a book with real intelligence and passion
some people who have commented don’t seem to get it. forget about plot….camus is commenting on society through jean baptiste. think philosophical ideals not story line. i really love this book for that reason, he speaks with passion, wit, and intelligence. a true resistance fighter, i admire camus greatly.

A Masterpiece
“May I, monsieur, offer my services without running the risk of intruding?” With this, Jean-Baptiste Clamence opens one of the greatest monologues ever penned. Jean-Baptiste, a formely highly regarded Parisian attorney, has exiled himself to Amsterdam. We meet him, offering his services, in a small bar called “Mexico City” at the center of Amsterdam. Clamence’s description of the city foreshadows both the religious allegories and Clamence’s own role in the novel: “Have you noticed that Amsterdam’s concentric canals resemble the circles of hell? The middle-class hell, of course, peopled with bad dreams. When one comes from the outside, as one gradually goes through those circles, life – and hence its crimes – becomes denser, darker. Here, we are at the last circle. The circle of the…” Clamence trails off because his listener completed the thought. Clamence’s reference, the final circle of Dante’s Inferno, is the circle of the traitor. This should serve as something of a warning to his listener. Clamence himself is a traitor, though the full meaning of that will likely be different for each reader.

Camus writes with an intellectual depth seldom seen. In “The Fall”, Camus examines modern man and his absurd position in the world. Camus’ examination draws on Christian allegory and themes. Obviously, the title references the biblical story of Adam and Eve and I think Clamence, if not Camus, accepts some of the underlying psychology of that story. Clamence is convinced, and does his best to convince his listener, that we are all fallen, all guilty. He achieves this through one of the most thorough psychological examinations of a character in modern literature.

The prose too is excellent. Clamence’s description of Holland’s ubiquitous bicyclers provides a fine example: “Holland is a dream, monsieur, a dream of gold and smoke – smokier by the day, more gilded by night. And night and day that dream is peopled with Lohengrins like these, dreamily riding their black bicycles with high handle-bars, funereal swans constantly drifting through the whole land, around the seas, along the canals. Their heads in the copper-colored clouds, they dream; they cycle in circles; they pray, somnambulists in the fog’s gilded incense; they have ceased to be here.”

For Clamence, there is little worse than being a dreamer unacquainted with reality. Judging is an essential part of this life of dreaming: “Today we are always ready to judge as we are to fornicate. With this difference, that there are no inadequacies to fear.” Judging is, in the end, what Clamence most fears and most enjoys. His solution is ingenious and radically subversive.

Camus won the Nobel Prize shortly after the publication of this novel. While the award technically was for another piece, this novel is his finest literary achievement.

And dive! Headlong, my friends.
It is seldom that the “I” is captured before the fall, the progression and tumble marked. Rarer still that Camus captured, within the same plunging motion, the belief that transcendence too, may lay in wait at the base. This fever-dream is a must read.

A True Classic
The principles of overcoming the flesh endure from one generation to another as the message of victory in Jesus Christ continues. John Bunyan writes about the form it took in his generation. This classic in Christian and English literature describes the journey Christian takes to the celestial city–that permanent home of believers in Jesus.

In the New Testament we’re told of the war between the flesh and the spirit. Bunyan puts it into the context of his day in this classic work. This book is a genuine encouragement to followers of Jesus in any generation. Overcomers from previous generations can continue to encourage us with legacies of this nature as we tread the path in our generation they successfully made in theirs.

Pilgrims Progress–A Blessing
This audio book has been a joy. It happens to be one of my faviorte things to listen to. All my friends at college know lines from it because I talk about it constantly. The story begins with Christian going on pilgrimage in search of heaven. I would encourage all to get this book. The narrator Edward de Souza is wonderful. The applications John Bunyan makes with the Christian life are so practical and real. As a young person its principles have encouraged me as I go about life’s journey. I’m reminded of all those who went on pilgrimage, and the reason they continued or left the way. We will find the waters of life deeper or shallower according to our faith in the King of the Place (Heaven). Buy the book. I don’t think you will be disappointed. If you don’t like it, let me know I will take it.

Inspiring
This is a great classic and a must have for any Christian striving to follow Jesus Christ and His Word. Although the Old English is hard to get through at times, it is well worth the effort for the depth of wisdom contained within the pages. It is a great ecouragement and a sober warning of the trials and tribulations we expect to face on the narrow path we’re called to walk.