Review of The Plague by Camus, by Amogh Joshi

 

The Plague by Albert Camus is an existential classic, which chronicles the story of a plague in the French Algerian city of Oran while proposing food for thought over humanity and human condition. I found it to be similar in style to some of the more darker existential novels out there, similar to Kafka’s style, and yet lighter, not as intense, and with some more of a story-like feel to it than just pure existentialism and thought.

 

In general, the story is about the city combating a plague, from the viewpoint of a third person narrator, as in most existential novels, and the main characters of a doctor, a young man who follows him around a lot, and a journalist keeping track of the pandemic. Similar to today’s pandemic, the plot centers around how the city is able to take down the plague and prevent deaths, starting with rats falling ill and dying all over the city in odd places, and then the people beginning to fall like dominoes.

 

I found it interesting that there was a hidden element of mystery within the novel, as though it seemed like the characters were attempting to uncover a conspiracy behind this plague, and it is covered more in-depth in the novel for readers. The plot is well-written, following the classical existential style, the characters are mildly developed and yet they are not completely focused upon, and the connections between scenes are well played out. Although a fantastic book as a whole, in contrast to the usual slow-beginning novel, I felt the middle portion of this book began to drag slightly, with, honestly, a bit too much detail and less focus on the grand scheme of things. Apart from that slight concern, everything else was stellar.

 

This being said, although this novel is more on the milder side of the spectrum, it is still an existential novel, and a lot of questioning and philosophical thinking takes place in the novel. It isn’t to the extent of the likes of Kafka, and yet it still is fairly dark, considering the book centers around a plague pandemic. I would say that this would be a great read for high-schoolers and above, but if younger, proceed with caution. Read if you want a great plot, thought-provoking ideas, and elements of mystery all hidden within a quest to stop a pandemic!

 

To check out the book for yourself, head to https://lmac.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/southbrunswick/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:382287/one.