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swirls's review
1.0
I did not like it and only skimmed so I won't count this for the year. My plague book club had recently read The Plague by Albert Camus, and we thought this would be an excellent addition to our reading list. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if the Camus was not so fresh in my mind. I found this a rather boring remake set in modern times. It felt very paint-by-numbers and mechanical. I skipped quickly through.
anaiira's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There are so few books written by Vancouverites about Vancouver specifically. The city itself is really my favourite character, the places and eccentricities of the neighbourhoods and locations are specific, and I can't imagine what this would feel like to those who've never been or never lived in Vancouver. So little extraneous worldbuilding and detail is given, but places are named like they're friends who need no introduction. I will say though, the idea of the whole city somehow being under lockdown and staying in a bubble sounds implausible, and conceptualizing all of the checkpoints you'd need to set up just on the longest border between vancouver and burnaby seems like a really implausible government overreach.
The plot sounds like it would be really heavy, but fundamentally retells the pandemic 2020 from the perspectives of mostly able bodied and those with mostly uncompromised immune systems. There's no personal hardship above and beyond quarantining, and while witnessing death and suffering is sad, there's this estrangement from it by all the characters until the very end.
Characters are p boring. Felt like I was a therapist in the lives of three different people with obviously repressed anxieties, but they never seemed able to extricate themselves out of their own heads enough to actually communicate it. The writing is on the florid and more academic side, which only emphasizes the whole navel-gazing-ness of the novel.
I liked Rieux's mom and her addiction to Cantonese opera and how delighted she was that she met someone from her original home town. The letter from Yuki's parents was very cute too.
The plot sounds like it would be really heavy, but fundamentally retells the pandemic 2020 from the perspectives of mostly able bodied and those with mostly uncompromised immune systems. There's no personal hardship above and beyond quarantining, and while witnessing death and suffering is sad, there's this estrangement from it by all the characters until the very end.
Characters are p boring. Felt like I was a therapist in the lives of three different people with obviously repressed anxieties, but they never seemed able to extricate themselves out of their own heads enough to actually communicate it. The writing is on the florid and more academic side, which only emphasizes the whole navel-gazing-ness of the novel.
I liked Rieux's mom and her addiction to Cantonese opera and how delighted she was that she met someone from her original home town. The letter from Yuki's parents was very cute too.
dessa's review
4.0
The book is about a plague, yes, but more about the crises already present in a beautiful, progressive city— gentrification, drug use and overdose, racism, political scandal, the wealthy believing they have the right to do anything they want. The plague kills the city’s rats and shuts its borders and inspires fear and loneliness but more than anything reveals the rottenness at the heart of Vancouver— selfishness, isolation, short attention spans, hedonism. The ways in which the three main characters find each other are completely arbitrary, and yet their refusal to let go or give up is anything but. How can you build a community in a city in the midst of ruination? How do we accidentally or purposefully ruin space and place and opportunity and each other? Our heroes aren’t entirely successful, because how CAN they be in the face of entangled issues so much larger than themselves? But they don’t entirely fail, either. And I think if more of us became accustomed to the fact that not entirely failing is a kind of success, we might actually be able to change the world.
Parts of it drag, and some of characters narrate in a weirdly stilted way, but it’s an endearing and important portrait of Vancouver nonetheless.
Parts of it drag, and some of characters narrate in a weirdly stilted way, but it’s an endearing and important portrait of Vancouver nonetheless.
musicalpopcorn's review
3.0
When the plague hits Vancouver, nobody is spared. A story more about the effects of a city-wife quarantine than the disease itself, The Plague offers an interesting view into the lives of the survivors in a world where people are obsessed with the dead.
While I wouldn’t call this book one of my favourites, I did enjoy it overall. It was heart-wrenching to read about the people who died. The connections between the character were interesting although made it less believable.
I was also not a fan of the narration where the “authors” would pull you out of the story to refer to themselves. It was somehow simultaneously trying to be a novel and an account of what happened.
Narration issues aside, this was a good read, although nothing to rave about.
While I wouldn’t call this book one of my favourites, I did enjoy it overall. It was heart-wrenching to read about the people who died. The connections between the character were interesting although made it less believable.
I was also not a fan of the narration where the “authors” would pull you out of the story to refer to themselves. It was somehow simultaneously trying to be a novel and an account of what happened.
Narration issues aside, this was a good read, although nothing to rave about.
lancakes's review
4.0
Rereading it during the pandemic. I actually grabbed it from VPL during my last library trip before quarantine, I was there to drop off books and grab some holds that had come in and was feeling very, very anxious about being in a public space (I had a panic attack on the bus directly afterward) - when I saw this book on the shelf it seemed an appropriate time to reread it. I think possibly a bit of it is too dark to fully contemplate in this context: the sense of futility is partially not representative of the COVID-19 Pandemic because policy and medical interventions do make a difference, while in this novel the infection rate seems truly random. But, I'm sure that to healthcare workers in the trenches Rieux's pragmatic approach - to work himself to the bone even though thousands will still die, and then eventually succumb to the disease himself - feels not super far off in the darkest moments, and that's what's too bleak for me to fully consider. A friend who's into philosophy kind of explained Camus' whole deal and I think I get this book a little better this time around with that lens; the first time I read this book I wished I'd had more access to the social conditions of this Vancouver, and particularly the history of the annex, but I get that that's beyond the scope of Camus' existentialism. I still think it would've been a richer novel with those aspects included.
This time around the scene with Tso and the [m/b]illionaire was a little hard to fit into the broader theme of the book, and I'd kind of forgotten about it until that note near the end that Horne-Bough was jumping in as an investor when he got out of prison. It does serve to highlight the wealth disparity in Vancouver (and globally) and how that's affecting death along those economic strata: the poor die by mass numbers in obscurity and the rich build useless monuments to their wealth around them, retreating to their second or third houses.
I have some pages I took photos of so I'll update this review with those quotes later.
This time around the scene with Tso and the [m/b]illionaire was a little hard to fit into the broader theme of the book, and I'd kind of forgotten about it until that note near the end that Horne-Bough was jumping in as an investor when he got out of prison. It does serve to highlight the wealth disparity in Vancouver (and globally) and how that's affecting death along those economic strata: the poor die by mass numbers in obscurity and the rich build useless monuments to their wealth around them, retreating to their second or third houses.
I have some pages I took photos of so I'll update this review with those quotes later.
caidyn's review against another edition
2.0
This review and others can be found on BW Book Reviews.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating.
This book is a retelling of The Plague by Albert Camus. Which I own and read. Apparently, there’s even a review of it on Goodreads that I wrote. I gave the original book 3.5/5 but I literally don’t remember it. I don’t remember reading it. I don’t remember what happened. I don’t remember the characters. So, obviously, either my dodgy memory strikes again OR the book wasn’t that good.
But, I wanted to read this book because, hey, it sounded cool. Sadly, it came across as a huge character study rather than a book with a plot.
It follows three main characters who get trapped in Vancouver’s quarantine. Dr Bernard Rieux, a man whose wife has cancer then leaves to get treatment and his Chinese mother comes to stay and help him. Megan Tso, an author in Vancouver for her book and is trying to hide from someone. Raymond Siddhu, a journalist who is struggling after having twins and gets trapped in the city.
Major props to Chong for having all three of the main characters non-white in this retelling. I really liked that since it made me picture different people in my head while I was reading rather than some run of the mill white person.
Not only that, but all of the characters are very compelling. I could pick up the book (aka my phone) and read for a while, not even realizing how much I had read or how long I had been reading. While there isn’t a huge plot to the book, it goes fast and you get sucked in because you genuinely like all of the characters.
But, Caidyn, you ask? Why the two stars? You just told me the characters are diverse and compelling!
Well, reader, because I found it boring. Yes, I could read a whole lot and get sucked into it, but I didn’t want to pick it back up. It would take me days to weeks to decide that I wanted to pick it back up, then when I did I’d read for a long time without realizing it.
Then, even worse, I’d promptly forget everything because I sometimes skimmed over parts because, sorry, but I get bored of character development when there’s no plot. I might love the characters. I might gush about them. Yet if there’s no plot, I lose interest. Ask Chantel about our experience with Sense8. Wait don’t because you’ll make her cry.
So, all in all, I’d only recommend this book who loved the original and finds straight character studies fascinating/compelling to read. It’s a good book, but just wasn’t my type.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating.
This book is a retelling of The Plague by Albert Camus. Which I own and read. Apparently, there’s even a review of it on Goodreads that I wrote. I gave the original book 3.5/5 but I literally don’t remember it. I don’t remember reading it. I don’t remember what happened. I don’t remember the characters. So, obviously, either my dodgy memory strikes again OR the book wasn’t that good.
But, I wanted to read this book because, hey, it sounded cool. Sadly, it came across as a huge character study rather than a book with a plot.
It follows three main characters who get trapped in Vancouver’s quarantine. Dr Bernard Rieux, a man whose wife has cancer then leaves to get treatment and his Chinese mother comes to stay and help him. Megan Tso, an author in Vancouver for her book and is trying to hide from someone. Raymond Siddhu, a journalist who is struggling after having twins and gets trapped in the city.
Major props to Chong for having all three of the main characters non-white in this retelling. I really liked that since it made me picture different people in my head while I was reading rather than some run of the mill white person.
Not only that, but all of the characters are very compelling. I could pick up the book (aka my phone) and read for a while, not even realizing how much I had read or how long I had been reading. While there isn’t a huge plot to the book, it goes fast and you get sucked in because you genuinely like all of the characters.
But, Caidyn, you ask? Why the two stars? You just told me the characters are diverse and compelling!
Well, reader, because I found it boring. Yes, I could read a whole lot and get sucked into it, but I didn’t want to pick it back up. It would take me days to weeks to decide that I wanted to pick it back up, then when I did I’d read for a long time without realizing it.
Then, even worse, I’d promptly forget everything because I sometimes skimmed over parts because, sorry, but I get bored of character development when there’s no plot. I might love the characters. I might gush about them. Yet if there’s no plot, I lose interest. Ask Chantel about our experience with Sense8. Wait don’t because you’ll make her cry.
So, all in all, I’d only recommend this book who loved the original and finds straight character studies fascinating/compelling to read. It’s a good book, but just wasn’t my type.
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