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The Fall

by Albert Camus, Robin Buss (Translator)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 21,237 ratings · 707 reviews

Jean-Baptiste Clamence is a soul in turmoil. Over several drunken nights he regales a chance acquaintance with his story. From this successful former lawyer and seemingly model citizen a compelling, self-loathing catalogue of guilt, hypocrisy and alienation pours forth. "The Fall" (1956) is a brilliant portrayal of a man who has glimpsed the hollowness of his existence. Bu...more

Paperback, 98 pages

Published June 1st 2007 by Penguin (first published 1956)

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Dec 08, 2012 Samadrita rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nobel-laureates, philosophical, timeless-classics, european-literature, 1001-and-more, re-readable, cherished, france, non-fiction-ish, brain-fodder, awesomesauce, existentialism, novella-short-stories

Do you want to have the very foundations on the basis of which your whole outlook towards life has been shaped, questioned?
Do you want to see the lines between so-called good and evil, right and wrong, the moral and immoral blurred to the extent you could not distinguish one from the other?
Do you want to erase that cherished and precious point of reference, against which you have compared, weighed all your actions, thoughts and feelings so far?

If the answer to the above 3 questions is yes, then...more

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Mar 14, 2008 Lauren Van Buskirk rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I ran into my friend Dan at the club last week, and he was drunk. So we talked Camus. We didn’t discuss Camus’s theories, or the fact that he avoided riding in cars and then DIED IN A CAR CRASH. We just talked about Camus in relation to Dan’s life and in relation to mine. The only really interesting thing about anything to me is how it affects me. That’s the honest truth.

Dan and I agreed that an interest in Existentialism is kind of a stage in your life – like when you liked Pearl Jam or lived...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Abhilash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you have never read Camus you are mostly surely missing something special. Absurdity explained with absolute clairvoyance.I must say this is a very special writer, the rare combination of great thinker who knew to write. The novel is a monologe by Jean Baptice Clemmmence, Jude -Penitent , the story of his fall form the high flying life in Paris though the concentric circles of hell in Amsterdam. The protagonist intorpects his life with brutal simplity , he finds himself to be absurd, his life...more

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Nov 01, 2007 Katherine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those who always sit at the bar, lawyers

Eh. This book started off with potential, I thought, even making me laugh out loud, though I'm not sure it's supposed to be funny. But then again what's not funny about proclaiming that humans will be remembered only for reading the paper and fornicating?

It took me a while to get into the monologue form, and then I liked the casual banter for a bit. But then by page 40, and it's only 100-some pages, I found myself fast asleep face down in the book, literally. This book also fails the page-99 tes...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Julia Boechat Machado rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french-literature, philosophy, to-re-read, 1950s, books-i-own

Jean-Baptiste Clemence, advogado parisiense que se define como juiz-penitente e vive em Amsterdã, conta diretamente ao leitor a história de sua vida, sua queda. Clemence não espera pelo julgamento final: ele ocorre todo dia. Um marco da literatura do absurdo. O final é excelente.
L'homme est ainsi, cher monsieur, il a deux faces: il ne peut pas aimer sans s'aimer.

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Feb 19, 2009 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those looking for an example of The Absurd Man in action.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Fall is an appropriately titled book in which we meet the personification of what Camus called "The Absurd Man". He did not use this term to refer to someone who was merely ridiculous. The Absurd Man is one who has come to realize the absurdity of life, the resulting despair, yet chooses to live and try to find dignity in what life there is. This is, of course, Camus' worldview and as such is projected into all of his fiction. This may be, however, the clearest example of his worldview I hav...more The Fall is an appropriately titled book in which we meet the personification of what Camus called "The Absurd Man". He did not use this term to refer to someone who was merely ridiculous. The Absurd Man is one who has come to realize the absurdity of life, the resulting despair, yet chooses to live and try to find dignity in what life there is. This is, of course, Camus' worldview and as such is projected into all of his fiction. This may be, however, the clearest example of his worldview I have yet read.

The protagonist is a lawyer, and the story is his autobiography, told in the first person to the reader. From him, we learn that he seemed to live a charmed life, possessing those things which many deem to be truly important in life; good looks, good health, success in his work, the esteem of his colleagues and clients, success in his romantic pursuits, and wealth. He appeared to others to be generous, courteous, and noble, frequently taking up the cause of the poor, going to great lengths to help the infirm, and so on. All of these things gave him great self satisfaction. This is, so to speak, his state of grace, his garden of Eden. Of course, there must be a fall.

Through a series of seemingly insignificant circumstances, the lawyer, Jean-Baptiste Clemence, realizes that his life may not be as idyllic as he thought. His generosity, his concern for the poor and infirm, his nobility, all of his most laudable character traits are in fact nothing more than an attempt to call attention to himself. There is nothing genuine behind his actions. Clemence realizes that others have seen through him, and thus the good esteem he thought he enjoyed does not really exist. He hears the world laughing at him and his shallow egotism. There is a moment when, through a physical fall, he has an opportunity to redeem himself, but he fails to act. His failure is the catalyst for deep self examination, and he sees the depth of his self deception. Clemence then experiences a psychological and spiritual fall from his state of grace. His expulsion from the garden takes the form of a descent into hedonism, self hatred, even a form of crime. Ultimately he finds an equilibrium of sorts in Camus' absurdity, and it is there that the book leaves him. He is not the Nietzschean superman, yet his full awareness of the absurdity of reality elevates him, in a sense, above his fellow men, such that he is in a position to truly judge himself and others.

The Fall is dark and hopeless. In some ways, it parallels the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, in which the author sees vanity all around him, and can find true satisfaction in nothing that is apart from God. Clemence, though, has no God, thus there is no hope for him, no satisfaction. He is not an appealing figure; he is the logical conclusion of Camus' thought, and Camus is to be commended for not compromising his integrity in order to manufacture a happy ending. For Camus, there is none. Because it is well written, unwavering to the author's convictions, and engrossing, the book deserves high praise. As stated elsewhere, though, the presuppositional flaws compromise its excellence, resulting in a three-star rating.(less)

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Jan 22, 2011 Nikolay Mollov rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Свалям шапка на този шедьовър. Свалям шапка на прокараните велики идеи и едновременно с това им се изсмивам почтително.

Не знам откъде да започна!

Със същия чук, взет на заем, - с който Ницше удря като с камертон по главата на Бог, докато го разпардушини и оттук насетне всеки трябва сам да следва собствения си морален закон, - Албер Камю тръмбува безпогрешно в съзнанието на читателя идеите за отговорността на индивида и отхвърлянето на оправданията и извиненията. Всекиму се ще да бъде невминяем...more Свалям шапка на този шедьовър. Свалям шапка на прокараните велики идеи и едновременно с това им се изсмивам почтително.

Не знам откъде да започна!

Със същия чук, взет на заем, - с който Ницше удря като с камертон по главата на Бог, докато го разпардушини и оттук насетне всеки трябва сам да следва собствения си морален закон, - Албер Камю тръмбува безпогрешно в съзнанието на читателя идеите за отговорността на индивида и отхвърлянето на оправданията и извиненията. Всекиму се ще да бъде невминяем за да върши своите глупости в ситуация на неподчиненост и свобода на морален избор или липса на такъв. Това е опасна ситуация за човечеството защото се оказва, че свобода и отговорност са едно и също нещо. А отговорност не всички плещи могат да поемат.

За съжаление има идеи, изпълнени с морална мощ и дълбочина, които в битието ни се проявяват единствено като временно постижими и които, за да бъдат достигнати, дори като временно състояние, се изисква сериозна устойчивост и сила на духа.

Екзистенциализмът не е за хора, които чакат всичко наготово. Светът обаче е устроен от най-добрите манипулатори, точно като за готованковци, заемащи премного място, и доста често за великите идеи мястото не достига.
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Jun 27, 2011 Evan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, _less-than-200-pages, __in-my-collection, 2011-reads

"Mon chéri, it seems Amsterdam has disagreed with you. You're so pale."

"Ah, mon amour, oui, I never want to leave the Paris sun again. I want to hold you naked and hang my fog-drenched clothes over the terrace to dry and never look at another dismal canal or smoky bar."

"But I thought my man liked those things about Amsterdam."

"I did, sweet, until I had the misfortune of running into this rather shabby, verbose character...French expat, Jean-Baptiste...well, at least that's what he called himself...more "Mon chéri, it seems Amsterdam has disagreed with you. You're so pale."

"Ah, mon amour, oui, I never want to leave the Paris sun again. I want to hold you naked and hang my fog-drenched clothes over the terrace to dry and never look at another dismal canal or smoky bar."

"But I thought my man liked those things about Amsterdam."

"I did, sweet, until I had the misfortune of running into this rather shabby, verbose character...French expat, Jean-Baptiste...well, at least that's what he called himself, Jean-Baptiste. Who the hell knows? He struck me as an unreliable narrator. Called himself a "judge-penitent" a lot. Never really explained very well what he meant by it. I think he meant he was a judge who was judging himself, but then made a lot of fuss about judgment being hypocritical and whatnot. Told me all about his libertine adventures, and war stories about being named the pope in a prison camp, and bragged about how he flattered people while laughing behind their backs. A really obnoxious, stuck-up fellow. Kept letting on that he had some kind of profound wisdom but ended up talking in circles and contradicting himself a lot. And I never could get rid of him. He'd show up every day for five days wherever I was, in a bar or on a ferry, and off he'd go again, and he was absolutely impossible to shake. I mean, imagine being accosted for a week by Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and being subjected to his compulsive confessions hour after hour. Needless to say, I got nothing done on my business trip in Amsterdam."

"Goodness, honey, sounds awful!"

"It was, it really was. The guy would say things he thought were terribly profound, but when you really took apart what he said, it often was nothing more than just an obvious banality. Take this, for instance...oh yes, I took some shorthand notes when he was nursing his beer and staring off into space...usually into that empty picture frame over the bar, the frame that held a painting by Van Eyck he claimed to have stolen... Anyway, take this for example. He would say something like:
'Be it said, moreover, that as soon as I had re-won that affection I became aware of its weight. In my moments of irritation I told myself that the ideal solution would have been the death of the person I was interested in. Her death would, on the one hand, have definitively fixed our relationship and, on the other, removed its compulsion. But one cannot long for the death of everyone or, in the extreme, depopulate the planet in order to enjoy a freedom that cannot be imagined otherwise.'

"So, if you pare that down and remove all the fancy language, he said little more than: 'You can't kill people just to be free of them.' Well, no duh!

"But then, he would turn around and say something fairly profound and not beat around the bush about it, such as: 'No man is a hypocrite in his pleasures.'

"Mr. Self-important Diarrhea Mouth probably won't be able to stop himself from writing a novel about his adventures, and proceed to ruin it by spewing off a bunch of confessional thoughts that he barely takes the time to explore before throwing in 10 more tangents, then throw in a little Amsterdam atmosphere to give it some bare semblance of scene-setting. Knowing the literary critics and academics, they'll probably go apeshit with praise and fall over each other trying to come up with the usual litany of biblical allusions--which seems to be de rigueur for people seeking tenure...Ah but I digress like he did. Alas, he seems to be rubbing off...an unfortunate aftermath. Anyway, I'm well rid of him... Fortunately!"
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Sep 25, 2008 Katherine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this for a class, which I admit may have colored my view of it, but honestly, I did not like it. I questioned my view because I know it is a classic, and I know Camus is supposed to be a genius. I freely admit I haven't read any of his other books, and it is entirely possible that they are all amazing, and I am missing out.

That said, this book just wasn't for me. It is essentially a long speech by one character, once a lawyer in Paris, on his fall from grace, and, in essence, from humani...more

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Mar 14, 2008 Jake rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who's confused as to what this life is all about.

As with most Camus, this book is, in the course of a hundred or so pages, an entire decade of therapy. If you don't feel worse—yet oddly optimistic—about yourself and people in general after this book, you're either inhuman, or you're the exact person this book was meant for.

Someone once extolled this book as "an examination of modern conscience," and it was through this lens that I first began this work. That's accurate, I suppose, to a point, but to leave interpretation at that would be to ro...more

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Feb 11, 2008 Owen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my favorite of the Camus I have read. The style is one of the most interesting I have ever come across. It is written in a strange monologue. You follow the lead character through his entire life leading to that point as the lead explains it to some guy he met in the pub (someone who never speaks). As you follow the lead you learn more and more about this fall. A successful lawyer being reduced to getting drunk every night in upper class Amsterdam. Over the course of three or four evenin...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Maria Grazia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: albert-camus, filosofia, narrativa-algerina, premi-nobel, ebook

Non un monologo, ma un dialogo di cui si sente una sola voce. Una specie di lunga confessione di una vita normalissima, quella di ciascuno di noi, che pure pare piena di delitti. E infatti la voce narrante è quella del giudicepenitente, colui che confessando i suoi normalissimi crimini fa si che chi lo ascolta sia indotto a prendere coscienza della proria normale nullità.
Poche, densissime pagine rivelatrici.

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Aug 12, 2007 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read2007

I read the 1956 Vintage Books paperback copy of The Fall as translated from the French by Justin O'Brien (I am not aware of another translation, please let me know if there is one!), and found it a complex look at human morality. The clumsy preening of the narrator is, at first, a little hard to get past, but his predicament is essentially a human one: what responsibility do we have to action and to others? Although, like in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, there is a central focus on suicide, I...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Ryan Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Outsider is Camus's best-known work (if largely to students); The Plague his best-reviewed. The Fall is his most personal. His most quotable, too. I know people who have memorised more than two-thirds of its content. The prose demands it.

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Mar 14, 2009 Bryan Glosemeyer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-and-philosphy, fiction

More of a dialectic of Camus' existentialist philosophies and views than "novel", it can be an interesting read. If you're looking for a book of plot twists and character development and so on, this ain't your book. If you want a 100 book about the absurdity and meaninglessness of modern life, this is surely for you.

I have to say flat out that I don't buy into his philosophy, as I find it inherently flawed. He creates quite a compelling world view of humanity and modern life..from religion to se...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Dick Edwards rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Almost immediately, in AC’s estimation, we see the sum total of his opinion of the human race (as some future historian might summarize it). He says we fornicated and read the newspaper. He is either (a) trying to shock us (not effective), (b) be humorous (not funny), or (c) make some erudite summary of human history (he is ignorant of same). AC speaks through his narrator, Jean-Baptiste Clamence (JBC), so that one could mercifully decide that AC is merely writing about the mind-set of this part...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Jimmy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Set in Amsterdam, it is a succession of dramatic monologues given by Clamence reflecting on his life to a stranger. He was a wealthy Paris lawyer who had a fall from grace. Sartre described the novel as "perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood" of Camus' books.

Amsterdam is below sea level, thus giving a sense of the underworld. Also as Clamence asks, "Have you noticed that Amsterdam's concentric canals resemble the circles of hell?" They are situated in the last circle, a red-light...more

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Feb 03, 2013 BeccaAudra Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 06, 2012 Spike Gomes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The translation for this early edition didn't seem to convey much of the wit and pithiness most of the reviewers note, so I'm going to read it a later edition of it sometime. Why? Because this book is one that needs to be read several time in order to be fully grasped. After I had finished it, I felt a certain unease, as if I hadn't quite got what Camus was trying to convey, so I read some scholarly essays on it, which made it much more clear. In short, it is about the failure of religion in lig...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Anoud Al-Ofaysan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

اقتباسات من الكتاب تعبر عن أفكاره الرئيسية ، عذراً على عدم كتابة رأيي الشخصي بالكتاب ، النجوم كافية هذه المرة ^_^

" أتحدثني عن يوم الحساب الأخير ؟ اسمح لي بأن اضحك باحترام ، و سأنتظر ذلك اليوم بصبر ، لانني عرفت ماهو أسوأ منه .. حساب البشر ، سأخبرك بسر كبير يا صديقي العزيز .. لا تنتظر يوم الحساب الأخير ، إنه يحدث في كل يوم "

المرء يتخذ شكل الأماكن التي يعيش بها-

البشر يحتاجون إلى المأساة .. الا تعرف ؟ انها تمثل نزوعهم الذاتي الصغير .. و مشتهاهم-

الإنسان - ياصديقي العزيز - له وجهان ، فهو لا يستطيع أن...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. “May I, monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding?” What a wonderful first sentence! The reader is immediately drawn into a conversation with the first person narrator, a charming and talkative habitué of a bar called Mexico City in Amsterdam, owned by a grumpy and taciturn Dutchman whom the narrator describes as “a primate.” The conversation with the reader seems one-sided in that only the narrator speaks throughout the entire book, but by his repeating what his fellow c...more “May I, monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding?” What a wonderful first sentence! The reader is immediately drawn into a conversation with the first person narrator, a charming and talkative habitué of a bar called Mexico City in Amsterdam, owned by a grumpy and taciturn Dutchman whom the narrator describes as “a primate.” The conversation with the reader seems one-sided in that only the narrator speaks throughout the entire book, but by his repeating what his fellow conversationalist (we, the reader) says, we know what words we have spoken. It is an odd and effective style. Cynical, articulate, the narrator satirizes the bourgeois company surrounding them, confessing himself to have been a lawyer when still in Paris. He introduces himself: Jean-Baptiste Clamence [“John the Baptist crying”]. And he describes himself as a “judge-penitent.” Flippantly he refers to the Holocaust. He describes the circular canals of the city in a way that would seem to refer to Dante’s Inferno. Garrulous, cynical, breezy, he enigmatically states that he will not cross bridges at night lest someone fall in and he must then decide whether or not to dive in after them. The first chapter ends, the reader hooked.

At the next meeting Clamence tells his story. Formerly a successful Parisian lawyer, a bachelor, he aspired to noble cases, intent on achieving and maintaining a reputation for magnanimity, charity, altruism, his reputation being what he treasured – while taking pleasure in his own life and excellence. In short, a successful life, while looking on himself as a kind of superman, one who likes to dominate (he admits to liking heights). Each generous act fed his self-esteem. Cynical, he admits that he believes in power. Not religious, he focuses on life here, now, yet, in reality, while in Paris he was satisfied with nothing, though not bored. Now he seeks understanding, not friendship, which makes too many demands. As his story unfolds, the narrator seems ever more unreliable. Is he Everyman?

Clamence’s five-day conversation with the unnamed narrator becomes an extended ranting monologue. His multiple, loveless, and manipulative sexual adventures, practiced with suavity and faux-caring, became habitual, sensuality and self-love being the only goal. Satisfaction was always ephemeral, and boredom always threatening. Gradually in Paris his reputation suffered and his law practice dwindled. But he always made excuses for himself, insisted on judging others even as he was being judged, always considering himself to be exceptional. His goal was to cease feeling guilty without the necessity of changing his behavior, and so he would repeatedly promise to be truthful without discontinuing telling lies. Clamence longs to be forgotten by others so that he can be solitary, surrendering to “the charms of a virile self-pity.”

His habitual self-centered charity and kind behavior evolved into a defiant and bitter misanthropy, and his legal pleadings began to become railings against the oppressed and a condemnation of humanitarianism. He wanted and still wants to destroy decorum. Finally, leaving Paris for Amsterdam, he finds himself yearning for immortality; he seeks it by immersing himself in women and alcohol, finding success only in the moment of indulgence. He creates his own guilt and punishment without the need for God or religion. His explanation for Jesus’ willing acceptance of crucifixion is the latter’s own felt guilt for the Slaughter of the Innocents, for which he was by his birth responsible.

Halfway through the book Clamence reveals the episode which haunts him and which led him to self-disgust. It involved his witnessing a young woman throw herself into the Seine and then cry for help, a cry which he ignored. Thereafter he was never able to view himself in the same way, and his already fragile life turned to ashes. Because he judges and condemns himself, he also judges and condemns all others without distinction. People do not want freedom, anyway, he asserts. They want to be judged, “rapped on the knuckles,” and they invent dreadful rules, believing in sin more strongly than in grace. “The essential is that everything should become simple, as for the child, that every act should be ordered, that good and evil should be arbitrarily, hence obviously, pointed out.” On the bridge of Paris he learned that he was afraid of freedom. “The essential is to cease being free and obey, in repentance, a greater rogue than oneself.” Ultimately, slavery is the goal. The source of modern man’s suffering is his freedom, for with it comes the knowledge of how unbearable freedom can be and of the responsibility it requires.

Part of Clamence’s debasement is repeating his story over and over again, a la The Ancient Mariner, in the bar Mexico City, leading his listener each time to question himself, to begin to see himself as no better than Clamence, to turn toward self-hatred, abasement, and a kind of spiritual slavery, thus making Clamence for the moment “better” than the listener. At the same time Clamence fantasizes that somehow he himself will be punished, “decapitated” [John the Baptist again], ending his misery. How he wishes that he would once again have the opportunity to save the young woman who threw herself into the Seine. “But let’s not worry! It’s too late now. It will always be too late. Fortunately!” Perhaps destiny will after all never change.

This novel is a skillful portrayal of existential angst (although Camus always denied that he was an existentialist). It demonstrates the conundrum of modern man struggling to find his moorings, entrapped in his own self-awareness and thus isolated socially and spiritually. It is important, I think, not to read this story as the tale of an oddball, a man different from all others and as aberrant. Rather, it is most usefully read as a mirror in which to examine each of our own lives, as an opportunity to probe our own motivations, values, and actions, in a word, to become more aware. I found the middle portion of the book a bit tedious, where Clamence (he admits that the name is a pseudonym) goes on and on about his sexual conquests and mores, but the effect of reading the work is probably cumulative, justifying how his life develops and also illustrating its increasingly boring sociopathy. In sum, the book is worth reading as a thoughtful probing of the state of modern man.
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Jul 16, 2012 Cameling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this existential masterpiece, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a French lawyer who had been first revered and then reviled, unburdens himself to a stranger in a bar in Amsterdam. Clamence was always considered the 'good guy', ready to help the blind cross the street, give up his seat to the elderly on the bus and defend victims of injustice.

However, as he gets into the details of his good deeds, the underlying hypocrisy of his motives are exposed. And through his confession lies the truth behind his...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Yashar Yashmi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, review, read-again

ساعت ها در این شک به سر بردم که به یگانه ی کامو 4 ستاره بدهم و به سقوط سه ستاره یا به سقوط 3 ستاره و به بیگانه چهار ستاره. ‏

از طرفی سقوط بیشتر به دلم نشست، با آن احساس راحتی بیشتر کردم و بیشتر لذت بردم و از طرفی بیگانه آن قدر اثر عظیمی است که نمی توانم به آن نمره ای کمتر از چهار بدهم. با این حال بالاخره تصمیم گرفتم و به سقوط سه ستاره بیشتر ندادم. دلیل این کارم هم صرفاً به این خاطر بود که سقوط از جهت داستان پردازی ضعیف تر از بیگانه است و من هم روی فرم حساسم. فرم بیگانه خارق العاده است اما سقوط فر...more ساعت ها در این شک به سر بردم که به یگانه ی کامو 4 ستاره بدهم و به سقوط سه ستاره یا به سقوط 3 ستاره و به بیگانه چهار ستاره. ‏

از طرفی سقوط بیشتر به دلم نشست، با آن احساس راحتی بیشتر کردم و بیشتر لذت بردم و از طرفی بیگانه آن قدر اثر عظیمی است که نمی توانم به آن نمره ای کمتر از چهار بدهم. با این حال بالاخره تصمیم گرفتم و به سقوط سه ستاره بیشتر ندادم. دلیل این کارم هم صرفاً به این خاطر بود که سقوط از جهت داستان پردازی ضعیف تر از بیگانه است و من هم روی فرم حساسم. فرم بیگانه خارق العاده است اما سقوط فرمی رو به زوال دارد که آن را در سطحی متوسط قرار می دهد. ‏

از جهت شخصیت پردازی، سقوط خوب است اما خب... به پای بی گانه نمی رسد. ‏

از جهت روایت، سقوط روایتی خاطره گونه و گفت و گو محور دارد ( احساس می کنم دلیل نزدیکی و راحتی من با آن همین است) که واضحاً از فرم متشخص و ادبی بیگانه یک سر و گردن پایین تر و دم دستی تر است. ‏

از جهت لحن، سقوط را بیشتر از بیگانه می پسندم. با این که هر دو در نهان در حال بیان یک مضمون هستند اما سقوط سرخوشی و لایه ی سطحی ای دارد که انسان در مواجهه با آن هر نوع برداشتی می تواند داشته باشد. در حالی که بیگانه از همان اول (مامانم مرد) لحن تلخی را به خود می گیرد و تا پایان ادامه می دهد. (ویژگی ای که من آن را نسبت به آثاری مثل خداحافظ گری کوپر یا حتی ناطور دشت در مرتبه ی پائین تری قرار می دهم) ‏

خب، از جهت پیرنگ و داستان و قهرمان و هم ذات پنداری و ... هم مشخص است که بیگانه در کره ای دیگر از سقوط به سر می برد.

بنابراین فکر می کنم سه ستاره به سقوط دادن منصفانه باشد. حتی اگر با آن زندگی ها کرده باشم. (less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Peter Clarke rated it 5 of 5 stars

yet another camus novel that has astounded me, aptly putting forth questions piercing the human condition. really enjoyed this

i felt as though a book consisting of purely dialogue from jean-baptiste suited the characters approach facing his facticity. similarly as the minimalist / anti-verbose writing technique suited meursault in The Outsider

although whilst i believe camus attempts to encourage the reader to be situated alongside jean-baptiste, i felt detached somehow. when reading dostoevsky's...more

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Mike Walton You say that he wouldn't just talk to a randomer like that, if it was more realistic. Think about the very opening paragraphs. He is drinking rum. It...more
Jul 12, 2012 07:21pm

Peter Clarke yeah, this review is missing and forgetting alcoholism.

"The main thing I would stress though, is that it really doesn't matter if its realistic or not...more
Jul 13, 2012 10:34am

Jun 11, 2012 Larry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-read

The artifice used to tell this story is unique:only one person or voice narrator speaks to a stranger he meets in a bar, orders for him, describes the setting and people for him (like a guide speaking to a specific tourist) no other voice is heard and we the reader are left to the whims of where this sole voice speaking to his mute listener, takes us. The silent character gives assent through the narrator, who gives him his voice, by saying such things as: "ah, but you are tired, let us leave of...more The artifice used to tell this story is unique:only one person or voice narrator speaks to a stranger he meets in a bar, orders for him, describes the setting and people for him (like a guide speaking to a specific tourist) no other voice is heard and we the reader are left to the whims of where this sole voice speaking to his mute listener, takes us. The silent character gives assent through the narrator, who gives him his voice, by saying such things as: "ah, but you are tired, let us leave off for now and continue tommorow. You agree? Good"(paraphrased example). My favorite quote is, "People want to be punished, it is judgement that they do not desire."(again paraphrasing; but nearly verbatim.)Coupled with his unique philosphy of absurdism(not existentialism--not trying to lecture just get the right view across): mans inherent search for meaning will fail due to the vast amount of information to process; infused with Camus' being a briliant writer crafting quirky plots that reflect his unique philosphy make for thoughtful and stimulating entertainment as well as leaving the reader, to mull over a deeper meaning; but it is neither a prerequisite to read Camus, with the dread of shouldering the burden of understanding his unique world-view, to enjoy the story for its sake.(it will, being "absurd", blow the top of your head off, but trust me, your welcome to blithely embrace the experience, without suddenly being an Algerian expatriot, living in france, chainsmoking, decrying the state of mankind, while the wounds of WWII are still an open sore, that has you join the fraternity of "lost generation" thinkers(another words read the thing just as a good novel, nothing more; after-all to try and define and glean the knowledge necessary to utitilize it as a world view would be "absurd" by defintion, because you are predestined to fail due to your inabilty by Camus' own positing of the philosophy of "absurdism"(See definition above). It is quite a conundrum. Defining "lost generation" thinkers, does make you want to pick-up the bad habit of chainsmoking and bitching about something, if dwelled on for too long, in the context of absurdism; unless you are writing a critical anlysis, or some other treatise. My attempting to give a concise review is like an immersion into philosophy:101. "The Fall" is a brilliant novel(novella actually) that can be read, probably faster than this review. Its final denouement makes all the pieces of the puzzle that characterise, "The Fall", fall into place; and makes it a worthwhile reading experience.(less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Jeremy added it · review of another edition

Shelves: french-literature

European writers seem to have more or less cornered the market on weary men sitting in bars ruminating about the pitfalls of modern existence. But Camus' writing has this wonderful charisma about it and he can make this kind of thing sound as fresh as ever. This is the rare sort of underground man that you actually feel more drawn to the more he reveals about himself and his views. Jean-Baptiste is cool precisely because he is so self aware, so honest about his doubts and nascent sense of guilt,...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Ankit rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Must read for the entire human race!!

Strong, radical, thought provoking, and stimulating. Need not agree with what's been said but it's a question of being able to openly receive the shear force of ideas in the book. Following excerpt from the book.

“……I love life—that’s my real weakness. I love it so much that I am incapable of imagining what is not life. Such avidity has something plebeian about it, don’t you think? Aristocracy cannot imagine itself without a little distance surrounding itsel...more Must read for the entire human race!!

Strong, radical, thought provoking, and stimulating. Need not agree with what's been said but it's a question of being able to openly receive the shear force of ideas in the book. Following excerpt from the book.

“……I love life—that’s my real weakness. I love it so much that I am incapable of imagining what is not life. Such avidity has something plebeian about it, don’t you think? Aristocracy cannot imagine itself without a little distance surrounding itself and its life. One dies if necessary, one breaks rather than bending. But I bend, because I continue to love myself. For example, after all I have told you, what do you think I developed? An aversion for myself? Come, come, it was especially with others that I was fed up. To be sure, I knew my failings and regretted them. Yet I continued to forget them with a rather meritorious obstinacy. The prosecution of others, on the contrary, went on constantly in my heart. Of course—does that shock you? Maybe you think it’s not logical? But the question is not to remain logical. The question is to slip through and, above all—yes, above all, the question is to elude judgment. I’m not saying to avoid punishment, for punishment without judgment is bearable. It has a name, besides, that guarantees our innocence: it is called misfortune. No, on the contrary, it’s a matter of dodging judgment, of avoiding being forever judged without ever having a sentence pronounced.

But one can’t dodge it so easily. Today we are always ready to judge as we are to fornicate. With this difference, that there are no inadequacies to fear. If you doubt this, just listen to the table conversation during August in those summer hotels where our charitable fellow citizens take the boredom cure. If you still hesitate to conclude, read the writings of our great men of the moment. Or else observe your own family and you will be edified. Mon cher ami, let’s not give them any pretext, no matter how small, for judging us! Otherwise, we’ll be left in shreds. We are forced to take the same precautions as the animal tamer. If, before going into the cage, he has the misfortune to cut himself while shaving, what a feast for the wild animals! I realized this all at once the moment I had the suspicion that maybe I wasn’t so admirable. From then on, I became distrustful. Since I was bleeding slightly, there was no escape for me; they would devour me.”
(less)

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Feb 17, 2012 MJ Nicholls rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: pernod-and-gauloises, novellas, penguin-classics

The follow-up to Christos Tsiolkas’s bestseller The Slap, where a boozy Australian lunatic whomps a friend’s child at a party and creates a hotbed of interpersonal tension over 400 outstandingly boring pages. In The Fall, a different boozy Australian accidentally (or was it intentional?) elbows a child onto the grass, causing him to fall and hurt his pelvis, causing outrage on the streets of Canberra! Are our children ever safe from inebriated philanderers with pointy elbows? Why can’t drunks we...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Report: Told as a long monologue stretched over several days, Jean-Baptiste Clamence reviews the very great highs of his life as a respected criminal attorney, and the very great lows of his life as a libertine without a discernible conscience or moral compass. He narrates his life to an unseen and unheard Other, a tourist from France in Clamence's adopted home of Amsterdam who runs into Clamence at a seedy bar. At each major turning point in Clamence's life, the narra...more Rating: 4* of five

The Book Report: Told as a long monologue stretched over several days, Jean-Baptiste Clamence reviews the very great highs of his life as a respected criminal attorney, and the very great lows of his life as a libertine without a discernible conscience or moral compass. He narrates his life to an unseen and unheard Other, a tourist from France in Clamence's adopted home of Amsterdam who runs into Clamence at a seedy bar. At each major turning point in Clamence's life, the narrative adds another level of self-serving horribleness, and the reader recognizes the commonality of all people with each other in Clamence's descent...fall...from the peaks of public acclaim and well-wishing into the pits of a personal hell, made up of the deeds done and undone that bend us into new internal shapes with our regrets.

My Review: I read La Peste when I was seventeen, and I ***HATED*** it. I was angry at the waste of so much as a single tree to print it, in any and all languages and countries around the world. I despised each and every syllable. I vowed never, ever, ever to read another word by Camus. From that cold winter's night in 1976 to the point I was forced by the Book Circle to pick this book up, I kept to that promise.

Well. I sit corrected. La Chute is a fascinating moral tale told by a story-teller of great power and flawless control of his material and his language. (I am reliably informed that the original French is superb; this translation is sterling.) I am so glad that I didn't make the mistake of letting my teenaged judgment stand unchallenged. I would have missed out on a life high point in reading. I am accused, with Clamence, of leading a life grounded in the illusions of one's own superiority, one's own infallible rightness. HA! Wisdom comes, when it does, at a high price...the life of an innocent, the decision to be silent, the power of life and death over a virtual stranger are all things that happen to many, even most, of us; they're not always instantly obvious, of course, so we let them slide away unmarked. But how do *you* know that your call to complain about the service you received didn't result in someone losing a last-chance job, spiraling into depression, and ending her life? You don't. Clamence does. (That didn't happen in the book, by the bye.)

This book did what only the very best books written by the very best writers can do: It reoriented my internal compass. Permanently. Read it! Soon!(less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Sjonni added it · review of another edition

Au Mexico-City, un bar miteux du port d'Amsterdam, on croise Jean-Baptiste Clamence, homme d'après la fin de l'homme qui nous raconte son vécu soi-disant exemplaire parmi une humanité effondrée, abstraite et bête.

Publié en 1956 lorsque les blessures de la seconde guerre mondiale encore douloureuses interdisaient tout optimisme même le plus innocent, Camus en 150 pages de monologue sape toute la légitimité humaine et fait s'exprimer à travers son personnage principal l'homo zombie moderne que no...more

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About Albert Camus

Albert Camus was an Algerian-born French author, philosopher, and journalist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He is often cited as a proponent of existentialism (the philosophy that he was associated with during his own lifetime), but Camus himself rejected this particular label. Specifically, his views contributed to the rise of the more current philosophy known as absurdis...more

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“You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question.” — 1,807 people liked it

“I used to advertise my loyalty and I don't believe there is a single person I loved that I didn't eventually betray.” — 481 people liked it

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