The Plague

A haunting tale of human resilience and hope in the face of unrelieved horror, Albert Camus' iconic novel about an epidemic ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature.

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, and a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.

"A redemptive book, one that wills the reader to believe, even in a time of despair." Roger Lowenstein, The Washington Post

"Its relevance lashes you across the face." Stephen Metcalf, The Los Angeles Times

“[Camus] helps us understand our own responses, as a community and as individuals, in the face of extraordinary challenges.” David Hage, The Star Tribune

“Through his characters, Camus examines how people respond as individuals — and as part of a collective — to suffering and death. Whether it is a solitary experience or a show of social solidarity, nobody is indifferent.” Kim Willsher, The Guardian

“The plague, as Camus insisted, exposes existing fractures in societies, in class structure and individual character; under stress, we see who we really are.” Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

Born in Algeria in 1913, Albert Camus published The Stranger — now one of the most widely read novels of this century — in 1942. Celebrated in intellectual circles, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident.