The Fall (Camus novel)

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The Fall

Cover of the first edition
Author	Albert Camus
Original title	La Chute
Translator	Justin O'Brien
Language	French
Genre	Philosophical novel
Publisher	Vintage Books (Random House)
Publication date	1956
Publication place	France
Published in English	1957
Media type	Print
Pages	147
ISBN	0-394-70223-9 (Paperback)
OCLC	10362653

The Fall (French: La Chute) is a philosophical novel by Albert Camus. First published in 1956, it is his last complete work of fiction. Set in Amsterdam, The Fall consists of a series of dramatic monologues by the self-proclaimed "judge-penitent" Jean-Baptiste Clamence, as he reflects upon his life to a stranger. In what amounts to a confession, Clamence tells of his success as a wealthy Parisian defense lawyer who was highly respected by his colleagues. His crisis, and his ultimate "fall" from grace, was meant to invoke, in secular terms, the fall of man from the Garden of Eden. The Fall explores themes of innocence, imprisonment, non-existence, and truth. In a eulogy to Albert Camus, existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described the novel as "perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood" of Camus' books.^[1]