The global threat of Covid-19 is sending readers towards novels, centered on epidemics. Publishers around the world (via The Guardian) point out that sales of three books have increased significantly: Albert Camus's The Plague, Dean Koontz's The Eyes of Darkness and Stephen King's The Stand.
"The plague" is in the Top 10 of the best-selling books in Italy according to the report of the literary magazine ActuaLitté. Although generally regarded as an allegory of the French people's experience during the Nazi occupation, Camus's work has recently aroused interest. The "plague" of Camus sets events in a city in Algeria, Orani. Dr. Bernard Rieux notices more and more dead mice. After them, people's deaths increase and all of a sudden, Oran finds himself isolated from the world.
"The Stand" imagines a world decomposed by a dangerous flu known as "Captain Trips". Sales of The Stand have also increased significantly.
"The Eyes of Darkness" gained popularity after the theory spread to the Internet that Dean Koontz predicted coronavirus. The rumor started to spread because the book's virus is called "Wuhan-400." It is true that Koontz wrote about a fictitious virus in his novel and that his name, "Wuhan-400" refers to the Chinese city where the 2019 coronavirus originated (COVID-19), but the book's illness does not in common with real illness.
If you don't know what to choose, in our opinion re / read "The Plague".
