The Plague is Albert Camus's world-renowned fable of fear and courage
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 story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.

在古希腊神话中，诸神判罚西绪福斯将一块巨石不断地推上山顶。每当西绪福斯用尽全力，将巨石推近山顶时，巨石就会因自身的重量再滚回山底。西绪福斯只好下山重新来过，如此周而复始，永无止息，永远一无所成。在诸神和常人眼中，这是可怕的刑罚，令人绝望的苦役。然而，在加缪看来，西绪福斯鄙视诸神，仇恨死亡，热爱生活，是荒诞的英雄；西绪福斯清楚自己的命运，他对自己悲惨的生存境况既无能为力，又起而反抗，推石上山这场搏斗本身，就足以充实一颗人心，因此西绪福斯应该是幸福的。
加缪是20世纪具有世界影响的存在主义哲学家和文学家，“荒诞”和“反抗”是加缪一生思考和创作的两大主题，哲学随笔集《西绪福斯神话——论荒诞》就是深入浅出集中反映加缪哲学思想的代表作，甚至成为第二次世界大战后，欧洲青年的精神读本。加缪借西绪福斯的神话告诉人们：“以鄙视的态度，就没有战胜不了的命运。”