THE PLAGUE. By Albert Camus

... a work that is a striking precursor to the current beleaguered covid-19 pandemic

Book: The Plague
ALBERT CAMUS

Originally published in 1947

Review by Jr Bacdayan


A few years ago, back when I was a freshman in University, I read and reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus. Being quite the optimistic and impressionable young lad that I was, the resolute bleakness of the
book left a bad taste in my mouth. I was then filled with eagerness and vigor for life stemming from this new found independence afforded by higher education. I wanted no part of the apathetic darkness enshrouding Mersault and rejected any shred of wisdom the book presented. I called it poison.... However if I was to read it as I am
now, I am inclined to write a different opinion. That boy is long gone, instead here writing is a man resigned to the bitterness he has since learned to appreciate.

Life has never tasted as bitter as it does presently. Tragedy is upon us. A pandemic has struck the world killing thousands, infecting millions, and testing the limits of modern civilization as we know it. The Plague by Albert Camus basically explores this same concept but in a smaller scale with his scope contained in a coastal town called Oran.



The Bubonic Plague is carried into the unsuspecting town by hosts of infected rats who literally fill the place with thousands of decaying rodent carcasses scattered throughout. From here starts the silent but methodical hands of infection and illness. Death starts to move around leaving despair and grief in its wake. And finally the town realizes
the gravity of their alarming situation. The response of Oran ironically does not really differ from how modern governments reacted to the havoc of COVID-19. And as with doomed places, Oran was isolated, placed under quarantine, with everyone inside imprisoned indefinitely.

When you expose a collection of individuals to a certain phenomenon you can always expect varied reaction. No two individuals will produce exactly identical reactions to one stimulus, which is in this case the deathly plague. So Camus presents us with five different individuals we follow throughout the period of containment.

Rambert, Tarrou, Paneloux, Rieux, and Cottard represent five different reactions to the plague that we examine. The journalist Rambert is an outsider visiting to write an article when the plague hits and gates of the town closes. Trapped inside, his only desire is to get out and escape via any means. The driving force behind his existence is a deep passion to reunite with his beloved wife. Next is the mysterious tourist Tarrou who was vacationing when the panic starts. An objective outsider, his reaction to the plague is anchored on his philosophical views placing value on human life and denouncing any form of support or allowances for the taking of it. He volunteers to create a response team because of his personal philosophy. Third is the Priest Paneloux. Initially he delivers a scathing sermon blaming human sinfulness as the cause of this suffering but slowly his views change from punishment,
he develops a more hopeful stance and gradually sees the plague as a test of faith. Then we have Doctor Rieux who is among the first to discover the presence of the plague. His raison d'etre and his leadership in the medical response to the plague rooted in a moral optimism. He fights the plague, treats people because he must, it is
the only course of action for a human being. Finally we have the entrepreneur Cottard who proves to be an anomaly. Happiest when the plague is at its peak he is an opportunist who takes advantage of the plague for his personal enrichment. Cottard wishes for the plague to last all eternity and when it ends is beaten to death after he fails to cope driven to insanity.

 Each represent a unique area of existence that drive their actions from romantic, philosophical, spiritual,
humanist, and economic. Camus allows us to observe these people that have their centers based on the different points of existence in order to give a holistic study to the human condition in troubled times like these.

The Plague by Albert Camus is an intelligent and deeply affecting caricature of human integrity in the face of death. Camus reminds us that a plague does not consider race, sexuality, religion, politics, or wealth but only acknowledges one species trying not to become extinct. A faithful narrator asks us only to consider that we are
human beings.

"I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing."

COVID-19 is ravaging the world at this present moment. I do not know where you are or what has already happened to you. But I do hope in these troubled times that you are safe, that you have good health, and
more importantly that you feel the warmth of humanity who has already done so much for each other.

We are getting through this...

* Courtesy of goodreads

ZAMBIA SHALL BE FREE. By Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda is revered as one of the early African leaders, nationalists, visionaries, who led their countries to political independence; in this case Zambia. By the time he published this book, Zambia was more or less on the cusp of such independence. Remarkably, Kaunda would go on to lead the country for almost 3 decades! (And by the way he is still alive, and on the way to becoming a centenarian.)

Kaunda always loved literacy and education from the very beginning, as both his parents were teachers (his father also a parson). All this we learn from this work, the early life of Kenneth Kaunda, and his determination to garner political freedom for his country (ironic that much later on in his life, Kaunda would somewhat be persecuted on the grounds that he was not even a Zambian!) His commitment to Zambia is very much obvious here, how education could help in forging the country ahead (Kaunda whilst in power did start wholesale changes/innovations in the educational sector)

Kaunda met the young lady - Betty - who would become his wife early in life, and they were to be together as man and wife for some 60 years, before her death. In this work, we see the hard work Kaunda and his then political colleagues put in, the meetings, the strategies, the sacrifices including incarceration - with the patent vision in sight: the political independence of Zambia. The latter country has now been "free" for well over 50 years; but we can look back on the genesis (generally) in this book

A POEM ON COVID 19 By Raselebeli Khotseng

“Give Us This Day”

By Raselebeli “Magic” Khotseng

Deep, deep in the yoke of Wuhan

it emerged like house on fire

The graves opened doors to

swallow human bones

as people’s lives perished like a dust

In this land of sorrow

Coronavirus demolished God’s creation

O’ bitter tears of acrimony

leaking from Chinese eyes

sobbing and mourning for victims

of Covid 19 pandemic

That conquered human spirit

even after intensive quarantine of its screening

So give us this day and simmer down fear

in China-an epicentre of Coronavirus

For God shall sanitize their deprived souls

when the wind of Covid 19 drops

As a cap that fits anyone breathing universal oxygen

A deadly virus spread across the boundaries

of our continents in droplets

Landing in one’s chest

Apparently through open mouth and nostrils

Since this virus is traceless

like a black cat in a dark room

Fortune-tellers couldn’t predict its movement

from two meters away

So God help us all and give us this day

In this moment of uncertainty

Hark to a dark cloud of Corona hanging in the sky

Its lightning thunder struck between human contact

To deny us freedom of movement and leisure time

O’ my sweat-heart to whom my love is unlimited

Your freedom to massage my ribs is limited

As much as those used to mass funerals

and tepid cocktail parties

Their after-tears vibes in the land of entertainment is over

Indeed, the first commandment of Coronavirus

is to keep social distancing

So be not far from us and give us this day

Like a hissing snake

to diminish the future of mankind

It trembled us in fear

of greeting our next door neighbours

As we chose to perform an elbow-bump greeting

Fearing a Fourth Industrial Revolution monster

which downgrades global economy

and prompts us to remain indoors

when enjoying a cup of rooibos

Though I might soak fingers deep

into a foam to wipe corona away

Nor flying as a bird to the higher mountain

I couldn’t hide for its destruction

Only thy grace will remake the world

where excessive coughing and

fever shall be no more

So give us this day and heal this world

In swathes of  USA  Italy Spain et al

voices mourn inside the masks

Voices from generation that

divorce their faith to God

are moaning on how donkeys

are free from scorn of Covid 19

Alas, they forget to seek thy

Kingdom and put trust in thee

With broken heart torn apart

by a cruel joke from these lips

That identify Africa, my Africa

as a fertile ground for corona-vaccine testing

Wrap up those sarcastic lips

for all have sinned

Dear Lord, give us this day

and turn sorrow to joy  

* Magic Khotseng is one of the great black poets from South Africa. 

THE LARGER THAN LIFE FELICIA MABUZA

Book: Dare to Dream
Author: Felicia Mabuza

One of Africa's most remarkable and stunning successes - that is the author of this work. Think Oprah Winfrey of USA (and indeed the world) and then Felicia of South Africa. She is not just a copycat, she has been a marmoreal, relevant success in her own right. Hence a book touching on her life, an autobiography, would always appeal. Like Ramphele's.

Felicia's awesome talent as a communications guru was forged in the USA, where she not only studied, but initially distinguished herself in her niche. But even earlier in this book, the author tells us about her earlier years in South Africa, how she was not too impressed with many things, including the conditions in which certain male workers lived. She was always imbued with the urge to be successful in life, and going overseas was ideal for her.

Here, she comments on her initial impressions of 'God's own country" and from the female perspective some of these vignettes are quite illuminating, eg how women would even invest everything they had just for their hair to look good, to look appealing etc. Americans apparently, when confronted with different accents might find the same fascinating, or think you are from England!

Through it all, we are impressed with the determination, passion and earnestness of the author, as she finishes her studies and begins to carve a niche for herself in the world of communications, including when America hosted the 1996 Olympics which many might remember for Boxing great Muhammad Ali striving to light the torch...

That Felicia would decide to come back home to SA and contribute her own quota to her mother country with Nelson Mandela in the saddle was indeed fortuitous. She has been a household name for decades now in her South Africa thanks to her marvellous talk-show. A magnificent communicator, she has the knack to make everybody feel at ease with her laid-back style; why, even her quiet, always polite voice pulses with empathy and sympathy during sombre editions of her show; and the fact that she speaks virtually all the major African languages complements her multiple award winning show.

 





This book contains some of the plaudits that have come Felicia's way, thanks to the show. But she is a larger than life personality, a brilliant, endearing lady - and mother - in so many ways. This is one of those books that everybody, African or not, really should read...
- Malome E. B

THE NOVELS OF AYI KWEI ARMAH. By Robert Fraser

If there was a poll for the greatest ever African writer, a fair number of informed readers would surely plump for Ayi Kwei Armah, the Ghanaian writer who since his emergence as a young writer many decades ago has garnered extraordinary respect and followership.

Robert Fraser, in this monograph, more than captures the essence of Armah - focusing as he does on his first five remarkable novels, the life and times of Armah, and his excellent vision. It is impossible to think of any other African concerned with moral regeneration as Armah has done for decades.

Fraser zeroes in on this aspect, starting with Armah's first, and by far the most famous of his works, The beautyful ones are not yet born. The startling story of an incredibly principled yet impecunious protagonist - he stoically refuses to indulge in any acts of corruption even when opportunities present themselves. Even his family are certain this is crazy self-flagellation.

"The man", who is given no name throughout the book is not so different from Baako, the principled protagonist of Fragments, Armah's second novel, as Fraser points out in this work. Alas, the society mocks and denigrates Baako too (in contradistinction to the flashy flagrant "been-tos"). Armah and his main protagonists luridly rail against materialism and corruption in African societies.

Fraser also examines Armah's other novels like Why are we so blest? (A trio of interesting rather zany individuals feature here too), Two thousand seasons (his most controversial and polemical work), and The Healers, which features profound thinkers and intellectuals annealed within the African crucible.

The author (Fraser) unequivocally admires Armah a lot as a superb, principled, analytical yet highly creative writer, and this is obvious throughout this monograph. He is on Armah's side most of the time even whilst the author is at his most polemical.

 

It is an eclectic, thought provoking study, with interesting analyses, allusions, and analogies. Eg whilst examining Two thousand seasons, Fraser juxtaposes some sections there with Alex Haley's Roots. I also liked the reference (s) to the work of another early great Ghanaian writer, Kofi Awoonor.

Fraser is rather enamoured with Armah's prose too, including African idioms, ululations, aphorisms; eg he reproduces (in Fragments) the philosophic musings of an old woman "Each thing that goes away returns and in the end nothing is lost...". He sums up the vision of Armah in his writings, the significance of the individual, and the collective, plural striations of society.

One cannot but feel that this is a remarkable study of a remarkable African writer. The essence of Armah has been captured, even if we know little or nothing about his later major works (eg Osiris Rising; KMT; and The Resolutionaries - Armah's very latest work)

Oh I love monographs on African writers...
- Malome Eric B

TOADS FOR SUPPER. By Chukwuemeka Ike

This rather early African novel reminds us of how important marriage is, or should be, and how very important the process is to those who hail from rural areas (village) even if the protagonist is having a western education at a university. From the perspective of his parents, the ideal woman for Amadi would be the well brought up if naive village girl they want him to marry. But with his exposure to campus life, Amadi meets other women from other regions who seem more appealing. Yet Aduke, the woman he is most attracted to, despite higher education, is naive in her own way too, especially in sexual matters as we see. Amadi finds himself in a very tight corner in the end - in this fine work where campus/academic life is vividly recreated.
- Madolyn Chukwu