Introduction to the novel would be something like this: A brilliant American Irish scientists is driven mad when his wife dies as a result of IRA bomb attack. So, he creates a virus that will kill all women on Ireland...Will the virus spread?There are a lot of fascinating themes in this novel and it functions great as a thriller as well. The way that the history of the Irish is presented is just brilliant. It is not a stereotypical view of the Irish. He really goes into the dept, exploring frustrations that are born in a nation that has been tortured or colonized, that has known treason...(not an excuse for the colonized but most of the nations that have had problems with achieving independence are no strangers to treason from its own man, unity being a very important factor in preserving a nation) Anyway, violence has a way of feeding on violence and I think that Herbert really captured this. This quote from the man himself seems to go well with this theme of repeated violence:"The oppressed always learned from and copied the oppressor. When the tables were turned, the stage was set for another round of revenge and violence -- roles reversed. And reversed and reversed ad nauseam."FRANK HERBERT, Chapterhouse: DuneThe way the author makes bio terrorism look plausible is extremely upsetting. Especially as I think it is true- I mean that it is possible for one man to develop a virus that could end mankind. The characterization of the man that does it in The White Plague is great, his descend into madness being so well described. It is scary though, the fact that it is not impossible to create a virus that could be potentially devastating to human race. Nature creates such viruses and man has recently come a long way in regards to imitating natural catastrophes…actually, man has out staged natural catastrophes.On another note, novel presents an interesting questions in terms of what would the reduction of female population mean to mankind. It seems to me that some SF writers entertain this idea that fewer women would mean that women would be better treated. Heinlein and his novel Luna is a Harsh Mistress come to my mind as an example of this philosophy. I actually disagree with this concept. If you look at only countries where man outnumber women, you’ll see that those are the countries where women have no access to medical care and where basically women have no rights. In fact, in these countries women are considered to be the property of the man to the point that it is hard to even get a remote picture about their position. Since it is a biological law that women should outnumber man, when they do not, you know there is something seriously wrong. In this novel, this question about the relationship between female population and their position in society is not really answered though I have a feeling that the author thinks it could improve the power of women. In this case I think Herbert attributes his feeling about women to entire mankind- and that’s not a very good way to make prognosis. Seriously, if all man would be so eager to protect women, we’d live in a different world. It could even be said, if all women would be so eager to protect women, we’d live in a different world, but I’m getting distracted from the book. I don't really know what else to say except that the novel is more deeper then you could expect. The action and the plot does not stop the writer from searching human soul and identity. The novel is quite long yet it never gets boring or tiring. That's Frank Herbert for you...
“The Irish always seem to me like a pack of hounds dragging down some noble stag.”~GoetheJohn O’Neill wasn’t an evil man. But kill his wife and children as collateral damage in an IRA terrorist attack in 1970s era Ireland, and he will morph into something unrecognizable. He will work tirelessly, drawing from a genius in molecular genetics, being fueled by rage and pain, to concoct a bacterial vector for the most destructive virus in human history. It’s target: women, without which humans cannot survive.Herbert’s strength has always been his dialogue. O’Neill disappears for a large portion of the novel’s opening third, during his curation of the White Plague. His eventual antagonists, pursuers, and personnages of world government take center stage and engage in endless conversational repartee. When John re-emerges into our collective consciousness, he will spent half of a dense novel traversing a forest wilderness with a psychopath, a mute, and a priest. Although this is intended as a vehicle for ideas and translator for the ethos of the novel’s era, the exploits of this trio grow rapidly stale. By the time the plot makes forward movement, the sense of outrage and urgency vis-à-vis the plague has been lost.Done well are the conversations between American intelligence and the American president; among Vatican leaders; and within the various research laboratories in the Western World. Every nation teems with suspicion and seems to hide secret malice should their neighboring country develop a cure or leap ahead technologically. The geopolitical consequences of a single nation owning a race-saving medical cure is explored in a way that feels both real and terrible. “The White Plague” succeeds in a real, consequential way in discussing how our modern world might react to tragedy on a scale beyond that of our recent wars. As a human drama, however, it is heavy-handed and thin.
What do You think about The White Plague (1983)?
The basic tenor/plot can be summarized by this line in the book: "What did I expect? He wondered. Not this."Several issues examined:+If the world faces major calamity, will the governments fail and basic brutal survival prevail and the veneer of civilization disintegrate?+Nature and critique of terrorism and the purpose and distortions of revenge.+Do people consider the ramifications and ethics of science?+Church's role in society.+Tedious replication of retribution and the endless double-thinking of motives in politics.This book had more than a plot, it had context. There were cultural and philosophical ruminations with poetry and song. There was a focus on Irish culture/history but, as shown by the above points, much else was included.
—William Crosby
I dug this one out for a change of pace. I'd looked it over before, but hadn't read it. But I'm usually desperate for new reading material, so I decided to give it a try.The basic plot is that a crazed scientist develops a plague designed to infect and kill women. It gets worldwide distribution, and so all of womankind faces the possibility of extinction - soon to be followed by all men, of course.It's set in the modern day, or possibly in the near future - but so near that there's nothing to distinguish it from the present. Well, the present as of 1982, since a key plot point is the Irish Republican Army.The book was surprisingly riveting - it was almost impossible to put down until I was about three-fours of the way through. And it's a LONG book. But towards the end the whole thing began to pall. With most women dead, and the major character in an incredibly bleak situation, the book became awfully hard to read towards the end. And I found the ending itself quite unpleasant. Herbert was an incredibly gifted and intelligent writer, and I cannot make any criticism of his technique in this book; I just don't like what he had to say. Not everyone would feel the same way, obviously.
—Peter
I actually prefer this book to Herbert's legendary "Dune". Why? Because it speaks in and of a world I live in. Not cience fiction in the bastardized form we see today, but a true "speculative fiction" page-turner. A well-written story of bio-terrorism that gets out of hand that not only deals with the detective story of how to stop the plague, but what effects will society and politics see out of it as the targeted disease breaks out of the Middle East and ravages all corners of the world?I am gratified that there has not been a badly-made Hollywood filming of this, I am not sure four hours and a box of popcorn could do it justice.
—William F. DeVault
