A review by dianapharah
The Plague by Albert Camus

4.25

“Perhaps we can only reach approximations of sainthood. In which case we must make shift with a mild, benevolent diabolism.”



Particularly poignant in a post-Covid world, especially for those in or adjacent to the medical field. The writing style was right up my alley, and I appreciated how each character contributed both literally and metaphorically to a unique piece of the puzzle Camus intended to put together on the human condition. 

“He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it roused up its rats again and sent them forth to die in a happy city.”