Read this when
The Plague
Written in 1947, read by everyone in 2020. 🦠 Camus on what decency looks like when the crisis just won't end.
Who it's for
Camus shows a whole city living through an epidemic under quarantine, and readers who lived through COVID-19 often recognize the denial, the separations, the numbers, the fatigue and the strange, suspended time.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Albert Camus's 1947 novel, first translated into English by Stuart Gilbert in 1948 and later by Robin Buss and Laura Marris. It follows an epidemic of plague in the Algerian city of Oran in the 1940s and the quarantine that cuts the city off from the outside world.
Where to find it
In print (Gilbert and Buss translations); widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Not public domain.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicide attempt; a child's slow death.
Age: Ages 14+
Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end,Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “The Farewell”
