Past pandemics inspired beautiful works of literary fiction. What novels to read as therapy during this one
On Friday, March 13 I called my mom while commuting to work to distract myself from an uneasy feeling rising in my chest. Back then, Amsterdam was still quite busy, but you could already see the first signs of distress — the trams were emptier than usual, while the opposite was true for the supermarkets.
“I’m not so worried about getting sick,” I told my mom. “It’s just that whatever I do doesn’t seem to have much meaning anymore.”
“This existential crisis is quite normal in times like these”, she told me. When your focus shifts to getting enough food for a potential lockdown and worrying about the safety people close to you, rethinking priorities at work and in daily life is natural.
“And this is not the first time this has happened”, my mom reminded me. Her advice was to (re)turn to works of literature inspired by past pandemics.
Right now I’m re-reading “Love in the Times of Cholera’’ and it’s truly therapeutic: with every page, I’m reminded that there is beauty to be found in difficult times. Here are my recommendations for books that might help you get through the lockdown:
„The Plague” by Albert Camus
This classic novel provides philosophical reflections on what it means to be human in the face of suffering. It tells the story of a plague in the French city of Oran and its effects on people — patients as well as doctors. Just like in a Greek myth of Sisyphus pushing a rock up the hill only to see it roll down again, Camus argues that there is meaning and beauty in our struggles, even if they seem pointless at the time.
This book is a great therapy for anyone suffering from the existential angst (“a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world”) and who’s not afraid of melancholy and quiet contemplation.
„Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
My personal favorite, this book transports readers into the magical beauty of the Caribbean postcolonial world of tropical birds, lush vegetation, and explosive human emotions. The cholera outbreak seems to provide only a distant background to the story of love, death, and desire, reminding us that life goes on despite the disease.
In this masterpiece, Márquez compares being hopelessly in love to the symptoms of cholera, reminding us that emotional suffering should receive the same attention as the physical one.
“Blindness” by José Saramago
This dystopian classic by a Portuguese Nobel Prize winner tells the story of a mysterious blindness epidemic and its aftermath. In comparison with the traumatic quarantine asylum described in the book, suddenly our homes start looking like ideal places to go through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Blindness” is also a cautionary tale of the increasingly strict and repressive measures the governments take to prevent the spread of disease. The book is not for the faint-hearted; it’s for those seeking to immerse themselves in a cathartic worst-case-scenario.
“Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts
The story follows the character of an Australian bank robber who escapes prison and flees to India. Hiding from the authorities, the circumstances force him to live in the Mumbai slums where he starts a free health clinic despite his lack of medical education.
Although a cholera outbreak is only one of the misfortunes the characters have to deal with, the book is still a moving read for challenging times. It reminds us — with sobering clarity — that natural and man-made disasters hit the poor and overcrowded communities the hardest.
On a positive note, the main character inspires to lead a good, honest life and gives back to the community despite his own poverty. He gives hope that there is compassion, care, and real friendship even when his life has been reduced to the bare minimum needed to survive.
Suggestions? Share in the comments
This is by no means an exhaustive list, of course. I’ve shared what I know from my own literary experience, but I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments. Are you also turning to books about pandemics? Or would you rather stay away from this topic and immerse yourself in a completely different story?
