Just read this brilliant little book. It's a riveting read that's littered with philosophical revelations. Sartre sets up fictional situations in order to express his existential ideas. I think he did a great job although the fictional plot is always secondary to his philosophy. I found it an incredibly beautiful read from a man with a superbly inquisitive and penetrating mind:
The true sea is cold and black, full of animals; it crawls under this thin
green film made to deceive human beings. [People] all round me have let
themselves be taken in: they only see the thin film, which proves the
existence of God. I see beneath it.
Nausea.
This very short story is one of my favourites. I've read it several times. It's about the struggling artist and how trying to be creative can adversly affect ones health and well being. Mann offers hope by suggesting that the artist should find a balance between creativity and living and not locking oneself away, spending endless late nights alone with a pouch of tobacco.
This is a great read, very dynamic and surreal. It draws you in in a plausible way and then you find yourself in a dreamlike world. I thought it one of his best stories.
I've just finished reading this book and I must say it's the best novel I've read. Prior to this, my favourite author was Kafka. Has anyone else read Nausea? Let me know what you think.
To me, Gregor's metamorphosis is a metaphor for mans existential suffering in a world that doesn't understand itself or others, that's to say, a rejection of mans ambigious nature which he himself hardly controls as an irrational, superflous being.