The Fall

Set in a dark bar in Amsterdam, the novel consists entirely of a series of dramatic monologues spoken by Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a former Parisian defense lawyer. Clamence recounts his "fall" from grace, which began when he failed to intervene as a woman jumped off a bridge into the Seine River. Through his confession, he examines the illusions of his past life, universal human guilt, self-deception, and the impossibility of true innocence.