YouTube book channel, you can learn about Albert Camus' life, all his books and the chronological reading order: https://youtu.be/-_X3xWwwAoA

“Do you know the story of the man who fell from a fifty-story building? At each floor, the man repeated this to reassure himself:

So far, everything is okay.

So far, everything is okay.

So far, everything is okay.

...

What matters is not the fall, but the landing.”

[Mathieu Kassovitz, La Haine, 1995]

Friends, I fell into this book. But along with the book, I also fell down. Otherwise, was I already down here all this time and trying to show myself to you up there? If the awareness of having lost one's life requires first finding it, doesn't the awareness of having fallen also require first being up there?

So far, everything is okay.

Right now, as a person reading this text, no matter which device you are using, you are constantly scrolling down the screen and falling down with my words. With our perfections, our abilities, our bodies, our great minds and our extreme satisfaction with ourselves, we are falling down day by day. So far, these were the things that kept us up, and we are dragging them along with our non-being. Let's continue to fall.

So far, everything is okay.

After reading Kafka's The Trial and Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground, if a hybrid gene were to be created from the genes of these books, the name of this book would be Camus' The Fall. Because while sins, judgments, inquiries and interrogations were Kafka's subject, pride, punishment, pain, facing oneself and the division of personality were Dostoyevsky's areas of interest. Kafka was a person trapped in the individual, while Dostoyevsky aimed to reach the universal person with the philosophy of Jesus Christ suffering for the whole universe. But our position is not this for now. You continue to scroll down the screen and continue the fall. Console yourself with the thoughts that the sun is in its place and everything is okay.

So far, everything is okay.

Our country is falling day by day and, without realizing this fall, it continues to tell itself "So far, everything is okay" every passing day. The metaphors such as "sun" and "light" that Camus used as a metaphor for hope and individual revolt for himself are actually the beginnings of the climate crisis for us. We are falling not only individually, but also socially and globally. When I was a child, I always wondered why the waters in the world don't fall down. Now I wonder, do pains fall?... If the world were to fall down from space one day, could we convey the screams of the innocent people in the world during their deaths to the gravitational fields of other planets?

So far, everything is okay.

This is the story of a falling review. In a life where we all manage to be at least up and down in everything, our relationships with people are also similar to the working mechanism of an elevator. If there were no ropes that we call safety to prevent the elevator from hitting the ground, our relationships with people would also lose their meaning. So, do we trust ourselves? Do we trust the choices of the people who make choices for us? Do we trust that one day the world will not fall into the pitch-black darkness like an empty walnut? You continue to trust.

So far, everything is okay.

To not forget to live, someone has to remind us that we are alive. They have to say "You are alive, come to your senses!" and accompany us during our fall. Icarus in Greek mythology also rose after attaching his wings and could not prevent the sun from burning his wings and fell. Who has not fallen in this world so far? Aren't all cemeteries a success of a fall? The place where the poor, who spend their lives on the ground with various comforts, wait with the hope that one day they will rise with their mouths and eyes closed under the ground is called the fall. The fall is the revolt of expectations. Let's continue to fall.

So far, everything is okay.

How far can we fall? Until the moment we realize that our successes are actually failures? Until the breaking point where we realize that our career choices are actually wrong? Until the man in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries jumps over the fences of his awareness by remembering his past and throwing his regrets at his own face? Look, people are jumping over the fences of career, money, happiness, beauty, and grazing in the green, happy and bright meadows. Do you want this? Or do you want the conscious miseries to slow down your fall?

So far, everything is okay.

Now there is no chance for me to slow down your fall. You have come to the end of the review and this is your impact point. It will be the same at the moment of your death. You won't even understand how it happened. Death is the most effective impact point in a person's life. Especially when we think that the things we have experienced are the numbers in our multiplication table of life, this death gains more value. Because, as Camus also said, "People will only believe in the reasons you show, your sincerity and the weight of your pains when you die." So let's continue to fall until people believe in us when we die.

So far, everything is okay.

We should be shaken, come to our senses, not miss the vivid awareness of the present moment, continue to store the pains of the world in our garden called memory - who is the gardener?-, not give up on maintaining our sense of self even while falling towards the very bottom of the earth, and no matter what, even if we are falling individually, socially and globally, we should not forget...

BAM!

What matters is not the fall, but the landing.

Sound plays a crucial role in this book, not only for the narrator but especially for the reader.

This short novel consists of a long monologue by the narrator addressed to an anonymous person he meets in a bar on a winter's night in Amsterdam. Over the succeeding nights, they walk around the canals close to the docks, with the narrator continuing his monologue almost without interruption. We never hear the other person's voice, but sometimes we sense that he might have raised an eyebrow or asked a question, as the narrator sometimes responds accordingly. Interestingly, every time the narrator responds like that, I find myself raising my eyebrows or exclaiming in disbelief at something he said. It's clear that the anonymous listener is the reader, captivated yet a little suspicious of the narrator's smooth and hypnotic tones as he walks the ring of canals and circles the hell of his own existence.

I mentioned sound at the beginning because one of the most tormenting aspects of the narrator's life is the memory of the sound of a body hitting the water on another dark winter's night years ago. This 'sound' memory has haunted him ever since.

The other reason I brought up 'sound' is that I experienced this book as if it were an audio book. As I read the words on the page, I could clearly hear the narrator's voice in my ear. I've never had such a definite impression of being a 'listener' while reading the printed words in a book before.

In case I gave the wrong impression that this might have been a hellish experience, it wasn't. I smiled just as often as I raised my eyebrows because the narrator is a very skilled performer - he's a lawyer by profession. Many of his lines are outright funny, and every one of them is entertaining.

Here's another interesting thing: the title of this book, 'La chute', is translated as 'The Fall' in English. After I added it to my Goodreads shelves, I received a notification suggesting that since I read 'La chute', I might also be interested in reading 'Autumn Nights' by Willow Aster or 'Autumn in Paris' by Ilana Tan, and several other titles with the word 'Autumn' in them. The narrator would have laughed because his narrative takes him back to a time when he wandered over the bridges of Paris at night - though he never specifies if it was in the fall.

...........................................

A painting by Jan Van Eyck has a role in the text. It's a panel called 'Les Juges intègres', which is part of a larger work called 'L'agneau mystique'.

The main figures on horseback are looking at something important in the central panel of the famous polyptique in the cathedral at Gand, but they also seem to be listening very carefully, it seems to me...

…………………………………………

The book I picked up after this one was also about walking along canals and crossing their many bridges, but it was set not in Amsterdam nor in Paris but in Venice, the city so strongly associated with death in literature. However, you'll be glad to know that it was also quite funny.

……………………………………………

Camus' last novel before his untimely death is mature, reflective, and original in its presentation. I find it autobiographical in a large part of the narration. At least for me, it seems like a sincere confession. The "fall" in the title has a lot to do with the presence of a rather disturbing element in our lives, namely death. And specifically, the moment when we become aware of this sinister presence. From the moment a person has certainty about this small inconvenience that is death (each person finds this transcendental moment at a certain age or in a certain moment), any life, to a greater or lesser extent, is already altered.

I say it's original because it starts in a curious way: a talkative character monologues addressing another parishioner in a bar, Jean Baptiste. And about his opposite, we know neither the name nor the circumstances, nor almost anything, except for the snippets of the opinions of his mirror character. Soon you realize the genius of Camus' writing approach, that narrator addressing that enigmatic character in the second person. After a while, you realize that it's about autobiographical reflections and facts, but instead of writing a long, ponderous, and heavy essay that would leave the reader squinting, he gives it the form of a novel, inventing a character who gives a rather passive response, and giving himself a fictional name (as he himself admits at the beginning) Jean Baptiste.

Many others have used this system since. Among those who have recently worked best with this format is Rachel Cusk, who always addresses her interlocutor to tell him her stories, circumstances, and opinions on various issues, I think making herself the mouthpiece of the author.

The story of Jean Baptiste seems simple, and yet it gradually traps you. In summary: an optimistic, charming, and vital type becomes a cynic who is back from life in his early 40s. What has been his path? That is the story of "The Fall".

"I always thought myself more intelligent than everyone else, I already said so, but also more sensitive and more skillful, an excellent shooter, an incomparable driver, a better lover. Even in those fields where it was easy for me to verify my inferiority, like in tennis, for example, a game in which I was only a mediocre contender, it was difficult for me not to believe that if I had time to train, I would be among the champions. I admitted only superiority in myself, which explained my benevolence and serenity. When I took care of others, I did it out of pure condescension, with complete freedom, and the merit was all mine: I raised by one degree the love I felt for myself. (...) I lived, then, carefree and with no other continuity than that of the "I, I, I"."

You quickly identify with the author, or rather with his character. Although as I have been saying, I have the impression that Jean Baptiste is the alter ego of Camus: he recognizes the temptation to succumb to the sensuality of a woman. "It's hard for me to confess, but I would have given up ten conversations with Einstein for a first encounter with a beautiful extra", shows the coquetry of wanting to leave a great image of himself in any situation, crossing the street with a blind person, helping an old woman, etc.; having a high opinion of oneself, etc. However, we portray ourselves in our relaxation, there is our true self: "No man is a hypocrite in his pleasures."

He makes a sincere act of contrition.

"The fact of having the appearance of success when one exhibits it in a certain way is capable of making an ass go crazy. On the other hand, my life was full to overflowing and; for lack of time, I rejected many offers. For the same reason, I forgot immediately that I had rejected them. Only those who had made me such offers were people whose lives were not full and who, for the same reason, remembered my slights."

Subtle irony and cynicism put at the service of a rather mild existentialism:

"Slavery, ah! But no; we are against it. That we are forced to install it in our houses or in the factories, okay. That's in the order of things. But to boast about it is the height! I know that we cannot do without dominating or being served. Every human being needs slaves like pure air. To command is to breathe."

"It is very true that we very rarely trust those who are better than us. Rather, we flee from their company. What is more common, on the contrary, is that we confess to those who are like us and share our weaknesses. We do not wish, then, to correct ourselves or improve ourselves: first, we would have to judge ourselves as if we were lacking. And what we only desire is that we be pitied and that we be encouraged to continue our way. In short, that at the same time we would like not to be guilty and not to make the slightest effort to purify ourselves."

This novel, despite its brevity and conciseness, has a very profound and touching story. I liked it more than the foreigners.

It is a work that manages to convey complex emotions and ideas in a relatively short space. The author has skillfully crafted a narrative that engages the reader from the very beginning.

The characters are well-developed, and their relationships add depth to the story. The themes explored in the novel are universal and relatable, making it accessible to a wide range of readers.

Overall, this novel is a hidden gem that deserves more recognition and appreciation. It shows that great literature can be achieved even within the constraints of a short form.

In 114 pages, Camus takes humanity and with surgical precision, he removes and serves us each element of its wretchedness one by one. Some, we recognize in ourselves, and for that, it takes great courage to truly read this book.

Jean-Baptiste Clamence seems to be an exemplary professional and humanitarian until the moment he hears a woman fall into the river, and he, despite his great compassion, remains inactive. Then, slowly but surely, his downfall begins. Or perhaps not?

No, the downfall does not start then. It had begun long before and unfortunately, it has no end. The river did not only mean the death of the girl but also of himself. Because it was the pretext, the means that allowed him to reflect, like the narcissist he was, and to be forever submerged in the darkness that he himself created.

This seems to be understood as the monologue develops, and for this reason, his speech becomes more and more audacious as we approach the end:

"You will then see how true following liberates because it creates no obligation. You possess only yourself, and for this reason, following is the favorite occupation of narcissists." It makes no sense to fight what is, because he has already fallen into the deepest well of narcissism.

The element of crisis, especially the human one, is present in this novel because it was显然 a topic that had greatly interested Camus:

"God is not necessary to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men, with our own help, are enough for that. You spoke of the Second Coming. I await it resolutely. I have known what is worst: the crisis of man."

A book that will show you the river and you take the risk of whether you will eventually fall in or not.

Five stars with all my heart.

Do you really not feel that these are your own words when you read them? Especially in this book, which I never thought would be so excellent.

"We cannot prove anyone innocent without guilt, while we can definitely convince ourselves of the guilt of everyone... You talk about the divine judgment day, allow me to laugh at this word with the utmost respect. I have seen something much harder than that, I have seen the judgment of mankind. Do not wait for the judgment day of the resurrection, this judgment is given every day."

When the book was finished, I turned back to the first page again. And for the second time, I read some paragraphs several times. This unique confession was nothing but the best testimonials I had ever read.

What an amazing book! It truly touched my heart and made me think deeply about many aspects of life. The author's words were so powerful and profound that they left a lasting impression on me.

I found myself completely immersed in the story, empathizing with the characters and their experiences. It was as if I was living through their joys and sorrows along with them.

This book is not just a simple read; it is a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and inspiring book.

You are talking about the Day of Resurrection. Let me politely laugh at your words. I am cutting and firmly awaiting it: I have passed the worse of it, that is, the judgment of humans.... Do not wait for the Day of Resurrection. It is held every day.

In fact, the concept of the Day of Resurrection is often associated with a final and ultimate reckoning in many religious beliefs. However, the idea that it occurs every day can be seen as a more metaphorical or spiritual interpretation.

Each day presents us with opportunities to make choices, face consequences, and grow spiritually. It is as if we are constantly being judged by our actions and decisions.

By not waiting for a specific Day of Resurrection but rather being aware of its daily presence, we can strive to live a more conscious and accountable life.

We can take responsibility for our actions, seek forgiveness when needed, and work towards improving ourselves and our relationships with others.

In this way, we can view each day as a chance to prepare for that ultimate Day of Resurrection, whenever it may come.

The third novel of Camus, which is also read breathlessly. It is amazing in books when the author manages to convey the emotions of the heroes as he has observed them in the characters of others. However, it is astonishing to describe emotions and the darkest thoughts as he has experienced them himself. And Camus goes so deep into the darkest paths of the human soul that it is impossible not to describe things that he has thought and experienced himself. And this requires courage. Surely in all these thoughts you will also find your own. Surely this will shock you. Surely Sartre was right when he called "The Fall" the best work of Camus, but also the most difficult to understand by anyone.

Personally, it satisfied me in the same way as "The Stranger", and I will return to it in a few years to understand things that do not come out in the first or second reading. I can't wait for that.

Kamo tells the story and confessions of the repentant judge. I don't recommend reading these quotations and confessions superficially just to get something exciting and an attractive expression, because it's not like that. If you do that, it's better for you not to waste your time, my friend.

"I realized that a person cannot continue to live with others without controlling them or serving them! Every person needs slaves just as he needs clean air, and even the most pious people can breathe. And a man who is silent in social peace has a wife or children. And the important thing after all that is that a person is able to be angry with someone who has no right to respond. It's very strange from one perspective."

"And I considered myself more intelligent than any other person, and also more sensitive and skillful in shooting, in agility and love. Even in the fields where I was able to discover a little of myself - like tennis for example - and it was difficult for me not to admit that if I was given a short time to practice, I could defeat the best players. And I only accepted superiority in my heart."

"Don't think for a moment that your friends will call you every evening on the phone as they should, so that they know if this evening is the evening when you decide to commit suicide, or if you need company, or if you are not in a mood that allows you to go out. No, don't worry, they will call you in the evening when you are not alone, when life is beautiful. As for suicide, they will push you towards it the most, because of what you owe to yourself, as they believe."

"When I was interested in others, I did it for only one reason: because my respect for myself would rise one degree!"

"And I learned at least that I was standing beside the sinners and the accused as long as their crimes did not cause me any harm. Their sins made me aware because I was not their victim."

"And in my moments of confusion, I would say to myself that the ideal solution is the death of the person I was interested in, but his death, on the one hand, would have established our relationship and engraved it, and on the other hand, it would have removed his stinginess!"

"It occurs to me that I am unable to do anything this evening, and in fact I find it difficult to express myself, and it occurs to me that I am not speaking well, and my words have become less confident. Maybe that's because of the weather, because it's difficult to breathe and the air is heavy so that it crushes my chest."

"So if there is any certainty that a person enjoys the scene, then the matter is worth proving to them things that they are not ready to believe, and that will shock them. But you will commit suicide, and what does it matter if they believe you or not! You won't be there to witness their shock and their sadness, and you won't see as every person dreams, not even your own funeral. And in order not to be a mysterious case, you must not be there."

"You think you are dying to punish your wife, while in fact you are setting her free, and it's better for you to see that."

"I love life - this is my real weakness - I love it so much that I can't imagine what it's like not to be alive."

"And the truth is that I hesitated once or twice when I entered public places, and in fact I fell once. And it didn't take the Cartesian in me to attribute all those events to one thing: chance. But still, the doubts remained in their place."

"We are not in everything but (a kind of)." "When the body is imprisoned, the heart weeps." "One expression is enough to describe modern man: he used to gather and read newspapers!" "Without provocation, women would taunt me to an extent I didn't expect, and I would taunt them too." "Moreover, we cannot declare anyone innocent absolutely. While we can definitely prove that everyone is a sinner." "Forgive me, I have a psychological complex about locks, and I have to get out of my bed every night to make sure the door is locked. I never used to lock the lock on the door, and I never closed a door on myself, and I never held on to what I owned. And the truth is that I was more cowardly than my possessions for anything. Ownership, gentlemen, is: killing!"

**"La Chute = The Fall, Albert Camus"**

The Fall is a profound philosophical novel penned by Albert Camus. First published in 1956, it stands as his final complete work of fiction. Set in the vibrant city of Amsterdam, the novel unfolds through a series of intense and dramatic monologues. The narrator is the self-proclaimed "judge-penitent" Jean-Baptiste Clamence, who engages in a deep reflection of his life with a stranger. In what amounts to a confessional, Clamence reveals his past success as a wealthy and highly respected Parisian defense lawyer. However, he also details his subsequent crisis and ultimate "fall" from grace, which is meant to evoke, in secular terms, the iconic Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The novel delves deep into themes such as innocence, imprisonment, non-existence, and truth. Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, in a eulogy to Camus, described The Fall as "perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood" of Camus' books. It has been translated into Persian multiple times, with different translators bringing their own interpretations to the text. Each translation offers readers a unique perspective on this thought-provoking and influential work.

References:
- The original text of the novel in French.
- The various Persian translations mentioned.
- The eulogy by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Dear friends, the story of the fall, the personal conversations named "Jean-Baptiste Clamence" is with an interlocutor that we know nothing about him, and we don't even write down his words, or rather, we don't want to. It's as if someone is talking on the phone and we are only in the stream of conversations of one of the two parties, and finally, at the end of the story, and that too on the last page, we learn about the professional title of Clamence's interlocutor.

‎
‎Anyway, the character of our story, a lawyer in Paris, has now gone to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and spends his time chatting with this and that in a place called "Mexicocity" and according to himself, has become a "penitent judge". The story consists of five parts, and in the margins of Clamence's words, one can see allusions to hell and damnation that Camus has considered for the story and the character of his story.

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‎Below, I will write some sentences from this book for you.

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‎The sovereignty of creation and self-being is the privilege of great animals.

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‎The feeling of achieving, the joy of one's own justice, the joy of respecting oneself, are the motives of strength for our stability, preservation, and progress. On the contrary, if you deprive people of that, you turn them into angry and fierce dogs. Many crimes that are committed are only because their perpetrators have not been able to tolerate their own faults.

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‎Empathy for the high emotions of the nobility is available at a low price. They get it after the occurrence of bad events. But friendship is simpler and getting it is longer and harder. But when you get it, there is no longer a way to get rid of it and you have to face it.

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‎Man has two faces. Without loving them, no one can love others.

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‎I used to side with the criminals and the accused when their mistake was not harmful to me. The crimes of others made me eloquent, because I was not the victim. When I was in danger myself, not only a judge, but even a higher authority would quickly get angry and want to suppress the criminal and bring him to his knees, contrary to any law.

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‎People are not satisfied with your emotions, your rightness and sincerity, and also with your tolerance and the importance of your sufferings, except with your death. And as long as you are alive and present, your situation is doubtful to them. You are the only cause of their doubt and hesitation.

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‎Success and achievement, when they show themselves especially, can even make a hero angry.

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‎People know happiness and success only in the group where you willingly share them with others with complete courage. But to be happy, you should not give too much to others. Otherwise, there is no way to be free.

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‎People rush to judge in order not to be judged themselves.

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‎The simplest concept that a human being draws from the depths of his nature is his concept of innocence.

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‎The page that answers the problems of the heart reminds us of speaking of love, but it does not teach us to act on it.

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‎I became a seeker of spiritual love, a love that books and their promise gave, but I never got it in my life.

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‎The egoist is the only owner of his own existence, so the egoist is the concern of those who are self-absorbed.

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‎We cannot prove the innocence of anyone. In a situation where we can prove the mistakes and crimes of all human beings with certainty, and every person is a witness to the sins and crimes of other human beings.

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‎Religions, from the moment they turn away from ethics and ethical issues and threaten by issuing a decree, they take the path of error and mistake. To create crime and incitement, the existence of God is not necessary. Our fellow human beings, with their own help, are enough for this.

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‎You talk about the judgment of the Day of Judgment of God. Let me laugh at these words with all due respect. I am waiting for that day without any fear or hesitation. I have seen something that is much more difficult than that. I have seen the judgment of people.

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‎The truth, like light, is blinding, and the lie, on the contrary, is like the flash of the sun at dawn or at sunset, which has a deceptive appearance on everything.

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‎Leaving books unfinished and half-done is as harmful as when some people eat a piece of the liver of a goose and throw the rest away.

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‎I hope this review has been sufficient and useful for getting to know this book.

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‎"Be victorious and Iranian"