Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)

Nausea is absolutely amazing. This is the book that started everything for me. Education and the pursuit of knowledge became priorities in my life after reading this book, thanks to Sartre. Existentialism may be "dead" to some people, but to the high school or early college student who is disenchanted with the world around them, this is the perfect book to get those intellectual juices flowing. The "self-learned man" who sits at the library reading in alphabetical order everything that he can inspired me greatly. Though not as pretty as Albert Camus, Jean as a certain dramatic and intellectual radiance that Albert had yet to perfect. Do not get me wrong Camus is my hero, but Nausea is the beginning of everything for someone on that lonely path to Truth.

When Sartre wrote this, he was just a young budding writer, and it's surprising to see how mature and 'old and resigned' this novel sounds. Absolutely not in the style of a young man. Quite astonishing. You will find this a very strange book, with basically no real story behind it, the main character himself is just an excuse for an exposition of Sartre's ideas about life... actually more than about ideas, it's actually about Sartre's instinctive feel and intuition for life, about life more 'natural' (in the sense of mindless and mechanical) , repetitive, absurd and repulsive aspect of life. To give you an idea, that kind of "feel" that would make you think of a fat spider while you are holding another person hand into yours or just looking at it moving on a desk. That kind of sensation and feel that borders on repulsive hallucination, and yes in case you are wondering, Sartre was occasionally affected by hallucinations, and I guess this particular mental vulnerability contributed to his great insight and intuition about the more obscure and celebrate aspect of existence. So give this a try, it's a very different kind of book, even if usually quite overrated, just because "sartre sounds very high culture'. This book does get boring after it has made its point, and the more fascinating and best written parts are actually the marginal ones, like the short section about the main character meeting and ex lover and reminiscing about the various psychological folds of their relationship. The end of the book tries to put forward some kind of 'solution' to the main character 'nausea of life' but it ends up being quite naive. One is tempted say: "Hey did it really take a whole book to say that?". So, in the end, an intriguing book to read, but it does border on mental masturbation...

Sartre's "Nausea" is always extolled as possibly one of the greatest novels on the human condition. It truly is a great book but I have yet to see any reviews that offer any critical comments. Personally, I thought the book had a slow beginning. Although it was meant to be a narrative, the inital part did not go so far in analyzing the the main character's feelings and sensations as the latter part did. I expected a lot less of, "I turned left down the street" and more of "my God how strongly things exist today...it is repugnant." The second part of the book went more into depth on this feeling of nausea- the scene in the garden is brillant (pg. 129-135). This is defintely the best part of the book- the angst of existence simply jumps out of the page and it is expressed so eloquently. Overall, a great read that introduces one to the complex mind of Sartre.

My first read (and possibly there will be more) at renowned Jean Paul Sartre is Nausea, a book that you may describe with many adjectives you can, but people will only understand when they actually read it and, lesser than that, a few will understand and reflect about what is said here. Sartre wrote this book in a form of diary thing, about a man (Antonie Roquentin) telling about his daily's discord and misery about, umm, everything.
He also describes an extreme pungent feeling he has about people and objects, which he latter calls it just Nausea. His relationships towards the world is metaphysician, silent and introspective.
It is important to state that this book is really degenerative, with some hidden and strong content. I, for being such a fan of Nine Inch Nails or other bands that talk a lot about these issues, thought I was safe and at home: that was a huge mistake, since everytime you think about what it is said, you may experience a certain melancholy. The book turns to be a little confusing and boring at some time, being redundant a little and the conclusion is somewhat flaw, but pay some good attention here: this book describes everything so well, good conceptions of existence, some dose of nihilism and misanthropy, but if you are already reading this, you'll understand. It is irresistible and almost impossible not to feel familiar with this character.

I want to respectfully disagree with the review by timmyjones. The opinion of anyone who has read Sartre's philosophy as well as much of his fiction is valuable, but I think that it is because you have read the philosophy first, as you say, that you can only see it, and nothing else, in what I consider to be the art.
Admittedly, It has been several years since I read the book. However, there are several scenes which stand out in my memory. The card players, the intense examination of the portrait paintings, and the jazz record at the end are all fascinating scenes. Also, the character (I can't remember the name) who reads each book in the library from A to Z is very interesting.
The one scene in which the philosophy does seem to be thinly veiled is the one which deals with the problem of "perfect moments." However, even this scene, to me, is more than acceptable. In fact, I think it is one of the most powerful scenes.
In sum, I recommend "Nausea" strongly. Also, among the stories in "The Wall," I recommend "Erostratus" and "The Wall."
I can still remember my favorite line from "Nausea" (at least I think this is how it goes): "This is time, time laid bare, coming slowly into existence, keeping us waiting, and when it does come, making us sick because we realize it has been there all along."

All the major themes of existentialism, therefore life, are explored in the form of a novel. Nausea, contingency, forlorness, no essence only existence, phenomenological ontology, why does anything exist rather than complete nothingness? etc.
At times this book can become a depressing read but it pulls no punches about the human predicament that all of us are confronted with on a daily basis.

And Roquentin, the main character, is unable to do so. This novel is in the form of a diary, which tells the thoughts, emotions and everyday experiences of the lonely Roquentin in the town of Bouville, and in his visit to Paris to see ex-girlfriend Anny, when he tries to recover his past. It is a novel about existence and the conscience about existence. Roquentin can not find any meaning to life: the hollowness, emptiness, meaninglessness of life nauseate him. Every other moment, for example when he's contemplating a tree, Roquentin suddenly feels the utter futility of life and this gives him a big nausea: the nausea, the horror of existing in the abstract. It is about existence as a pure, absolut experience.
Although the subject of this novel is eternal, deep and real, I was unsatisfied with the book as a literary work. At some point, you just want to tell Roquentin: "You see, doing nothing all day, other than exploring yourself and thinking about how hollow life is, will not give much meaning to your life. So stop gazing at your navel and do something. Maybe then you'll feel life is not necessarily that horrible".

French philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre's early novel Nausea is often cited as the essential book of Existentialism. The book follows Antoine Roquentin who illustrates the subject matter by living it in every minute of his life, on every corner and in every situation. The defeatist philosophy is neither negative nor positive. It simply is. It is the hollow essence of man. Having perceived this, Roquentin can not stand himself, the people around him, the objects revolving them and all related actions or outcomes.
The bleakness extends to Roquentin's object of research. He too, not unsurprisingly, turns out to be an adulterer, a charlatan, unworthy and lacking worth. In short, both the story itself and the story within the story are lambasted in futility in the end.
Wither in such a universe? Nowhere, for the illusion is by definition hollow and but a shell of nothingness.

More so than the novels of Camus, Doestoevsky and Kafka, this novel places a livid finger upon the carotid pulse of humanity. Often misconstrued as defeatist, pessimistic, and literally absurd, this novel, rather, succeeds at subtley erasing the individual human facade while simultaneously rebuilding the "truth" of individual insignificance. It hurts; in fact it's quite nauseating. Day to day, week by week, ducks in a row, the time goes by...as does the protagonist as he ponders in depth the existence of a tree. The profundity of this novel is not for everyone, and yet, ironically, it is everyone. Contrary to those that follow, this is Sartre's best work. His stage work, short stories and non-fiction are worthy of microscopic investigation, but it is "Nausea" that delivers the sucker punch.

With his first novel, Sartre began to explore what would later come to be known as existentialism, or the philosophy that: 'Holds that there is no intrinsic meaning or purpose, therefore it is up to each individual to determine his own meaning and purpose and take responsibility for his actions'. While this line of philosophical thought does have its origins in Kierkegaard, it was in the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus and Sartre that these ideas were fully developed.

Antoine Roquentin is a solitary man, recently afflicted with a recurrent feeling, one that he terms 'the Nausea'. At times, he feels that life is repugnant, a vapid, shallow game between mindless people who have no real idea of their own purpose or consequence, himself included. At first he dismisses these feelings as the typical lonely thoughts of an ageing academic who is unable to complete the book he has been researching for years, but as the feeling continues and he is able to examine himself with greater and greater clarity, Roquentin begins to learn that maybe he has stumbled upon one of the great truths of our reality.

He discovers that there is no essence, no importance in motion or in the petty labels that people like to attach to themselves and others in a bid to catalogue the world and everything in it, and by cataloguing, to control. He reasons that we are essentially impossible to control, that each person exists because they exist, and for no other reason that that. The terms of our existence are unspecific, but clear. We do not exist to be pawns to a god, or to move the path of humanity forward. Instead, we exist simply to exist, we are an end unto ourselves, and the inherent absurdity in our lives means that a meaningful existence is impossible and even blasphemous. Through clear-eyed, coherent thinking, we are able to control our lives as we choose, and it is up to every man and woman to independently reject suicide. For those that do not, the meaningless quality of our lives makes no different when compared to those that do, thus there is no dishonour or achievement in either.

During the novel, there are a few side stories involving an ex-lover and a child-molesting friend, but these characters are used mostly as foils for Sartre's philosophy. In presenting arguments to Roquentin, Sartre is able to adequately satisfy the objections to his philosophy. There is a sense, however, that while the elements of existentialism presented in Nausea are powerful and compelling, the picture is not yet complete and no real answers are given. Later on in his career, Sartre was able to provide a large number of these answers, but even this early on, with his first novel, the depth of his thinking and the power of his message is quite simply amazing. Nausea is a stunning book, an intellectual delight, and is recommended to all.

Having read many magnificent authors of existentialist fiction, from Camus to Dostoyevsky to Mishima to Laxness to Selimovic to Abe, I picked up Nausea, a work by an author whose name is synonymous with his philosophical movement. I was very disappointed, however, in Nausea's tone, theme, and progression. It is intended to be a work of literature, not a work of philosophy, but at times I wished Sartre had discarded the pretense of writing a literary masterpiece and presented a mature treatise on existentialism. I always feel that a valid philosophy (or theology) should be easily evident in a real (or literary) situation, and does not require an endless philosophical dissection. While existential literature is often bleak, that is a function of the philosophy itself. Nausea, however, is simply bland. The narrator is without charisma, and therefore can hardly be identified with, and his experience of 'nausea' at his own existence is ultimately tedious and unrealistic. Unlike certain magnificent literary expositions of existentialism, like "The Woman in the Dunes" by Kobo Abe, and "Death and the Dervish" by Mesa Selimovic, "Nausea" did little more than whet my appetite for a better existentialist work and leave me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth. In short, Sartre missed the mark--he tried so hard to paint this portrait of meaningless bleakness that his novel has all the life of a smudged black and white newsprint photo. Nonetheless, it is very short and worth reading just for the perspective, but "No Exit" is a far superior venture on Sartre's part

The Café Philosopher's first and finest work that points to or surmises his existential ideas in his later works. Nausea is indeed a "beautiful and hard as steel" philosophical novel that makes "people ashamed of their existence" or at least lures people to question "it." Nausea is a book "above existence... an adventure." It is Sartre's realization, masking himself behind his character Antoine Roquentin, that existence suddenly unveils itself as Nausea - a frightful, obscene and naked disorderliness (127). Compare Sartre's absurdity of existence with Schopenhauer's vanity of existence: "The vanity of existence is revealed in the whole form existence assumes: in the infiniteness of time and space contrasted with the finiteness of the individual in both; in the fleeting present as the sole form in which actuality exists; in the contingency and relativity of all things; in continual becoming without being; in continual desire without satisfaction; in the continual frustration of striving of which life consists... That which has been no longer is; it as little exists as does that which has never been. But everything that is in the next moment has been. Thus, the most significant present has over the most significant past the advantage of actuality, which means that the former bears to the latter the relation of something to nothing... We suddenly exist, after having for countless millennia not existed..."

The Café Philosopher's first and finest work that points to or surmises his existential ideas in his later works. Nausea is indeed a "beautiful and hard as steel" philosophical novel that makes "people ashamed of their existence" or at least lures people to question "it." Nausea is a book "above existence... an adventure." It is Sartre's realization, masking himself behind his character Antoine Roquentin, that existence suddenly unveils itself as Nausea - a frightful, obscene and naked disorderliness (127). Compare Sartre's absurdity of existence with Schopenhauer's vanity of existence: "The vanity of existence is revealed in the whole form existence assumes: in the infiniteness of time and space contrasted with the finiteness of the individual in both; in the fleeting present as the sole form in which actuality exists; in the contingency and relativity of all things; in continual becoming without being; in continual desire without satisfaction; in the continual frustration of striving of which life consists... That which has been no longer is; it as little exists as does that which has never been. But everything that is in the next moment has been. Thus, the most significant present has over the most significant past the advantage of actuality, which means that the former bears to the latter the relation of something to nothing... We suddenly exist, after having for countless millennia not existed..."

"Nausea" was a book that nauseating in the repetition of its theme. Over & over again I was given examples of the existentialist's universe that is indifferent to man's presence. There were moments that Sartre twisted, and invited the reader to ask "well... why not?" He challenges the value that we put on people & events while reminding us that this is all happening within a universe that doesn't care about our contrived evaluative mechanisms.
Interesting ideas, but even for this already slender book, the ideas could have been conveyed in a 10-page short story. "Nausea" as a tale (without the philosophical element) isn't entertaining enough to stick with to the end. So, Sartre offers examples of his ideas "ad nauseum."

This was the book that introduced me to existentialism.

Brilliant, erudite, and literary at the same time, I will remember the scene where Sartre 'digests on a park bench' for the rest of my life.

Can be skim read, but bears deep reading. High marks. Excellent qualities.

Sartre is a very sensible philosopher despite his silly political whims. Nausea is a fine effort in its rare genre, but of course it's no Notes from the Underground. The intended effect and narrative structure is appropriate, but it simply falls short of being a novel. Sartre unveils some essential existential truths, but to my dismay it failed to capture my interest, no matter how much I tried. It took me over a year to read this short book. It dragged on so long that I almost found meaning in life before it was over.

If you like warm, fuzzy literature, this story isn't for you. If you prefer to read fiction that agrees with what you already think, or helps you sleep at night, this story isn't for you. However, if you enjoy engaging, incredibly well-written, (and superbly translated), literature, you will enjoy this book. "Nausea", like "Woman in the Dunes" by Kobo Abe, is not an easy or comfortable story to plow through, but it is a fascinating and superb story. Also, don't pass this book if you are intimidated by all the high falutin' philosophy talk; enjoy this book as the remarkable, if disturbing story, that it is. Excellent reading.

As a student of existentialism I had never read any of Satres works, however like most people I was familiar with his mythical like staus within the movement.
I found this book to be a real grind, in fact I had to force myself to read it. It lacks the class and sophistication of Kafka or Camus. It is frankly boring, although in patches there are glimpses of imagination in tackling the themes of life's futility, randomness and meaningless.
The whole feel of this novel is that of isolation, abandonment and ultimately you feel sorry for Roquentin, who personifies lonliness, verging upon the suicidal.
I have to disagree with some of the other reviewers, the dialogue is insipid, prosaic and not particularly thought provoking. Indeed some of the scenes when Roquentin describes his thoughts in a typical 'stream of consciousness' manner remind me of a time when I was unemployed and analysed everything, searching for reason and meaning in my life.
If you reads this book you will recognise some of the feelings of lonliness and isolation that at times we all succumb to.
I'm not going to let myself fall in to the trap of believing that I have somehow missed the point of this book, or that I lack the intellect to understand it. It's like Opera, it's a matter of temperament and taste. No all opera's are good, some are sublime (Carmen) others facile and langiud (Cossi Fan Tutti). This book falls in to the latter category. Read it for yourself and be truthfull with what you find.
Think to yourself "If the author was not Satre would I think about this book differently"? QED

do you exist simply because you live or because of what you do? i found the main character to be utterly hopeless and bleak...he had goals and he just couldn't complete them...he had a meaningless relationship. sartre seems to delight in seeing just how much he can gross people out...i finished the book only because it was like watching a train wreck. no matter how gauche it was, i couldn't turn away.yet, i wonder if picking up his book was worth the trouble...i have read camus and had only a mild interest in exstitentialism. i'll probably read no exit.. but its unlikely i'll read this one again....

This is a book for the mentally stable. Nausea embraces and defines existential beliefs, and in light of this, is an overly cynical book. To truly understand Roquetin, one must embrace his mindset and existentialism, even if it is only temporary. This can lead to a depressed state and dispair and dissatisfaction with their environment. One must view the world through the descriptiveness Sartre is so famous for. If you can survive an existential outlook long enough to finish this book, you will be delighted with the end of the novel, were hope is reinstated into Roquentins world. Although a single definition for existentialism is impossible, this book will offer a indepth analysis of how existentialist belief applies to what we percieve to be reality. On the whole, an excellent book.

I discovered Sartre after reading Colin Wilson's The Outsider. When first viewing the cover, one wonders who this character is, and why isn't he wearing a shirt? His facial expression is an apt expression of nausea. Is life nauseating? Apparently Sartre didn't think so, as he lived to be quite old. If life is meaningless, then isn't that meaning in itself? Is there a universal one size fits all for meaningfulness? And isn't one persons meaning another persons meaninglessness? Perhaps Sartre was a frustrated utilitarian. Sartre's work does have some poetic passages in it, such as, "The sun was clear and diaphanous as white wine." Not a bad day for a meaningless existence. Perhaps our friend on the cover is mearly hungover. A compelling book.

Nausea and Essays in Existentialism are, in my opinion, the best places to start learning about Sartre's philosophical views. I think these texts are more accessible than Being and Nothingness.
While reading Nausea I got the impression that Sartre described a more pessimistic view of our condition than in his later writings. In Nausea he seems to be saying that there is no meaning to our existence, while later he will say that we choose the essence or meaning of our existence ourselves, by the acts that we continuously perform.

Nausea is one of the most powerful literary experiences one can find. The form of the novel enables us to enter into Sartre's brilliant (and warped)mind. There is a sort of inexplicable energy that keeps on pushing you to read further and further- it is impossible to put this book down. The work can be appreciated as a novel for the quality of the story, but can also be understood as a powerful argument for Sartre's existentialist philosophy. He takes the reader through different alternatives to realizing that one's knowledge of one's existence makes one sick or creates nausea. Common escapes such as glorifying the past, the hope of relentless self-improvement,placing faith in love, are all explored and dramatically proven by Sartre to be false delusions to the truth that human existence is sickening.

Nausea is the difinitive work of Jean-Paul Sartre and reflects the nature of the existential movement. Often oversimplified as boring, depressing or pointless; Nausea is in fact a phycological journey for the courageous thinker. It poses and answers many important existential questions through the interactions and ruminations of the main charecter, Antoine. The book is so well written and translated that the discriptions actually transform your philisophical state - you feel the Nausea. This little book is also packed with information, and calls for so much self-exploration, that it is sometimes described as hard to read. If taken slowly and internalized, this is an endlessly rewarding read.

Even though I'm intrigued by existentialism, I am still struggling to understand what Sartre is trying to tell us in Nausea. The main character, because he finds other humans boring, petty, phony...., he makes a choice to stand away from the rest of humanity. He is a critical observer, the constant cynic. So much easier to stand at a distance and criticize to feel the Nausea that is humanity. The nausea is only one side of the coin, because not all in life is despicable, crass and disgusting, He has chosen to focus on those parts of humanity that are. In doing so he imagines that he has found a sort of freedom and that he has risen above the fray, the ramble of humanity. The reality is that he has focused so much on the bad, the nausea, that he has built a new prison, an incomplete humanity composed of only the bad and none of the good. He comprehends only half of what we are. There is none of the joy, the spontaneity, the passion, only the ache of the nausea.

A brilliant and hauntingly dark glimpse into the soul of a bitter intellectual who feels he has no reason left to exist. A sort of logical progression of Dostoevsky's "underground man", in my eyes, and almost Hunger-esqe in its phantasmagoria, as in the striking stream of consciousness sequence beginning on page 100.

Sartre is a world famous existentialist of the times, and I think this wonderful novel really brings precision to the word "absurd". Objects are not what they seem... and physical sickness is due to his realisation of the absurdity of existence. What do you thinK??? READ THE BOOK.

Hannah Arendt claimed that this is Sartre's best book. I do not like it very much.
Camus could write of life's absurdity in a beautiful way. Sartre writes of the vague repulsion his Roquentin feels toward his existence and everyone else's without the same kind of literary and aesthetic appeal.
He is overwhelmed by his sense of life 's contingency. Nothing need be as it is .
This means he sees himself as superflous.
Along the way he meets someone called the 'Self- Made Man' who has a positive approach to life, believes in the idea that through action one can make meaning. Roquentin listens intently to him but at a certain point feels 'nausea' again, the same nausea which he felt at the outset of the novel when first touching a wet- pebble.
This is one way of feeling and seeing the world, but life and literature are filled with many others more humanly interesting and meaningful.
Even loneliness and boredom can be better than this.

The whole existentialist angst thing is great, it really is, and this novel is a very effective presentation of existential ideas. However, it has to be the most boring thing ever written. Driest prose I ever did read, though I assume it was partly the translastion.

"Nausea" by Jean-Paul Sartre, has been hailed as his first extended essay on the existential philosophy that has made him famous. The novel consists of the thoughts and experiences (which are displaced into a journal format) of Antonin, an alienated intellectual who falls prey to the feeling of the existential Nausea, as he attempts, nihilistically, to purge himself of the "sin of existence". The novel, Sartre's first, is blighted by the main fault to which beginners are vulnerable, namely, blatantly making their texts a vehicle for their own philosophical views. Too much of the story is taken up by the hero's obsession with a gramophone record, though one man's obsession may be another man's tedium. The plot lacks any sense of drive, the main character simply fails to engage the reader's sympathy and the result is a book which is amateurish, plodding and just plain boring.

This novel is a classic depiction of inner struggle, rather than outside torment. The plot mostly takes place within the mind of the hero, who represents self-consciousness in character form. Any reader of such narratives like this knows that the writers of such works are not celebrating themselves. In fact, they are probably the least likely people on earth to celebrate themselves, as their self-hatred is so intense and so evident. That, in itself, is a struggle worthy of a plot.

Sartre built a career as a misanthropic intellectual. His characters (and his analyses) brim with the most total alienation imaginable, with the strong dose of narcissism that comes along with slef-declared geniuses. The protagonist of this novel is a bored scholar, researching an ancestor. He is incapable of love and in the grips of a depression and loathing that fill him with waves of nausea. That is it in this novel! There is meaning in nothing. The only thing I felt reading about these sick people was nausea - and boredom.
In writing a negative review of such a famous novel, I know there will be lots who disagree, but I am sick of novels like this that are held up by a national cultural establishment as "great," i.e. enhancing their international image, rather than works that should be read more openly and naively. You can tell the difference in so many media: look at Michelangelo and you immediately feel his genius, whereas if you fail to perceive the artistic "value" of many contemporary works, you are condemned as lacking the finesse and brains to see what you are told to see.
Not recommended. This is the ideal novel for a high school student to read ostentatiously, exhibiting some kind of "depth."

I guess.... not think... that about now, krc, you are beginning

to have some existential vagaries.

An unctuous feeling about the causality of your uvula...

swallowing, hearing the swallow... and the exit no exit

of hearing door knobs..

There is an upwelling from the closure of your uvula in

swallowing...

You feel the vague dread coming on... ad nauseum.

affirmative negative... a n

am i really wallowing now

Simply writing a review of the product itself, seeing as I haven't had time to read the book yet. Book was in good condition, although it was a little more weathered than I had expected. I guess I need to pay better attention next time to the quality of the book I'm purchasing.

I am a highschool student who is reading Sarte and his ideas of extensialism for the first time, and it has had a profound impact on the kind of person i now am. This novel has changed me from a person who looks at everything from a superficial stand point to someone who realize's how exestential many elements of everyday life are. I strongly recomend this book to anyone who needs a wake up call!!!

Boring. I understand the interesting perspective of the protagonist, however there is only so much self reflection and lack of real plot I can take. There is no real story. It is a glimps into the internal workings of a man who is nauseated by the world around him. If yoy like plot this is not the book for you. If you like 178 pages of a negative mans perspective than this is the book for you