French Classic

Primeiro livro da trilogia "Os Caminhos da Liberdade"[Les Chemins de la liberté]

2618 The Age of Reason, by Jean-Paul Sartre translated from the French by Eric Sutton (read 18 Jun 1994) This book was published in 1945 and is laid in Paris in 1938. Mathieu is a professor whose mistress has become pregnant. The whole book revolves around this situation. The book's blurb describes it as "the first great existentialist novel' and "a brilliant portrayal of decadence and amorality." It is not a fun book to read, and no one can feel any sympathy with the characters. I will not read the next two books of the trilogy of which this book is the first. I have no admiration for Sartre, notwithstanding that he was awarded the Nobel prize, which he declined. ( )

I found this slow and hard work at the start, I was bored and frustrated with the characters, all of whom are fairly easy to dislike. But towards the end it really gathered pace and became far more compelling. I liked Daniel's machinations and meddling. ( )

Came to this as a teenager after watching BBC serialisation. Decided it was written about me (apart obviously from the fact it was about a Frenchman) with the paralytic indecision exhibited etc. One of the few books I have that is underlined and annotated. An essential book I think for anyone interested in how we deal with the human condition. ( )