Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 9/12/2018 + 1223 more book reviews

This was a rather bleak account of what happens when the plague comes to Oran, a coastal town in North Africa. The story starts out with the death of thousands of rats in the streets of the city which portends the ultimate outbreak of the plague in the city. People begin to sicken and die and then a strict quarantine is imposed on the city where no one can enter or leave. The citizens are faced with the inevitability of death and the novel shows how they cope with this. Some do better than others but ultimately the community begins to collapse. The story is told mainly from the point of view of Dr. Rieux who fights tirelessly to treat the sick. Then there are others who help him including Tarrou who is extremely opposed to any kind of human suffering and strives to become a saint even though he does not believe in God. The book was full of Camus' philosophical views. I read somewhere that this story is actually an allegory of how the Nazis conquered France and isolated it during WWII.

This book definitely is thought-provoking but to me I would only mildly recommend it. It just seemed a little overwhelming and depressing.

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