Nausea

novel by Sartre

Also known as: “La Nausée”

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Nausea, first novel by Jean-Paul Sartre, published in French in 1938 as La Nausée. It is considered Sartre’s fiction masterwork and is an important expression of existentialist philosophy.

Nausea is written in the form of a diary that narrates the recurring feelings of revulsion that overcome Roquentin, a young historian, as he comes to realize the banality and emptiness of existence. As the attacks of nausea occur more frequently, Roquentin abandons his research and then finds and loses his few friends. In an indifferent world, without work, love, or friendship to sustain him, he must discover value and meaning within himself.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.