Description
The Fall is the title of a book by the famous French author Albert Camus. First published in 1956, it is a philosophical novel narrated by Jean-Baptiste Clemens (John the Baptist), a lawyer who now calls himself a “repentant judge.” He tells the story of his life to a stranger.
At a restaurant called Mexico City, Jean-Baptiste meets a stranger and tells him the story of his life. Jean-Baptiste explains that when he was recently practicing law, he lived a life full of self-confidence and, in addition to doing good deeds that were clearly visible, he considered himself superior and smarter than others from within.
Jean-Baptiste Clemens reaches the bridge at midnight when he is immersed in a sea of self-confidence and feels happy from his walk. A woman was bent over. A beautiful glance passes over the back of the woman’s neck and passes, fifty meters away, she hears the sound of falling and physical collision with the surface of the water. He takes no action and justifies his action. Thus begins the fall, and he describes it step by step.
He realizes that he no longer has a friend, only a partner in crime. He hates others, and then the confusion begins. He realizes his hypocrisy. Seeks a way out. The need to confess bothers him, he becomes anxious, he feels dead. They do busy and forgetful things, but the fall continues.
The contemporary existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre calls this novel “the most beautiful and incomprehensible” book by Camus. The book is written as a first person monologue.
The novel of the fall is a reflection of thought. With this small novel, Albert Camus paints all his insights about man and his time. The Fall, although it has the characteristics of a work of art, is a moral book.

Assessment with an alien:
Among Camus’s writings, The Stranger of 1942 and the Fall of 1956 follow a similar theme. It is the theme of “torment of conscience.” Clemens finds himself guilty and tormented in his fall, and Morso is a sinner in a stranger who has no remorse. Life is immoral for one, and it must be confessed to reduce sin, and life for the other is fundamentally innocent and just, so there is no need to confess. In both, however, there is a deep irony.
Absurdism or existentialism is a school of interest in world fiction. Many followers of this school have created weekly works of art. Works that link the names of artists with their theory and approach.
Many literary critics have interpreted the content of Camus’s work as a continuation of the theory of absurdism; While Camus distinguished himself from this group of thought and believed that by accepting the absurdity of life, another meaning could be given to it. In the short novel The Fall, Albercamo redefines human challenges and the concept of falling into life.
Albert Camus; An absurdist writer or a misunderstood figure?
Albert Camus, French-Algerian philosopher and writer, was born on November 7, 1913 in Algeria. He studied at the University of Algeria, was very interested in football, and was the goalkeeper of the university football team before being injured in one of the competitions.
In 1957, at the age of 44, Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Three years later, he was killed in a car accident with his publisher, Michelle Gallimar. In his short life, Albercamo wrote novels, stories, plays, and philosophical essays, and even staged plays. Camus’s fame began with the novel The Alien. Today, this work is considered as the most important work of Camus.
Although Camus never acknowledged this, his name is associated with the philosophy of emptiness and existentialism. Existentialists believe that life is meaningless unless one gives it meaning; It means that one accepts oneself in life and decides to give it meaning and nature. Contrary to what most people think of this great author, Camus’s works do not address the issue of emptiness and despair at all, and according to him, they are also faithful to beauty.
Apart from his two outstanding works, “Alien” and The Fall, Camus has many works that can be found in the books “Caligula”, “Misunderstanding”, “Behind Him”, “Luxury”, “The Rebellion”, “The Myth of Sisyphus”, “The Plague” He mentioned “martial law”, “the just”, “summer”, “exile and monarchy”, “happy death”, “the first man” and “philosophy of emptiness”.
Introducing Albert Camus’s short novel
After Albert Camus’s success in The Alien, his novel The Fall can be considered a literary masterpiece. In a short novel, Camus has been able to interpret the concepts and meanings of life in a profound way, using his writing delicacy. The Fall was published in 1956 and has been translated into more than ten languages to date.
In this book, Albercamo discusses issues such as judgment, the perception of others, and the impact of social views and attitudes on human beings. He always sees man as being judged; An issue that causes some people to fall. Jean-Paul Sartre, a French writer and philosopher who had a challenging relationship with the author of the book, considers the novel The Fall to be Camus’s most beautiful work; A text that was less understood and accepted than its size.
The presence of philosophical and human theories in the lower layers of the story raises many questions for the audience until the end of the book. One of the novel’s fascinations is that the reader becomes less familiar with the space and environment that caused the protagonist to fall, so that his focus is more on the philosophical dimension of the book than on its narrative dimension.
A summary of the story of the fall
The story of the fall begins in a pub in Amsterdam. The narrator is a man named Jean-Baptiste Clemenceau, who spends several nights talking to an unnamed man. In fact, his words are monologue and no response is received from the other person. Clemence is a happy and wise man who is in a crisis of emptiness in life and seeks to find the meaning of his life.
He used to be a well-known high-ranking lawyer in Paris. Clemenceau leaves his country for some reason and goes to Amsterdam. One night, while walking, he hears a woman screaming that she wants to drown in the river, but Clemence ignores this.
After this incident, the fall of Clemence progresses step by step, and this causes him to remember the falls and the characteristics of his villain. In addition to the memoirs and quotes he has heard, he confesses to the traits that caused him to fall.
Albercamo expresses the fact, in the words of Jean-Baptiste, that all human beings have long since fallen, and the reader wonders to the end of the story, “Who is this man?” Is a man a liar or do his words show a sense of remorse?
“We seldom tell secrets to those who are better than us,” says Jean-Baptiste in part of the book. We even run away from them. On the contrary, we often confess our secrets to those who are like us and share in our weaknesses and humiliations.
So we do not want to correct or improve ourselves: because then we must first succumb to our own helplessness. We just want them to feel sorry for us and encourage us in the way we are going. “In short, we want to be no longer to blame and at the same time not take steps to cultivate our souls.”
The reason for choosing the name of the fall by the author Caligula
Albercamo chose the word fall to name the book, using its metaphorical meaning to describe the transcendence of man and his sublime human values and bewilderment in this world. In Jean-Baptiste’s book, despite all the values he adheres to during his confession, he simply ignores the issue of female suicide and does nothing. This does not have much effect on the life of Jean-Baptiste.
Minor similarities to the book of the fall
Roman Roland’s book, Jean-Christophe, also depicts the evolution of the main character in a masterful way. The French author Christophe Rufin also wrote a book called The Fall of Isfahan, which depicts the last years of Safavid rule.
Publication of Albercamo in Iran
Camus is a well-known and popular writer in Iran. Almost all of his works and articles have been translated into Persian. Prominent translators such as “Khashayar Deihimi”, “Manouchehr Badiei”, “Reza Seyed Hosseini”, “Mohammad Ali Spanloo” and “Abolhassan Najafi” have translated Camus’s works.
The Book of Fall in Iran with translations of “Shorangiz Farrokh” by “Niloufar”, translated by “Anahita Tadayon” by “Roozgar”, Persian translation by “Sophia Jahan” by “Shir Mohammadi”, translated by “Amir Lahouti” by “Jami” And “Parviz Shahdi” has been published in “Behsakhan” publication.
In a part of the book, we read:
In my case … well, judge for yourself. With this body, shoulders and this face that is often said to be wild, I look more like a rugby player, don’t I? But if you judge me by the way I speak, you must accept me as delicate as I am. The camel woven from the wool of my coat undoubtedly had scabies; On the contrary, my nails are short. Although I’m an experienced person, I’m not cautious and I trust you.
In the end, although I have good behavior and beautiful words, I am always a customer of sailors’ bars in Zaidik. Well, don’t look for my profession anymore. My profession, like man himself, has two sides, that’s all. I have already told you that I am not a judge.
There is only one simple thing about me, that I have no property. Yes, I was rich, no! I have not shared my wealth with anyone. What does this prove? Well, I was a charity too … oh! Can you hear the whistling of the port ships? Tonight, fog covers Zuiderze Bay.
Do you want to go? Forgive me if I hurt your head. With your permission, I will pay the bill. You are a guest at my house, in Mexico City, I’m really glad to have you at this pub. Of course, I will be here tomorrow night, just like any other night, and I gratefully accept your invitation. Your route … well …. if there is no problem, I will come to the port with you, it will be easier.
From the harbor, as you walk around the ghetto, you will see beautiful streets with trains of mud and lightning. Your hotel is on one of these streets called Damrak. First of all, please. I live in a ghetto, our neighborhood was known by that name before our Hitler brothers came here.
1- Introducing the book on YouTube
2- Introducing the book in Aparat
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