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725 ratings, 4.06 average rating, 49 reviews
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published
2005
(first published 1970)
by Hesperus Press Ltd
binding
Paperback, 160 pages
isbn
184391400X
(isbn13: 9781843914006)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 921)
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
children and optimists
Oh you know those whacky existentialists . . . just a typical beach read, really. Early chick-lit. Love the stories, they are colorful and fairly realistic in the way they depict the ridiculous, repetitive or futile behaviors people exhibit (other peeps, not me, of course). I'm guessing that Sartre must have been hella good times at cocktail parties. Wonder who would have won in a death match between Jean-Paul, Al Camus and lil' Freddie Nietzsche? (I'm betting Nietzsche, he was uber-efficient.)
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Read in May, 2008
It had been a while since I'd read Sartre and I picked the volume up over others because it was short stories, well suited to sitting at the allergist's for half and hour at a time and then moving on with my life. I had not anticipated the resonance that Sartre still had for me, however. The title story was interesting, but less than engaging, but as the book went on they got more real for me. Sartre is a master of showing one how subjective experience can be, how one's feelings towards people...more
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recommends it for:
People who appreciate booty/Sartrean existentialism
You gotta love Sartre's sexy objectification of women. I totally think Sartre was an ass man. Exempli gratia:
"Her tail is small, yes, a lot smaller than mine, but you can see more of it. It's all around, under her thin back, it fills the skirt, you'd think it was poured in, and besides it jiggles."
Hell is other people... other people who can't appreciate a nice jiggling booty!
If Sartre was alive today, I'm sure he'd give that comment a high five...more
"Her tail is small, yes, a lot smaller than mine, but you can see more of it. It's all around, under her thin back, it fills the skirt, you'd think it was poured in, and besides it jiggles."
Hell is other people... other people who can't appreciate a nice jiggling booty!
If Sartre was alive today, I'm sure he'd give that comment a high five...more
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Read in June, 2008
The first story in this book is really the best one out of the bunch. The final story is the worst, almost like the book was designed as a progression with decreasing quality as you move along.
This is not to say that the style or the writing got any worse particularly. Sartre's fiction style isn't any great shakes, though his stories are always interesting. The last story though "Childhood of a Leader" is just so thick with period references to France between the two World ...more
This is not to say that the style or the writing got any worse particularly. Sartre's fiction style isn't any great shakes, though his stories are always interesting. The last story though "Childhood of a Leader" is just so thick with period references to France between the two World ...more
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You never, ever do what you want. You just get swept away.
This is a decent collection of Sartre's short fiction - each of the five pieces differ in style and length, enough so to make them all worth reading. The Childhood of a Leader and The Bedroom are the two weakest works, but what they lack in quality, the other three (The Wall, Herostratus and Intimacy) more than make up for. Sartre the novelist is often overlooked in favour of Sartre the philosopher, but at the end of the day,...more
This is a decent collection of Sartre's short fiction - each of the five pieces differ in style and length, enough so to make them all worth reading. The Childhood of a Leader and The Bedroom are the two weakest works, but what they lack in quality, the other three (The Wall, Herostratus and Intimacy) more than make up for. Sartre the novelist is often overlooked in favour of Sartre the philosopher, but at the end of the day,...more
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Jean-Paul Sartre has never been one to give in to censorship or leave his political beliefs at the door; and it's precisely this thorough sense of integrity that seeps through The Wall, a short story following three men in the night before their execution for rebellion. Exploring the dark corners of the human mind and soul, conflicting survival with ideological imperatives, not afraid of being judgmental, Sartre is forcing everyone to look at themselves in the mirror and wonder who would die in ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in February, 2008
First two stories: The Wall & The Room are fantastic. I enjoyed the third story: Erostratus. But, I began losing interest by the fourth and fifth stories. I think the first two are the most interesting and illuminating on the subject of death and its relation to the meaning of life, and insanity. I've never read Sartre before, and I was inspired by his ability to describe those things that are generally kept on the fringe of everyday experience, but are the very subjects that can tell us the...more
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Read in July, 2008
I found these stories sort of uneven. "The Wall," and "Erostratus" are great, "The Childhood of a Leader" is good, and "The Room" and "Intimacy" are okay. All are worth reading, though. I like how the concept of "the wall" keeps coming up in different forms--in the title story, it's the inevitability of death, in "The Room" it's the outward boundary of the sane everyday life that Eve feels she transcends, etc. This is probably...more
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I bought this book about a year ago, when I was in the midst of ending a horrible short-lived relationship and felt rather existentialist, though I feel "rather existentialist" on a regular basis, so that's not saying much. The slim volume includes five short stories by Sartre, and of those The Childhood of a Leader is my favorite by far. I would suggest this as bedtime reading if you have a somber side, or else bathtub reading if you adopt a more cheerful attitude toward life.
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Read in January, 2002
A collection of short stories from the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. I remember one of them is a man counting down the minutes in has last day of life before he goes before a firing squad for execution. I wish I could remember more, but they are interesting short stories that hold their own without being pretentious. If you are a philosophical/psychological thinker, but are sick of non-fiction, this might be good for you...
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Read in March, 2008
Several short stories...Sartre is amazing. He makes you believe that you are the one in the jail cell, about to be killed against the wall by a shooting squad, or you are the one who has put up the wall between you and your love. Maybe you hide behind the wall of a gun, or put up a wall to hide that you don't love your spouse any longer. His stories take the life out of you. Amazing.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Harry Potter fans
This book is written in clear sentences and is not pretentious. I thought it would be pretentious. I thought Sartre would punch my face with an existential message. I thought the end of each story would be a five-page essay delineating the various existential situations the characters faced.
There were no essays.
I will read this book again, probably.
There were no essays.
I will read this book again, probably.
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داستان دیوار توسط صادق هدایت به فارسی برگردانده شده و هیچ یاد ندارم ترجمه چگونه بود، همان گونه که داستان های دیگر سارتر. مانند "کودکی یک رئیس" که توسط محمدعلی سپانلو به فارسی برگردانده شده است.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
someone getting started in existentialism
I am a layperson when it comes to philosophy. I have not taken any classes, but I am extremely interested in philosophy, especially existentialism. It can be rather difficult if one just dives in--which is why this book is so good for the beginner (like me). Since it's all short stories, it is much easier to digest a little at a time.
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The book has a few short stories that challenge the social conventions of mid-20th century (that's my take anyway): relationships/marriage, nationalism, insanity, and fame. The best one is 'Erostratus' - if you can't be famous for being great, might as well be famous for being horrible (e.g The Black Hero).
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Read in December, 2007
An amazing philosophical collection of short stories. Questions how we see the world and life, and the hold we have on it. Personally I'd put these up there with JD Salinger's 9 stories collection. Each one leaves you feeling desperate and alone. Perfection.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
people i know and love
this was chilling and terrific. except the last story. that one was a bit tiresome. the others were SUPERB, really, in every way. i wish this book wasn't so short. i wish i read it slower. i wish it was 5 years from now and time to re-read it.
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Read in January, 2007
Although I read this book in French and actually the original text I didnt like it because you can find very little literary work in it but the theme is interesting and as every body knows it's about existentialism.
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Certainly was a wall. The dark side of existentialistic philosophy. Try Being and Nothingess if you liked this read. A very important writer for his influence in academic thinking and, particularly, the arts.
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