From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

Nausea

Jean-Paul Sartre

Start date: July 1, 2017

Finish date: July 31, 2017

Discussion: Around Europe 2017

Why we're reading this: Winner of our July 2017 Around Europe poll for France, Belgium, etc.
[close] Winner of our July 2017 Around Europe poll for France, Belgium, etc.

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What Members Thought

Jul 21, 2017 El rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books-list, 20th-centurylit-early, put-it-in-your-journal, library-borrow

One thing I've learned since reading Nausea is that people really don't like it. It may be existentialism they don't like, so maybe the fact that I liked this book indicates I am, to a certain degree, an existentialist. I'm not quite sure what to do with that information, but I will assume if that's the case, it probably makes me insufferable.

This epistolary novel is told in a series of journal entries by fictional character (though questionably how autobiographical it might be to Sartre's own v One thing I've learned since reading Nausea is that people really don't like it. It may be existentialism they don't like, so maybe the fact that I liked this book indicates I am, to a certain degree, an existentialist. I'm not quite sure what to do with that information, but I will assume if that's the case, it probably makes me insufferable.

This epistolary novel is told in a series of journal entries by fictional character (though questionably how autobiographical it might be to Sartre's own views and life experiences) Antoine Roquentin, a loner sort who has dedicated himself to researching and writing about the life of an 18th-century political figure. Until, of course, The Nausea sets in.

The Nausea follows Roquentin throughout the book. He finds himself disgusted with everything, himself included. He looks around and doesn't understand the people surrounding him, their motives, their actions, their views. He is a bit of an elitist - he imagines he's better than they are because he understands himself better. The Nausea, I believe, is what is often referred to as an 'existential crisis', the whole "what does it matter" of it all. I believe everyone goes through that at some point in their lives, whether they subscribe to the philosophy or not. If you have ever had the discussion with yourself or others about why we exist at all, congratulations! You too have suffered from The Nausea. It's the questioning itself, at the base level.

Because Roquentin's story is told to us in the form of his journal entries, we come to understand Roquentin only by his own words. This inherently makes him an unreliable narrator - as the reader we can only take him at his word. He doesn't shine on himself a very positive light because he really can be insufferable. He hankers after an English girl he knew once-upon-a-time, Anny, and he has her up on such a pedestal that by the time we, the reader, meet Anny ourselves (through Roquentin's account of their meeting), we have no idea what Roquentin ever saw in the woman. This can make the reading frustrating, but think about your own life. Ever hear a friend talk about someone they're dating and they sound amazing, but then you meet them and you're like "What the fuck, who is this joker?" Yeah, we've all been there, whether we've been with the joker that we couldn't fully see until it was too late, or we've met the joker that someone we know has really been into.

It's frustrating. As it is in Roquentin's account.

Roquentin also talks at some length about The Self-Taught Man, a man who seems terribly interesting on the outside - he wants to know everything, he visits the library every day with the sole purpose of reading through the entire alphabet, he seems the kind of person we all (as readers) want to know! Until (view spoiler)

I've read some reviews wherein people complain about the boring nature of the book. It's a journal! It's one of the most realistic literary journals I've read in a long time. Journals are boring, guys, they're filled with minutiae that amuse only the journal-keeper themselves. Roquentin wrote what happened in his life - the dull and the interesting or philosophical - but that is the purpose. That is everyone's lives. We all lead dull and sometimes interesting lives. Occasionally we ask ourselves what is the point of living our life the way we do, or why do we have to live a certain way we do (the way society wants us to), all of which is existentialism.

It doesn't mean you have to like it. It worked for me, though. ...more

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Jul 13, 2017 Heather(Gibby) rated it it was ok

Shelves: 1001-to-read

This was a very difficult read for me to get through. I decided to only go at it in very short sections at a time or else my eyes would just glaze over.

I did not have a good grasp of "existentialism" going in, and having read this, I have only a very basic understanding. I highlighted a few passages for further review, but as of right now, I just have a great feeling of relief that it is over, and really who really cares what I think about this book? ...more

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Jul 11, 2017 Joey Anderson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

First of all, I would not recommend this novel, for I did not find either the plot, the characters, or the themes interesting. No character is sympathetic. At times, there is some interest, but it is only cursory. Overall, the novel is boring.

For those readers who desire to read a novel with “existentialist” themes, I would recommend Camus, Dostoevsky, or Kafka. Sartre’s plays are good as are his short stories.

Now, to be fair, Roquentin could be going mad, for his descriptions are quite hallucin First of all, I would not recommend this novel, for I did not find either the plot, the characters, or the themes interesting. No character is sympathetic. At times, there is some interest, but it is only cursory. Overall, the novel is boring.

For those readers who desire to read a novel with “existentialist” themes, I would recommend Camus, Dostoevsky, or Kafka. Sartre’s plays are good as are his short stories.

Now, to be fair, Roquentin could be going mad, for his descriptions are quite hallucinatory and strange. When he discovers his “existence” while pondering and touching the root of a chestnut tree, Sartre seems to show he is having a nervous breakdown. Now while that might sound interesting, the presentation of his madness is not.

He is anti-social and the only people he is drawn to in this novel seem just as socially isolated and strange as he is. The “Self-Taught Man” is either a child sexual abuser or an exhibitionist (I’m not quite sure from the text), but his behavior exiles him from society as much as Roquentin exiles himself. The meeting with his girlfriend Anny whom he has not seen in four years (strange relationship) is only one of accusation and dislike of the other, and I wonder why these two ever had a relationship to begin with. Anny certainly does not like him, and all Roquentin really notices about her is her physicality, in which she has gained weight. Anny is as strange and unlikeable as Roquentin is.

These interactions with these two characters make up only a small part of the novel. The rest of the story is Roquentin’s ramblings about his existence.

However, the secondary and tertiary (walk-ons) characters do not perceive him as mad, which seems strange.

For the most part, this self-involved man only thinks of how he exists and how he loathes his existence (Nausea). He continually criticizes others for not recognizing they exist (that they should find themselves revolting). Now to find oneself loathsome would be interesting here and there, but 200 pages of self-loathing doesn’t cut it for me.

I read this novel forty years ago and found it boring. I thought the passage of time might change my outlook, but it did not. Forty years ago I thought I was missing something; now I know I did not. ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: france

Another one of these "I should have read this when I was an angsty teenager" books. That said, I appreciated the realism of the diary entries, and I was fascinated by the narrators dread of bodily functions. ...more

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