Rating: 
Summary: Brace yourself for Existentialism 101
Review: Existentialism is a horribly broad term that has lumped together quite a motley collection of ideas. From Dostoyevsky and Kierkegaard's God-infused to Nietzsche's Godless scrutiny of individual struggle, existentialism remains a vague caption for all thoughts concerned with man's experience, alone and in a mass. So what did Jean-Paul Sartre, once described as the most brilliant Frenchman of the twentieth century, have to offer to modern inquisitors? In Nausea, his first major work, Sartre promulgates his own creeds through the listless eyes of a writer Antoine Roquentin. Like the fictional intellectuals before him, Roquentin finds himself paused and later haunted by the great question of existence. Unable to continue in his historic research on Marquis de Rollebon, Roquentin is seized by a nausea of the mind that ponders the point of existence. In the famous chestnut tree scene, Roquentin confronts the nausea by feeling the strangle on man by the two moieties of life: existence and essence. Sartre explains that essence includes all the physical properties and in my opinion those understood and replicable by science. Existence on the other hand, is purely a product of the cognitive, therefore one either knows he exists or he doesn't. Roquentin experiences the acute prick of his existence and thinks himself freed from the common lot because of his acknowledgement. But trapped in the same pessimistic realm of Nietzsche, Roquentin finds the world a place of terrible voids and he himself unable to take advantage of the freedom of choices. Alone and without a purpose, Roquentin nonetheless chooses an optimistic enough ending by moving to Paris to pursue fiction writing. Unlike other philosophers, Sartre was also a marvelous dramatist and novelist whose craft could be appreciated for its literary value alone. And so lurking behind Roquentin's stream-of-conscious narrative, his dry humor, and caricature-like surroundings is Sartre's contribution which leads straight to the core of existentialism's concern with the individual struggle against isolation in a hostile world.
Rating: 
Summary: Bathos dressed as an Opus magnum...
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: review
Review: excellent book despite the fact it made me paranoid and think i did not exist.
Rating:
Summary: mundanity cure
Review: A striking theme in this book is an attempt to have us see the strangeness and contingency in the mundane existence of things themselves, and how people in general strive in their ambitions as if their whole situation wasn't insane. A rare book that is memorable for its ideas if nothing else.
Rating:
Summary: A book that could have been reduced to 10 pages
Review: "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."
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but frustrating
Review: Although I would not say that I am uninterested in philosophy, it is not a subject to which I have given a great deal of attention. Therefore, I may not be the best audience for this literary explication of existentialism. Having said that, I found Satre's prose frequently evocative, but his hero, Roquentin, was extremely frustrating. Indeed, his bouts of existentialist horror triggered by such everyday realia as chairs, trees, and hands made me wonder whether he was mentally disturbed. Of course, I don't believe that all existentialists are insane, but I do wonder which came first, the chicken or the egg--is this philosophy a clear-eyed look at reality that naturally leads to ennui, or is it a rationale for inaction and fear constructed by highly intelligent depressives? Perhaps Woody Allen said it best: "The mind is the most over-rated organ in the body." If it makes us catatonic with horror at the sight of a tree, then ignorance really is bliss.
Rating:
Summary: an experience which can change your life
Review: I found this book to be one of the toughest to bear, not because it's badly written, but because its search for truth touches the lower depths of existence. It is profoundly significant and tackles subjects that anyone who has thought about existence can identify with. Also, it deserves the chance of being read fully. Most of the critics who've commented seem to miss the point of its finale. What's optimism if we can't bear to look at ourselves? This book does so, and is meant for readers who can stomach truth. It's been pointed out that this is philosophy & not literature: It is a combination of both, as any great book is. Pure literature is fluff, pure philosophy is dense: This book is a wonderful mix of both worlds, taking what's best from each.
Rating:
Summary: Atheistic Existentialism at it's finest
Review: From a master of philosophy, and literary language, a beautifully written and executed piece of philosophical fiction. Truly expounds on the theory of being perpetuated by Sartre throughout his life.
Rating: 
Summary: Dismally bad
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible piece of writing
Review: When I bought this book I could not put it down. The emotions and thoughts that Antoine has very much mirrored the way I felt about life and existence. As a few of the reviewers have pointed out, the whole story is depressing and grim. This is the whole point of the story!!! Life and existence, as the books name suggests, is nauseating and disgusting. The writing style of Jean Paul Sartre is nothing less than breath taking. The anger, the depression, and the fear of existing is captured beautifully in Sartre's writing. Highly recommended if you want to learn and get a feel of the main ideas of existentialism. By the way, as to the question of "If existence is meaningless, why not just kill yourself?" Well, why do people climb mountains if they are just going to come back down? Some people create their own personal purpose and give meaning to their lives through some medium. So, why not kill myself? I suppose it's the same reason Bertrand Russel didn't kill himself: I wish to learn more Mathematics. Anyways, Albert Camus answers this very question with lucid prose in his book "The Myth of Sisyphus."
| 
