Nausea

Summary

Nausea is a novel by French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, first published in 1938. The main character is Antoine Roquentin, a historian who records his experiences and reflections in a diary. Roquentin lives in the fictional French town of Bouville and experiences acute 'nausea,' a unique physical and metaphysical state triggered by the realization of the absurdity and meaninglessness of existence. The novel is imbued with existentialist ideas, the key one being that existence precedes essence, and that freedom of choice and responsibility for that choice are fundamental to human existence. Through the protagonist's experiences, Sartre explores themes of loneliness, alienation, freedom, and the burden of existence, emphasizing the irreversibility of time and the inevitability of death.