The Plague

Set in the French Algerian city of Oran in the 1940s, Albert Camus's absurdist novel begins as rats start dying en masse. Bernard Rieux, a local physician, and a colleague conclude that a plague is spreading, but the authorities are slow to accept the danger, and in time the whole city is sealed under quarantine. Isolated from the outside, the townspeople respond in different ways: some resign themselves to fate, some look for someone to blame, and a few resist. Camus drew on a cholera epidemic that struck Oran in 1849, and the story is in part an allegory of France under Nazi occupation. Luis Puenzo adapted it as a 1992 film starring William Hurt.

Lex Fridman said it is probably his favorite Camus book at this point, adding that his view has changed over time.