The Fall (original 1956; edition 1991)

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. ( )

It is humbling to read anything by Camus. In this novella, set up as a monologue by the narrator with an audience of a man he met in a bar, Camus, as usual, evokes self-examination. The narrator has set himself up as a "judge-penitent" whose mission is to teach the truth that all people are responsible....guilty...and can only be set free by acknowledging this. If you choose to read the novella, you will learn how the narrator "fell" from his prior life into his current one, and how civilization also "fell". A powerful treatise of judgement, truth, and just being human. ( )

Wow, what an amazing novel! Camus’ theological-philosophical inferences painted within in a fog-filled arena of muted tones make for a heavily weighted, entrancing read. With its universal implications, The Fall should be on everyone’s, “to read” list. ( )

It's clear that Camus was a great writer. He was just a terribly wrong thinker. It's hard to read this book because he's so talented but he's just so off the mark. "I am the beginning and the end", he says in this book. Of course your life is miserable and absurd when you think such a thing. Such a shame. ( )

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 actions. His acts of altruism hide the fact that he actually doesn't like those he 'helps' and that he extends his hand to those he considers less fortunate than he is because he relishes in the glow of self-satisfaction after.

This book will make the reader consider the age-old question of the meaning of life and death, and to stop and consider how we're living our lives, whether the decisions we make are borne out of the sincere desire to do what's right or if they are masks for vanity and selfishness. I doubt anyone could read this and not cringe occasionally in self-recognition. ( )