guess I was meant to get something deeper, but hey, it was summer when I read this on a beach... (yes, I know, not with a gun in my hand, staring at the sea and the sand)

[jddunn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is in a tie with The Brothers Karamazov for my all-time favorite novel. The prose is straightforward and economical, yet incredibly dense with meaning. It subtly covers many facets of the human struggle, from a primarily Existentialist point of view, but it’s not a philosophical polemic or anything. You can read it on any of about four levels… plot-based, psychological, historical, allegorical, and so on. It blows Camus’ more famous book, The Stranger, out of the water, to my mind. Basically it starts with the nihilism of that book, and tries to find a way back to life. I think it succeeds admirably in doing so, all in all.

[terris-7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was pretty interesting, a little slow, but interesting. It describes how a town, of around 200,000 in the 1940's, deals with being completely shut off from the rest of society while being quarantined for several months. They are not allowed to communicate with loved ones by letter because they don't want to spread the plague through the paper. Also, if anyone happened to be visiting or doing business at the time of the "closing" they had to stay. Although there is not a lot of action, the story really makes you think about how you might act in the same position.

[garypatella · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a decent book. I did enjoy reading it, and would tell others that it is certainly worth reading. That being said, it is sometimes a bit slow moving. There is not enough to elevate its status from a good book to a great book, or even a really good book for that matter.

[seldombites · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is an incredibly boring book. I laboured all the way to part three in the hopes it would improve, but I was sorely disappointed. The language is too dense and the style is condescending - I feel as though I'm being talked down to. The blurb states that this book is supposed to be a metaphor for the German occupation of France - I simply cannot see it. anyhow, this is not a book I would recommend.

[telos_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oran aan de Algierse kust breekt een pestepidemie uit. De jonge dokter Rieux voert een hopeloze strijd uit tegen de ziekte. Een serum van Castel blijkt te gaan werken. De stad herleeft en herstelt. Na alles wat de dokter heeft meegemaakt gelooft hij toch dat de mens meer goed dan slecht is en dat het kwade ontstaat uit onwetendheid.

[quondame · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If there is anything true about people facing deadly realities that is not in this book, I've never encountered it. The language sweeps though the book as the plague sweeps thought the city, steady and unrelenting and suddenly there is a dust devil of passion, love, lost, frustration, helplessness as the story touches individuals.

[lyzadanger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

 Having gulped "The Stranger" in a single, weird sitting, I was well-disposed toward the idea of reading "The Plague", more so even because many people I hold in high esteem in turn hold this philosophical allegory in high esteem. It started out wrenching enough, with creepy prognostications foreshadowing a grim fate for the dull denizens of the dull town of Oran on the Algerian coast.Plot counterbalanced reflection comfortably in the first half of the book. As the narrative advanced, however, it turned in on itself more and more, until it became barely a narrative at all, and more of a slightly didactic fable about the meaning of freedom and death. The Good Doctor Rieux toils against the immensity of Plague as bio-threat, but also against Plague as oppression, forced occupation, prison guard, persecution. Some citizens blandly accept the isolating quarantine of the town; some are agitated. Many avoid hope in fear of what it will feel like and how it will be disappointed. Bodies are thrown into lime-lined pits as the death rate outpaces the possibility of real funerals, coffins.An assortment of characters--all exceedingly male and French--perform as archetypes: shady Cottard who, once suicidal, thrives under plague conditions; sweet-hearted Tarrou who refuses to give in to even overwhelming iniquity; Father Paneloux, dead set that God has a handle on everything.Unfortunately, I am a blockhead. Especially when it comes to philosophy and abstract explorations of the human experience. I found myself disengaged, and finishing the book was a struggle. It did, however, ring out on a much more optimistic note than I would have expected.

[jeffayle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the book rather dry, but I was only reading a translation. Parts of the novel were interesting, but overall, the story was not very captivating.Part of this, I think, is because of the translation. I read the translation by Robin Buss, and there were parts that weren't translated well, or maybe couldn't be translated well, because of the differences of the language. A few times the pronoun "one" was used, which has fallen out of common usage in English, but is still common in French ("on"), but was still translated as "one".When my French improves so that I can read the original, I hope to.

[norabelle414 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book takes a wonderful look at human nature, and how a disaster such as this plague would be dealt with. However, I found it a little boring and hard to get through. The last 10 pages or so were definitely the most interesting part of the whole novel.

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a novel set in the Algerian city of Oran, about how a group of people deal with a plague that besets the population, forcing the city to close. The story is used as an excuse to describe different states of the human condition, with different characters in the plot to showing different reactions at varying periods of the plot.The tone is existentialist, but not as dark as Kafka, and more predictable. As a story it didn't impress me, but as a piece of writing it was good.It didn't compare favourably with the other main work by Camus which I have read - the Myth of Sisyphus. The two have a similar message, but the Plague does not say it as well, and says less.

[briandarvell_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed reading The Plague by Camus. A short story in a style I found similar to Kafka in many ways. I enjoyed the suspense and good start of the story and the characters we were introduced to were all believable and real. Having travelled quite a bit in my life and being away from family/friends, I could relate well to how Camus wrote about longing and being separated from family for long periods. Another meaning I gather from the story is also the purpose of striving for good and benefit of society, despite conditions that may seem pointless or overwhelming.

[scottjpearson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Plague seems like an appropriate title of a book for a coronavirus-stricken world. Set in modern (1940s?) North Africa, this book reimagines a world where the plague mysteriously makes a recurrence. The work is told from the point of view of a doctor. As with COVID-19 paralyzing the world, the disease paralyzes an entire town for several seasons. Many die over many months.This work provides moving portrayals of individual death and of massive death’s dehumanizing effect on human flourishing. Camus, as always, points us to an existential philosophy of choosing to seize the day despite evil. Even the deaths of a child and of one of the books heroes are cast in this light. The town eventually recovers, much as the world will recover from today’s infections. The world resumes much as it did post World War II; however, the world after has changed in so many ways.In this work, the protagonist faces squarely the good and the evil that humans are capable of. Camus does not mince words in these portrayals. Much like with the Christian concept of original sin, all of us are guilty of murderous callousness towards our fellows. (In Camus’ day, he might have said that even enlightened and educated Germany turned towards fascism.) Nonetheless, goodness still flows from humanity, and this optimistic message is even borne in times of plague. The plague we all wrestle with is not only external (as in disease) but also internal (as in monstrous selfishness). There are no saints, only humans or “men” as Camus put it writing in a less gender-inclusive era.This wrestling with evil is classic Camus. (There are some reports that such wrestling led him to convert to a neo-orthodox form of Christianity before his tragic death in a car accident in 1960.) Camus wrestled with why six million civilian Jews and large numbers of soldiers died in two massive wars in a twentieth century that opened with such promise. Of course, questions like these only provide uncomfortable answers. Nonetheless, Camus chooses – yes, chooses, in a demonstration of his existentialist philosophy – to focus upon the good brought out by these trials. Humans are not turned into saints by life. They – no, we – are shown to be petty and selfish over and over again. Nonetheless, we must deliberate and choose to bring out the good by our daily lives despite the plague’s pervasive presence.In a contemporary environment where governments sometimes fail us and even the best of our fellows seem unsaintly, Camus’ message remains relevant. This work speaks against partisan bickering through small and limited ideologies, but to warm and open embrace of our common and frail humanity. It needs to be reread and reheard by new generations sixty years after Camus’ sudden death. Twenty years ago in college, I loved spending my spare time discovering this author. Today, I cherish his themes even more as they account for the mass of real life that I’ve lived. I wish that more would join me by contemplating his perspective.

[br77rino · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bubonic Plague makes a comeback in an Algerian town. The town is quarantined, and the characters of a doctor and his patients and helpers share their thoughts. A bit boring to tell you the truth. I was expecting more.

[lovinglit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although I found this novel slow and found it difficult to connect in any meaningful way to the characters, I still found myself wanting to pick it up and read at any opportunity. The narrator, whose identity is not revealed for a long time, is telling of a town in which an outbreak of the plague has occurred. The descriptions of the direct effects of the plague on people is described well, and many times, and even though the greater effects are discussed also, I couldn't get a feel for what it would actually be like to be living this nightmare. The town is sealed off to people both wanting to come or to go. So instantly there is a case of everyone being in the same boat. People are left separated from their loved-ones, if not spatially, then eventually through death. Good people die, bad people do. Rich and poor, powerful and lowly. Disease, the ultimate leveller. There is a lot of existentialist discourse. No surprises there. But it came over to me as all rather banal. I expected there to be more practical concerns in a time of terrible illness, food and goods shortages and mass grief. It seemed to me to be a load of men sitting about theorising about life, fate, God and the human condition. So if that is what you are after, then you will love it. 3 stars.

[erinjamieson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is poetic, exquisitely dark, depressing and beautiful. The ending paragraph gave me chills--probably the best ending to a novel I've ever read.

[blake.rosser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Surprisingly straightforward after "The Stranger," it's an engaging story about a bubonic plague outbreak that serves as an allegory for the sickness and "nausea" that permeates humankind. It has some strikingly beautiful passages and many important insights into human nature. Camus comments throughout on love, death, and the purpose of existence, more elaborately explaining his existential theory than he does in "The Stranger." It even includes a reference to Meursault: the man who killed an Arab on the beach in Algiers. It is not only an engaging story, but an insightful discussion of philosophical ideas.

[christopherturner_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The original review I posted was flagged so maybe I should elaborate more. I originally wrote: "Who wants to be stuck in a steamy, pestilence ridden city without cable? - bummer! If ever there was a Ad for the need for at least some form of socialized medicine for communities larger than say 10, well this would it." Camus succinctly describes how a large community can be utterly crippled by something microscopic and therefore invisible. The opportunities to turn around a disaster (or get out early enough) were there but none wanted to heed the signs. I guess an modrn day novel would be Outbreak, or even the Andromeda Strain, though Camus deals more with the psychology of contagion than these other novels.

[pippity · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not exactly sure why this book grabs me the way it does, but I guess I find it to be an interesting and perfect mix between philosophy and literature, psychology and religion. It manages to be none of these and all of these at the same time. I'm not sure if any author so eloquently describes the human condition as Camus. The characters are interesting, complex and beautiful in their flaws as much as they are beautiful in their strengths. This book reads less like a dire end-of-the-world novel such as 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale (both excellent of course), and yet it does seem to make us think that our city, in our country, in modern times, could find itself in the same situation as the city in the novel (Oran), and we would behave much the same. People are people the world over, and nothing unites man, while simultaneously disunites man, the way pestilences do. In this way we see that Camus has used the plague backdrop as a way to highlight the good and the bad in all of us that manifeststs itself more subtly in normal life. I think this book is about as perfect as a book can be: Entertaining, well-written, great characters, readable on many levels... But most of all it makes you think.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Knap zonder meer. Een van de top 10 werken van de 20ste eeuw. Goed uitgebalanceerd en evenwichtig. Het morele dillemma centraal : we zijn in dit leven geworpen en al lijkt de zin ervan ons niet erg duidelijk, we moeten doen wat we kunnen om het aanvaardbaar te maken. Enige storende element : zwaar accent op de visie van de « gescheidenen ».Eerste keer gelezen in het Nederlands, toen ik 16 was;onmiddellijk onder de indruk

[jpsnow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Though thought provoking and enjoyable, this book didn't impress me as much as I expected based on its reputation. The Plague is about an Algerian city that experiences a great plague over the course of several months. The story revolves around Dr. Rieux and his colleagues, who organize to treat the victims. In course, their own personal issues are exposed and sometimes transformed. Camus uses their actions and especially their conversations to ask big questions about human nature, fate, and change. Even though the characters are interesting and the pace moves well, it just didn't force me into new philosophical spaces.

[matt_the_cat · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I guess Camus is supposed to be the prototypical existentialist novelist. I also guess I don't like existentialist novels. I liked this book even less than I did The Stranger. There was no plot to speak of. There was also relatively little character development or characterisation at all. The characters that there are seem relatively like stock beings, and we do see them react to and change in response to the plague, but we only see this on a superficial level, I think, never really getting inside any of the characters' internal lives. Perhaps this is because, for existentialists, there's "nothing" there.