#116: ‘The Fall’ by Albert Camus

I’ve been reading Albert Camus’ The Fall this week as I continue to think about what exactly it is that draws me to his writing. And while I had my head in this extended prose monologue I came across a (very) brief mention of the French-Algerian middleweight boxer ‘Le Bombardier Marocain’ Marcel Cerdan.

It’s actually so brief that the fella’s first name isn’t even mentioned but it made me think of what boxers represent in society, or perhaps used to, more so. How they once embodied a hope that a single person could rise up against whatever oppressive force bore down on the particular daydreamer. (Though in the case of this book it is perhaps in the hope of becoming the oppressor.) I suppose this idea faded somewhat when boxers were no longer approachable on the street, due to unimaginable fight purses or secluded fight camps only accessible with press passes – not to mention private jets to Saudi Arabia.

Specifically in The Fall the narrator/speaker invokes Cerdan as a symbol of character that he himself feels he lacks – that somehow if he could embody the boxer he would be able to exact his revenge on those around him, or perhaps not be in that weakened position in the first place.

I had dreamed – this was now clear – of being a complete man who managed to make himself respected in his person as well as in his profession. Half Cerdan, half de Gaulle, if you will. In short I wanted to dominate all things […] I was eager to get my revenge, to strike and conquer.

I’m nearing the end of my creative writing MA so should have more time to return to reading books about boxing again, and therefore to this blog. There should be a few more posts through the spring and into the summer as I’ve received a few books recently, and I need to return to a book I put down in July of last year!