The Fall

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Summary: Behind the Mohegan Laker I stand; The Fall is decent.
Review: The format of the book--a monologue--was interesting, and the philosophy expressed was worthwhile, but the book itself was stilted. I don't regret reading it, but I wouldn't read it again; The Stranger, and The Plague, were far more worthwhile and gripping.

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Summary: A simpliest book that probes the inner conscience of man
Review: The essance of Camus is well written in this book. It probes the conscience of man. It deals with the guilt and punishment of guilt. Similar to Crime and Punishment.

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Summary: The Fall is Camus' most powerful and meaningful work.
Review: As Camus weaves his deceptively simple tale, he drags us inexorably to mankind's loss of innocence and pleasant delusion, which can not be regained after we realize our true nature. Once the painful revelations in this book have been learned, however, we can start the climb back from despair into more realistic and ultimately more fufilling hope. If I could do things over, though, I wouldn't have read this when I was sixteen because I was suicidal all year. Painful, destructive, yet ultimately healing and full of hope. In my opinion, his most powerful work.

Rating:
Summary: The Fall
Review: An excellent novel that takes you through the depths of hell in both the setting and how you feel after meeting Jean Baptiste Clamence. He is a character that charms the reader. No matter what he says, i could not see myself disliking him. An ideal read for existentialists.

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Summary: the "old albert" guy
Review: the book is a monologue, a confession, 1st person. this isn'tthe voice of Albert, it's the voice of a lawyer- who's very nature is to complicate and confuse others into sympathizing with whatever he wishes them to believe. I think the book was exellent.

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Summary: The Fall: Camus' confession and accusation
Review: Upon my re-reading of The Fall while on a trip to Amsterdam (where the novel takes place), it became clear to me that the book is less an account of the state of modern morality in post-war Western Europe than a confession about Camus' own sense of hyprocrisy as well as a condemnation of his fellow intellectuals. Placed upon a pedestal by his followers and peers, he realized that, while certainly an accomplished writer and human being, he was still prone to the everyday failings of the common man. While he was a man of the people, he was still selfish; while he had a strong moral character, he was still rife with vice: women and alcohol; and his sense of humility in the face of death did not keep him from his private conceits. So he wrote a confession, and, knowing that his every word would be devoured by his pseudo-intellectual following, his confession doubled as an accusation, a rude hand gesture held with ire and irony toward his supposed acolytes. Truly a book that will send tremors through the thinking man's conscience.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best work, but still worth reading
Review: As a great fan of Albert Camus, I was somewhat put off by this book's lack of his usual emotion. The points he makes on judgement are interesting and "Jean-Baptiste Clamence" is a likable character. Still, THE FALL felt somewhat forced and uninspired. The explanation for this comes in an interview Camus gave where he states that THE FALL was supposed to be a story in EXILE AND THE KINGDOM. Apparently, it got so long that Camus decided to publish it as a seperate novel!

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Summary: alive?
Review: A man absent to present reality....You need to forgive this "GOD" before you forgive yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Skillful Prose and a Frightening Ontology
Review: This book is one of those great combinations of great writing skill and a poignant message that cuts to the soul of human existence. His skillful and unique second person treatment of the narrative is captivating. And, while you are being caught up in what a strange perspective both the presentation of the book and the main chraracter have, you are jarred by the realization of the emptiness below you and that you , too, are falling.

Rating:
Summary: Into the book itself.
Review: The success of the monologue,drawing the reader as if the one actually being spoken to,& the hard-hitting ingeniousness of the revelations that surmount & survey in volcanic insights separating the mask of superficiality with the face of its origins elevates Camus to one of the most penetrating psychiatrist's of all time.