La Chute

In 1956, alongside his journalistic work, Albert Camus was writing for the theater and producing a series of short stories between 1954 and 1956, intended for L’Exil et le Royaume, published the following year. As Camus explained, a single theme runs through the collection, that of exile, treated from interior monologue to realist narrative; the six stories were written in succession, though later reworked separately.

La Chute — whose original title is unknown — was originally conceived as part of this cycle before being set aside from the forthcoming collection: Camus developed the text into the novel known today. Published under a title suggested by Roger Martin du Gard, La Chute went on sale on May 16 and met with immense commercial success, silencing those who had ironically predicted “the fall of Camus.” Most contemporaries read the text as a form of autobiography, an interpretation Camus consistently rejected: he maintained that his only point in common with Jean-Baptiste Clamence, “with whom people insist on identifying me,” was a lack of imagination (Le Monde, interview of August 31, 1956).

A fine copy.