Anyone read much of his fiction?
Nausea? Roads to Freedom?
What do you think?
I am currently reading "The Reprive" book two of the "Roads to Freedom" trilogy (well actually there was a fourth book, but Sartre only wrote two chapters then did something else).
The Roads to Freedom Trilogy is set in France around the time of the 2nd World War.
The first book in the trilogy, "The Age of Reason", set in 1938, before WW2 and with Communism on the rise, is the best book I think he has written (for some reason Nausea, while being good, never really reached me). I love the narrative style, the way he flows in and out from Third Person to 1st person detailing the characters thoughts so perfectly.
Mathieu Delarue our main character is faced with a dilemma, he needs 4000 Francs for an abortion for his mistress Marcelle. (And if he can't find it he may have to marry her, bringing together his sex life and his social life which he has always managed up until now to keep seperate allowing himself some personal freedom).
The novel introduces us to one of the most brilliantly written female characters ever- Ivich who is very hard to describe because she has so many dimensions to her.
Also in this novel is the character of Daniel, a homosexual who hates himself, is it because he refuses to accept who he is (Sartre considers homosexuality to be a self imposed choice incidentally).
This book also seems to show case Existentialism better than Nausea did in my opinion.
The Reprieve is good albeit confusing, with Sartre using a different, sometimes confusing narrative style, switching from place to place, person to person every other sentence, making it hard to keep track of where you are. And some chapters are a hundred pages long. In this novel, set over seven days in September 1938 France is waiting to see whether or not the Second World War will be declared, the threat of war, of being condemned is all over this book, and while the montage sequence is hard to follow at times, it buolds up a huge picture of the people of France, showing their thoughts and feelings and hopes under the threat of war.
Matthieu is called up... But what happens next is in the third novel "Iron in the Soul" which I haven't read yet.
Nausea, I just found really depressing, although well written, especially in the Library scene at the end with the Autodictat. The end I liked though, the way it all just fizzled out after his seeing Anny. I identify a lot with Roquentin, but found some parts of the book really boring, like when he walks around the streets or art galleries. |
