Isabel’s Reviews > The Plague > Status Update

“In the soft hum of well-mannered conversation they regained the confidence denied them when they walked the dark streets of town; evening dress was a sure charm against the plague.”

“Without memories, without hope, they lived for the moment only. Indeed, the here and now had come to mean everything for them. For there is no denying that the plague had gradually killed off in all of us the faculty not of love only but even of friendship.

Naturally enough, since love asks something of the future, and nothing was left us but a series of present moments.”

“But you can get through the days there without trouble once you have formed habits. And since habits are precisely what our town encourages, all is for the best. Viewed from this angle, it’s life is not particularly exciting; that must be admitted. But, at least, Social unrest is quite unknown among us.”

“I see no need to dwell on the manner of loving in our town. The men and women consume one another rapidly in what is called “the act of love,” or else settle down to a mild habit of conjugality. We seldom find a mean between these extremes. That, too, is not exceptional. At Oran, as elsewhere, for lack of time and thinking, people have to love one another without knowing much about it.”