Good novels about the plague?

[ficbot]

I just finished Domesday Book by Connie Willis and loved it. Can anyone recommend some other good novels based around the plague?

[zelda_pinwheel]

i would recommend The Plague, by Camus. (actually, i recommend anything at all by Camus ).

from wikipedia :

The Plague (Fr. La Peste) is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that tells the story of medical workers finding solidarity in their labour as the Algerian city of Oran is swept by a plague epidemic. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny and the human condition. The characters in the book, ranging from doctors to vacationers to fugitives, all help to show the effects the plague has on a populace.

The novel is believed to be based on the bubonic plague epidemic that killed a large percentage of Oran's population in 1849 following French colonization. Oran and its environs were struck by the plague multiple times before Camus published this novel. According to a research report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oran was decimated by the plague in 1556 and 1678, but outbreaks after European colonization, in 1921 (185 cases), 1931 (76 cases), and 1944 (95 cases), were very far from the scale of the epidemic described in the novel.

The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label. The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial, where individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings, the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition. Camus included a dim-witted character misreading The Trial as a mystery novel as an oblique homage. The novel has been read as a metaphorical treatment of the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II.

Although Camus's approach in the book is severe, his narrator emphasizes the ideas that we ultimately have no control, irrationality of life is inevitable, and he further illustrates the human reaction towards the ‘absurd’. The Plague represents how the world deals with the philosophical notion of the Absurd, a theory which Camus himself helped to define.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I just finished Domesday Book by Connie Willis and loved it. Can anyone recommend some other good novels based around the plague?

This one is sitting in my ToBeRead queue
Not exactly plague, this is something more contemporary about the bird flu.

At the moment you can read the book freely from its homepage - as html files chapter by chapter, together with interesting illustrations.
http://birdflubook.com/index.php

[Oh, Why Not?]

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe

Try Gutenberg

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I just finished Domesday Book by Connie Willis and loved it. Can anyone recommend some other good novels based around the plague?

You've read "The Stand"? By Stephen King

"Andromeda Strain?" Michael Chrichton

"Galapagos," by Kurt Vonnegut?

"Kalki"? Gore Vidal.

[desertgrandma]

This is kinda hard to find, but I read it years ago, and its stuck.

The Bridge, by John Skipp and Craig Spector.

Creepiest toxic waste story I ever read..........

[Madam Broshkina]

While not a novel, I have posted an non fiction account of the plague here:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27217

I have also posted Vendetta! in which young Fabio, apparently dies of a deadly plague. But Fabio is merely in a state of suspended animation, and not long after his funeral he breaks out of his tomb and escapes the family crypt. Upon arriving home, he finds that his best friend has already married his grieving "widow." Vowing to get even with both friend and wife, Fabio assumes a new identity for that purpose then sets the wheels in motion for a bizarre revenge.....

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25922

[montsnmags]

About a modern-day plague: The White Plague, by Frank Herbert

[Nate the great]

I have a suggestion.

The Hot Zone is a story about the Ebola outbreak in Reston, Virginia in 1989. True story.

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I have also posted Vendetta! in which young Fabio, apparently dies of a deadly plague. But Fabio is merely in a state of suspended animation, and not long after his funeral he breaks out of his tomb and escapes the family crypt. Upon arriving home, he finds that his best friend has already married his grieving "widow." Vowing to get even with both friend and wife, Fabio assumes a new identity for that purpose then sets the wheels in motion for a bizarre revenge.....

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25922

Now THAT sounds interesting. Just downloading it and putting on my To Read list. Sounds a bit like The Count of Monte Cristo.

[leandroide]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I just finished Domesday Book by Connie Willis and loved it. Can anyone recommend some other good novels based around the plague?

It's not about the plague... but I recommend "To say nothing of the dog", the sequel (sort of) of "Doomsday book". It's completely different and very funny.

About the plague: "Earth abides", by George R. Stewart.

L.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

About a modern-day plague: The White Plague, by Frank Herbert

THAT was an awesome book!

[tlrowley]

When I saw the title, I opened the thread in order to suggest "Doomsday Book" . Guess I'm no help , but it was a really good book, IMO.

[ficbot]

Already read 'To Say Nothing of the Dog' and 'The Stand.' Thanks for the other recs! None of them at Fictionwise, but I added some to my library wish list. I welcome any other suggestions!

[Lemurion]

I've got "The Years of Rice of Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson on my TBR list (and I bought it at Fictionwise). It's alternate history based on the plague as a divergence.

Otherwise I do second "The Hot Zone," it was a very good book.