The Fall

About “The Fall”

In a sailor's bar in Amsterdam, a man who introduces himself as a penitent judge begins a conversation with a stranger. Over glasses of gin and walks through the city's concentric canals, which resemble the circles of hell, he recalls his past life as a respected Parisian lawyer, skilled in defending noble causes and in love affairs. As the confession unfolds, ambiguities accumulate, hidden motives are revealed, and his triumphs crumble. The Fall, a sharp and brilliantly ironic narrative, describes a journey of decadence into the darkest infamies of the modern man. Published in 1956, it was Albert Camus's last work of fiction published in his lifetime.