LA PESTE Yes, I have read the relevant diary passages of the scurrilous but witty Mr Pepys but there’s no doubt about the book we should all be reading. I was impressed when I first read Camus’s The Plague, notably the cool way the story was told. More recently I read it in French (the language is quite simple) and found that the coolth had multiplied. Clearly masterpieces only have to hang around a bit and events confirm their status.
What do I mean by “cool”? The fictional story is told through the eyes of the local doctor, Rieux; his commitment to his task is complete, but his attitude is dispassionate. As we would hope of people in charge; Trump showing how not to do it. There is nothing to be gained by getting excited and uttering overworked words like “menace”.
Rieux and the others do what they do because the need is obvious; discussion is unnecessary. The solutions are mainly traditional, tried and true; good results at first seem distant but it’s important to be patient. Without articulating that need.
Best of all, courage is inferred, never stated. People volunteer for difficult work and some die. But no one dwells on this, calling it a tragedy; it was to be expected. Back to work.
La Peste made perhaps the greatest lasting impression on me of any novel I have read and that has been with me now for many years. It is one of the few books I have read in the French language after reading it in English. That demonstrated how bad a translation can be. I seem to remember the scene where the child dies and Rieux (I think) questions the priest about there being a bountiful god being particularly badly handled. That is shameful especially as that is one of the fundamental issues Camus is putting up for consideration.
ReplyDeleteI have followed Gareth right from his first appearances when he set up the services wive's choir. His powers of motivation and his ability to bring out hidden talent from people, and his ability to instill confidence into the shy and uncertain is reamrkable. And then his own muscality, vocal and with the piano is just natural and with a unique quality of entertainment.
Sir Hugh: Fair to say - a masterpiece. It's supposed to be an analogy, the Nazis suppressing France, etc. But for me that was never important; the story stands on its own rights
ReplyDeleteNow I'm off to see what Gareth's up to.