“Thus, in a middle course between these heights and depths, they drifted through life rather than lived, the prey of aimless days and sterile memories, like wandering shadows that could have acquired substance only by consenting to root themselves in the solid earth of distress.”
– Albert Camus, The Plague

“And since a dead man has no substance unless one has actually seen him dead, a hundred million corpses broadcast through history are no more than a puff of smoke in the imagination.”
– Albert Camus, The Plague

I found this 1970 copy of Camus’ The Plague at Atlantic Bookshop in Brooklyn (which used to be on 12th St. in Manhattan). I love the simplicity of it, that single iconic image of the scythe. Many thanks to the great Scot Kamins of Portland, Oregon, who runs the excellent Modern Library Collecting site for help with identifying the edition.