my favorite book by Camus stars the juge-penitent Jean-Baptiste Clamence. I have translated a short section of his book-long monologue:
"Paris is a real illusion, with a superb decor and inhabited by four million silhouettes. Close to five million at the last census? Come on, they would have had kids. I wouldnt be surprised. It always seemed to me that our co-citizens had two passions: ideas and fornication. We should be careful, though, to not condemn them, they are not alone, all of Europe is like that. I dream sometimes about what future historians will say of us. One sentence would suffice for modern man: he fornicated and read newspapers. After that definition, the subject will be, I dare to say, exhausted."
(From La Chute by Albert Camus Editions Gallimard 1956 pages 10-11)
