He was a leading figure in 20th century French philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. Roquentin's efforts to come to terms with life give Sartre the opportunity to dramatize the tenets of his Existentialist creed.

Nausea features a French writer, Antoine Roquentin, who is horrified at his own existence, ruthlessly cataloging his every feeling and sensation, resulting in an overpowering feeling of nausea which 'spread at the bottom of the viscous puddle, at the bottom of our time, the time of purple suspenders and broken chair seats it is made of wide, soft instants, spreading at the edge, like an oil stain.' Nausea seeps into your mind while reading this book, and makes you extremely uneasy.Join the Seward Park Library for a Classics Book Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre's first novel Nausea (1938). A canonical work of existentialism philosophy and, according to Sartre himself, one of his best books. Our narrator’s loneliness, his realizations are ours as well, and it doesn’t take you much time before you understand that this book is unforgettable. The sum of it is this, that life itself is pretty meaningless. I enjoyed his opinions and observations about sexual relationships as well, and honestly, they were beyond my expectations. There are moments in this book when you laugh out loud at the observations Sartre portrays of the strange world around him. Written in a diary-like format, Nausea is not your typical existentialist novel.

“I want to leave, to go somewhere where I should be really in my place, where I would fit in… but my place is nowhere I am unwanted.” Existentialism, according to Wikipedia is a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

What came next was a shock- is this a book about my life? I am sure whoever reads Nausea will feel the same because a sense of existentialism fills all of our lives whether we are conscious of it or not. Brushing the dust off, I sat down on an adjacent chair and flipped it open. A layer of dust had settled on it, signifying how no one had read it for quite a long time. I happened to find Nausea last year nestled in a pile of books unread for a long time in my college library. Pyjamas are Forgiving, But This Book Is Unforgettable!

Roquentin nausea