Book 19 - The Plague - Albert Camus

Well, at least I made it through a book this week. However, I need to read seven books just to catch up. How did I get this far behind? Oh well, there's nothing to do but keep plugging at it. I guess I'll just have to double-up for a while.

Book 19 - The Plague - Albert Camus

The Plague is a tale set Oran, Algeria in what I assume is the late 1940's. The townsfolk are a rather self-absorbed sort, going about their day-to-day business without much interest in the community as a whole. One day rats start coming out into the streets to die in alarming numbers. The town's first reaction is one of disgusted inconvenience, as daily rat removal becomes somewhat of a chore. However there is a surreal sense of denial as no one seems overly concerned as to why the rats are dying. Finally the rat deaths start to subside - most likely due to the decimation of the rat population, and shortly thereafter a man starts to develop a mysterious fever, accompanied by a swelling of the lymph nodes in the underarms, groin and throat. More cases start to crop up, and while at first the cases are few, the frequency soon increases. Eventually, certain doctors in the town start to recognize this disease for what it is: Bubonic Plague.

Although the town is slow to react at first, when the death toll starts to mount, the entire city is quarantined. No one is allowed in or out. What ensues is a study in how humankind deals with the relentless onslaught of death, and with the isolation of being separated from the ones that you love. Some cling to faith while others lose it. Some people capitalize on the suffering of others. Some people help alleviate the suffering of others by placing themselves in mortal peril. Some just try to ignore the situation and live some semblance of a normal life. But in the end Camus seems to be telling us that the plague existence is no different than normal existence. Both are equally absurd. Both are equally futile. But one accepts this and chooses to live and fight anyway.

While the subject matter is quite dark, the book is beautifully written, and there are rays of hope in the displays of human spirit exhibited by some of it's characters. I'm always a little suspicious of translations, however. Camus wrote in French. How much does a translator change and color the author's original intent? Good authors choose their words carefully, as word choice can convey many subtle subtexts. I suppose good translators must be equally careful in their word choice, so that they best convey the original intentions of the author. But every reader brings their life experiences and knowledge to each text that they read, and it is impossible to know the mind of the author, so therefore some level of subjective interpretation must occur.

Well, unless I want to take the time to become sufficiently fluent in French to read the book in its original language, I guess I won't know. However my existential conundrum should not stop you from reading this existential masterpiece. I highly recommend it!