The Fall (Vintage International)

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 2,285 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 12-28-2024


About this item

NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR • One of the most widely read novels of all time—from one of the best-known writers of all time—about a lawyer from Paris who brilliantly illuminates the human condition. 

Elegantly styled, Camus' profoundly disturbing novel of a Parisian lawyer's confessions is a searing study of modern amorality.

Top reviews from the United States

  • Glenn Russell
    5.0 out of 5 stars I would think Greco-Roman philosophers like Cicero, Seneca
    Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2014
    "A single sentence will suffice for modern man: he fornicated and read the newspapers." So pronounces Jean-Baptiste Clamence, narrator of Albert Camus's short novel during the first evening of a monologue he delivers to a stranger over drinks at a shabby Amsterdam watering hole. Then, during the course of several evenings, the narrator continues his musings uninterrupted; yes, that's right, completely uninterrupted, since his interlocutor says not a word. At one point Clamence states, "Alcohol and women provided me, I admit, the only solace of which I was worthy." Clamence, judge-penitent as he calls himself, speaks thusly because he has passed judgment upon himself and his life. His verdict: guilty on all counts.

    And my personal reaction to Clamence's monologue? Let me start with a quote from Carl Jung: "I have frequently seen people become neurotic when they content themselves with inadequate or wrong answers to the questions of life. They seek position, marriage, reputation, outward success of money, and remain unhappy and neurotic even when they have attained what they were seeking. Such people are usually confined within too narrow a spiritual horizon." Camus gives us a searing portrayal of a modern man who is the embodiment of spiritual poverty - morose, alienated, isolated, empty.

    I would think Greco-Roman philosophers like Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, or Marcus Aurelius would challenge Clamence in his clams to know life: "I never had to learn how to live. In that regard, I already knew everything at birth.". Likewise, the wisdom masters from the enlightenment tradition -- such as Nagarjuna, Bodhidharma and Milarepa -- would have little patience listening to a monologue delivered by a smellfungus and know-it-all black bile stinker.

    I completed my reading of the novel, a slow, careful reading as is deserving of Camus. The Fall is indeed a masterpiece of concision and insight into the plight of modern human experience.

    Here is a quote from the Wikipedia review: "Clamence, through his confession, sits in permanent judgment of himself and others, spending his time persuading those around him of their own unconditional guilt."

    Would you be persuaded?
  • Pericles
    5.0 out of 5 stars Profound book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2024
    Best book I've read this year, although the protagonist(and probably the author) is far from a correct solution to his problem. Still, he's found the problem, and that's an innovation in the modern era.
  • Kent R. Spillner
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting Book
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2024
    This book is written in an interesting conversational style: it is as if the reader is in the story, and the protagonist is talking to you directly. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why this book is as acclaimed as it is. I thought it was good, but not great.

    It’s certainly stayed with me since I finished reading it, though, so perhaps that is its allure? After you finish reading it you continue thinking about it and mulling it over in your head for a long time…

    Perhaps I will return in the future to update this review if I can’t get it out of my head, or if I’m struck remembering some moment or aspect from it.
  • Dave
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Dramatic Monologue
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2007
    As others have stated so far this is an interesting and deep novel, one that drags you into its questionable and illusory narration through the use of the first person monologue. With this in mind, the novel becomes necessarily more complex and demands the reader's attention at all times. Nothing should be taken for granted - not the speaker's ideologies, professed history, and certainly not the way in which he is talking to another character. The manner in which the tone and companionship moves throughout the novel is as important as anything else - do not for a second fall into the persistent trap of thinking that Monsieur Clamence is speaking to you, the reader.

    The novel requires no extensive knowledge of philosophic topics in order to be appreciated, however, having that knowledge will only enrich the experience. Anyone with an interest in ethics, social roles, confession or simple artistic capability will enjoy this short, but dense novel.

    On a final note, the novel presents a startling insight into the nature and power of confession, which is ultimately what Clamence is performing (reliable or not). Foucault's the History of Sexuality Part 1 speaks to this matter, one which is every bit as pertinent to the content and experience of *The Fall* as is any other philosophic or artistic reference, and one that is consistently relevant.
  • J
    5.0 out of 5 stars Camus is always the best
    Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2024
    Another exceptional literary achievement by a literary and artistic genius. His insights into the human condition are meant for the world to read and understand.

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