FALL V223: Amazon.ca: Albert Camus: Books

Product Description

Elegantly styled, Camus' profoundly disturbing novel of a Parisian lawyer's confessions is a searing study of modern amorality. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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MAY 1, monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding? Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

76 Reviews

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (76 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Much thinking in Amsterdam, Feb 18 2003

By

MR G. Rodgers (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Fall (Paperback)

"The Fall" is a short, interesting and challenging novel (I suppose it might be better described as a reflective novella). In Amsterdam, the ex-lawyer Jean-Baptiste Clamence meets a fellow Frenchman in a seedy bar, and proceeds to give a account of his fall from social eminence.

The book is told in the form of a monologue by Clamence, but Camus loads it with plenty of imagery - conveying the atmosphere both of Amsterdam and of Paris. Clamence takes his acquaintance back to the time when he was a successful lawyer, then tells of his growing guilt at his self-indulgent philanthropy. Thereafter, there's a decline into moral impotence and a rejection of social and moral norms as he views his life and actions as essentially meaningless.

Much of this is pretty deep stuff, and I thought that I could give "The Fall" a second and third reading and still get a lot out of it. What was Camus's message in the novel? Well, it might be a savage critique of the veneer of altruism beneath which the wealthy operate - indeed does social snobbery rather than genuine concern truly underpin their acts of charity? Yet I felt that Camus balked at Clamence's nihilism because it was too destructive of the self and of others. Perhaps he thought that greater honesty and realism need to be tempered by/encouraged by greater humanity. Each reader will have their own take. But at least this fine book has value precisely because it provokes such thoughts.

G Rodgers

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5.0 out of 5 stars Not a novel more than non-fiction description, July 18 2004

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musicburgler "genegreen" (DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fall (Paperback)

Its too hard to describe this though it is a novel, set under a guise of a fauex monologue by someone named Clamence. Basicly the French expatriate saddles up a simliar minded Frenchman (You the reader) yet naive confidant at a dive bar in Amsterdam. Sounding more like a swindler or shuckster Clamence entices the reader into acting as a witness to his confessional. Chronicaling his rise to prominace both socialaly and financialy and descent into murky paranoia, the monologue ropes you in with hints of common experience, abeit in a social cynasism sort of slant. In the end Clamence shares the secret of life with the unasuming reader though it could take one, as did me, multiple readings to interprut. This should be the quintesential piece to describe Camus' philosophy even though as literature it is hard boiled and seriously lacking plot. Ive read it at least 6 times.

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4.0 out of 5 stars The Angusty Of Camus, Jan 30 2004

By

Daniell Marafon (Brazil, SP) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fall (Paperback)

In my humble opinion, after reading all of the works of Albert Camus, I still think that "The Fall" its one of the best works from him, the angusty and anger of Camus is reflected in the ways of Jean Baptiste, the critics are incrideble, and the plot is simple but with such a bitirness...
Such an amazing work...

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Camus is amazing!
This is the second piece of work I have read by Camus, the first being is most well-known work, The Stranger. Read more

Published on April 18 2004 by smalley6

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Camus
This book is one of the best from one of my favorite authors, whom I turn to when I need solace from this crazy world. Camus asked and answered the universal questions. Read more

Published on Jan 16 2004 by Hugh Pearson