Many years ago I became a fan of Camus'

[kairos12]

"The Plague." I think I will have to go back read it again. What I don't recall is the government actively trying to stop Dr. Fauci, I mean Dr. Rieux, from doing his job.

No, that would be absurd.

[cilla4progress]

1. Thanks for the recommendation!

Camus, Kafka - so many philosophers, so little TIME!!

[Biophilic]

2. How could he know back then?

Absurd, yes, definitely absurd. How could he have known? How else does one deal with absurdity?

[thucythucy]

3. My understanding is that Camus wrote this while living in occupied France,

in a village that was a center of Resistance activity. At the time he was also writing for Combat! which was an underground newspaper. Obviously he used a pseudonym, and it wasn't until the end of the war that readers learned the author of this popular column was also the famous novelist.

Among these columns was "Letter to a German Friend" in which Camus coined the phrase, "the cult of efficiency."

I've also heard that "The Plague" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the Holocaust, which he knew was happening all around him.

I'm grateful for this reminder of how into Camus I was years back. I too have to go back and re-read his work.

[angstlessk]

4. My English professor had us read 'The Stranger'

and 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka

He must have wanted to be a philosophy professor?