Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre James Wood

Nausea started off as an extension to the essays on existential ideals. It is Jean Paul Sartre’s first published novel. The book is a fictional experience of a man who is struggling to find some meaning to his life and make sense of it. It revolves around the whole concept of existentialism.

Summary of the Book

The story is about the troubled life Antoine Roquentin who is an introspective historian. It also exhibits one of the most influential and important philosophies of our time: existentialism. It is a detail overview of the protagonists struggle in coming to realize that fact that he is a free agent in a world that is devoid of meaning. In this world, he is required to find his own purpose and has to take responsibility for his own actions. The book brings out the anguish and torment of just trying to live in this world.

About Jean Paul Sartre

Jean Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He is recognized as one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology. He was also one of the leading figures in the 20th century French philosophy and Marxism. His works have influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. His relationship with the well-known feminist theorist Simone de Beauvoir is also known. Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 1964 which he refused. He firmly believed that “a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution.”