Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful and interesting
Review: I have to say that I believe that this is surely one of the finest evocation of existentialist torment ever put to paper. The story is that of a lonely man in a small town where there's nothing for him to do except question if there is any real meaning to his life. This leads to some wonderful descriptive passages which bring to mind such moments of torment in everybody's lives. The story is not exactly up to much but that is of little importance since the point of the book is very different to most books. This is a philosophical novel and, therefore, it is mainly meant to put across the author's philosophical beliefs. It's not quite Dostoevsky but it does nonetheless have much to recommend it. It is a bit depressing though when you begin yourself to wonder what's the point of it all. Although you really have to ask yourself: " If Sartre really thought all of this, why did he bother to write the book in the first place?" Everybody should read this book, as long as they're not fans of Maeve Binchy or John Grisham.
Rating: 
Summary: dissappointing and often drab
Review: I must say that i found this book to be rather dissappointing. I had previously read only a single quote from this book in the introduction to Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" about the main character describing, quite eloquently, the saliva in his mouth. However, after reading "Nausea", this remains my favorite scene, as breif as it may be. This story is written as the diary/ journal of a particular man. Although there are interesting themes and ideas in this book, keep in mind that this is supposed to be passed off as a work of literature and not a work of philosophy. Unfortunately, unlike some of Sartre's other literary works that have some spice of livelihood in the writing, such as "The Wall" or "The Words", i found the writing style of this book drab. Although it is relatively short, i had trouble getting through "Nausea". I think that my pain problem with the text is that i had the impression that "Nausea" was written for the sole purpose of Jean-Paul's desire to express his philosophical ideals. Now, this is not to say that many, if not all, books are written with some general theme that the author wishes to get across to her readers. Yet, in most cases, this "philosophical" significance is implicit to the work itself. For example, Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer" obviously advocates a passionate existence (he goes so far as to say that God is so bored with us that he is getting ready to replace us with a new, more exciting species), yet this theme is carried within the words and the sentences, it is not the explicit meaning of the sentences themselves--the artistic quality comes first, and literature is art. Although this might be the case for somebody who is not familiar with Sartre's philosophy and philosophy in general, for somebody who has read Sartre's philosophy and knows his philosophical roots (such as myself), each scene really becomes just an expression of this with little or no consideration to artistic quality. Sartre is not content to let the main character implicitly reveal philosophical themes; rather, there is a certain mold that Sartre has concieved and which he tries desperately to fit this character into (for example, there are scenes that apparently serve no purpose but to express Sartre's less than favorable attitude towards the bourgeoisie). Overall, i went into this book with high hopes and soon realized that it was an attempt by Sartre to pass off his philosophy through a literary medium.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone has to give their lives a meaning
Review: 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".
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Speachless.
Review: I was recommended this book by a my highschool teacher. I came into the book a bit intimidated and unsure of the intellectual capacity needed. Surprisingly I picked it up immediately and understood everything that Roquentin felt. It's the same feeling as if when you repeat a word over and over again to the point that it no longer sounds like a word. Existentialism is a strange feeling of confusion and loneliness. You begin to question everything around you actually experience a nauseating pit in your stomach. On any level, the book, regardless of literary criticism, moved me deeply. I found myself, every ten pages or so, underlining Sartre's mind-boggling descriptions. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Describes What Its Like
Review: For those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. An easy read, short, mildly amusing. If you have lived with the outlook he describes, you will be (perhaps) reassured that you are not alone (even though you in fact are). If you are a stranger to the outlook he describes, then you may at least gain some empathy for those borderline schizophrenics who stare at you on the subway. Personally, I would like to see an analysis of this book's debt to the French Surrealist 'movement', as it has always seemed to me to be derivative of it (in a 'good' way).
Rating:
Summary: the Atheistic Outsider
Review: This book, "La Nausea," is Sartre's forerunner to "Being and Nothingness: A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology." The narrator, Antoine Roquentin, is not satisfied by life. He has the sensation of "who am I and what is my purpose?" This apprehension cannot be reduced to politics, economy, or the environment even: it runs deeper. We call it 'existentialism' : dealing as it does with human individual reality, personal freedom, and the maxim of Kierkegaard that "truth is subjectivity." "La Nausea" is cynical at best. Sartre shows that human life is delusion: man is hollow. A 'useless passion.' Man avoids himself. In the place of this he has the trappings of other people (being-for-others): "Hell-is other people!" Religion, too, is for Sartre illusory. Man, he says, does not seek God. Man very simply WANTS TO BE GOD. Roquentin of all people fears what he calls mortality. But as I said elsewhere, Roquentin does not bother to consider the evidence for survival. He wants the 'here and now' but cannot find meaning there. He wants to know what change is all about. Along the way, though, his 'conclusion' is awfully negative. I however recommend the book because the intelligence of it is extraordinarily high. I just could not stand the constant negativity. No philosopher has a sound basis for cynicism. And, if you don't believe me, read Viktor E. Frankl and Colin Wilson. Initially, then, I found Sartre's defeatism intolerable. And the more I read of Colin Wilson, I saw more ablely the mistakes of Sartre. The book may be brilliantly written, but you know there is something wrong with Sartre when he describes wrinkled necks of old people, or sagging breasts of middle-aged women!
Rating:
Summary: you should read this
Review: simply put, you should read this. i don't care who you are or what your background is; if you can think, if you can feel, you will be affected.
Rating:
Summary: Meaningful Enough To Review
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Epitomizing The Existential Pit
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: what was the point?
Review: 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....
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