THE FALL (Modern Classics) by Albert Camus

The Fall by Albert Camus is a profound and unsettling philosophical novel, translated by Robin Buss in Penguin Modern Classics. Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a once-successful lawyer, recounts his life over several drunken nights in an Amsterdam bar. What begins as casual conversation unfolds into a compelling confession of guilt, hypocrisy, and alienation. Through Clamence’s self-reflection, Camus explores the hollowness of existence and the universal absurdities of the human condition. Lauded by Sartre as “perhaps the most beautiful and least understood” of Camus’ novels, The Fall remains a timeless meditation on conscience, morality, and the fragile nature of innocence.