I absolutely loved reading this book. It was a balm during some complicated times--not just the pandemic, but the ways in which we think about and value literature as we come up against confrontations in education and the humanities. I could read this book again and again and would love to read more like it, contextualizing our lives and spirits in the framework of literature. This one I'm going to buy for my personal library.

The recent Covid pandemic resulted in renewed interest in Albert Camus’ novel The Plague and many read it or re-read it and afterwards discussed its relevance to our contemporary world, eager to discover whether it could illuminate our current predicament. Certainly I re-read it and found it resonated strongly with me. Alice Kaplan and Laura Marris have written individual responses to the novel and in alternating chapters offer short essays on the book’s history, significance and relevance. A combination of literary criticism and analysis, sociology, history and personal experience, the book is a thoughtful, insightful and interesting exploration of Camus’ writing and I very much enjoyed it. Recommended for literary scholars and lay-readers alike; there’s something for everyone here.

Reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTykT7vdaIs&t=1042s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9NKaw40STk&t=1034s

Having in mind that Camus parallels the spread of the plague to Nazism, the relevancy to the present day and to life during the pandemic is quite weak. However, Kaplan and Marris' writing style is captivating, as well as the way the weave textual and social criticism through the lens of personal experience.

I read French Lessons by Alice Kaplan when I was in high school 30 years ago. I've since become a translator. I haven't read The Plague in decades but was spurred to do so by this book (I've only just started).
I think most French people have made fun of Emmanuelle Macron for saying "nous sommes en guerre" against the novel coronavirus. I mean, when you compare Covid to present-day Syria, non, quoi. Camus' book was an allegory comparing the spread of plague to the spread of Naziism. The parallels drawn to the present day here are tenuous at best.
Still, I learned that Camus was chronically ill all his life and about how that informed his work.