Book Review — The Fall (Albert Camus, 1956) | Bee Artless
★★★★★
Albert Camus wrote The Fall in 1956, his last work of fiction before his tragic early demise in an auto-mobile accident in 1960. This was the third Camus novel I read after reading his stupendous works The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus. Like these two, The Fall keeps up to the standards of his previous works and presents an intriguing and thought-provoking philosophical novel.
The title is a biblical reference to the fall of man from the Garden of Eden. In the context of the novel it refers to a fall from grace, from respectability towards a guilt and crisis point, from the high life in Paris to the bourgeois hell of Amsterdam. It explores the themes of non-existence, truth, judgement and freedom, among a few other things. The style, prose and the subtext of The Fall, delivered in the form of dramatic monologues is highly eccentric, philosophical, and discomforting; something which you’d expect if you read any of Camus’s books. Sartre described it as “Perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood” of Camus’s writings and it certainly says more about it than anything I’d say here.
Absurdism and Camus
Absurdism arising out of existential pondering, the hollowness and the alienation of life, the realization of living in an unfair, devoid-of-meaning world, and how the general helplessness and craziness of our lives gets to an absurd degree are just some of the themes that The Fall tries to explore. But, in addition, in this book, the protagonist by the name Jean-Baptiste Clamence, claims to have found a solution to this absurdity of life. He accepts everything that life throws at him and is extremely self-aware — aware of his own hypocrisy, judgment on everyone and on everything, his disillusionment, self-loathing, and of his position in the world.
And thus he takes you on a short trip with his absurd thoughts, plainly stating his observations as fundamental truths; which the general populace could relate to. We get lost, we admire his brutal honesty, self-awareness and a sharp, penetrating world-view. He talks about women, friends, love, about Paris, about Amsterdam, of suicide, of death, of existence, of innocence, judgment, and a number of other things plaguing his mind. We want to hear more truth, want to learn of his musings about universal human conditioning, and the sheer ludicrousness of it all.
The result is a coherent, philosophically charged and passionate work of fiction that gives a glimpse in how Camus saw things in the world and what freedom means to him. We are all responsible for our actions, inaction in our life and the consequences arising out of those. That could said to be the central theme of this novel.
Some Quotes from the Book to Ponder over
“I love life — that’s my real weakness. I love it so much that I am incapable of imagining what is not life.” “People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.” “Men are never convinced of your reasons, of your sincerity, of the seriousness of your sufferings, except by your death. So long as you are alive, your case is doubtful; you have a right only to their skepticism.” “A single sentence will suffice for modern man. He fornicated and read the papers. After that vigorous definition, the subject will be, if I may say so, exhausted.” “Of course, I did sometimes pretend to be taking life seriously . But the frivolity of seriousness itself very quickly became apparent to me and I merely continued to play my role as best as I could.” “After all, when it comes down to it, I was wrong to tell you that the main thing was to avoid judgement. The main thing is to be able to let oneself do anything, while from time to time loudly declaring one’s own unworthiness. I allow myself everything, once again, and this time without laughing. I haven’t changed my way of life : I still love myself and I still use other people. It’s just that confessing my sins permits me to start again with a lighter heart and to gratify myself twice, firstly enjoying my nature, and then a delicious repentance.”
Originally published at https://beeartless.com on January 2, 2019. By Ajim Bagwan & Akshay Vaidya, Bee Artless.
