The Fall
1917 • 164 pages

Ratings70

Average rating4

15

Initially, the narrative voice and its self-aggrandizing soliloquy that just happened to be directed at the reader made me want to materialize this Jean-Baptiste Clamence and give him a righteous right hook. However, this digust became fascination, as I read his fickle words, hyperbolic claims, and hypocritical dribble. I needed to know more. The mirror Camus sought to build with words instead of glass shone with my reflection, and I had not noticed, because it was not yet complete. Although not a mirror in the classical sense, it puts the perception we have of ourselves in relation with the human world into question, as it also raises quandaries about those who would fall into the classification laid out by Clamence - the judge-penitent - even if they include us.

October 12, 2023