The Fall, Albert Camus, Alfred A Knopf, 1956, 147 pp
On the cover of the Vintage International edition of The Fall is a quote from the New York Times: "An irresistibly brilliant examination of modern conscience." I found the book to be easily resistible and hard to get through. A man in a bar tells another man that his life has been a sham, meanwhile plying his listener with drinks to keep him attentive. It could be that is part of the joke, and I wasn't in the mood. I think it is called a shaggy dog story.
Certainly there is irony and wit but not much plot. The combination of story and ideas was what made The Stranger and The Plague so compelling but in The Fall, Camus has lost his faith in man and absurdity has become the disillusioned rant of a man in midlife crisis.
(The Fall is available in paperback by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)
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