Nausea

Name: Nausea
Author: Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre · 1938

Antoine Roquentin's sudden, overwhelming awareness that existence is contingent, meaningless, and nauseating: that is Sartre's philosophy made visceral and personal. The chestnut tree scene remains the definitive literary evocation of existential vertigo. Published in 1938, it is the founding text of existentialist fiction.

The case against

on Roquentin’s sanity
“in which case Roquentin is mentally ill”
Samantha Harvey · Five Books, 2009
on Being and Nothingness
“must be coupled with a reading of essays, particularly Being and Nothingness”
a book blog
on the length
“It took me about 2 weeks to get through the 250 pages.”
a book blog
on the level of detail
“The prose is packed with too much detail and meanders through the novel”
three stars · a book blog