La Nausée (Nausea)

[Xin Rong]

Jean-Paul Sartre's novel is featured in season 3, I forget the episode, but Angel is reading this novel prior to 'Amends'. Joss has said that this was a novel that had a profound influence on him, which is obvious in the way that episodes like 'amends' and others seem to be a direct exposition of existentialism. I was just wondering if anyone else had read this novel, and what they though about it, and it's effect on the buffyverse?

 

[Blaze]

I have never read this particular book, but I'm a huge fan of existentialism literature (my all time favourite author is Albert Camus). I'm curious now, I'll try to pick it up, plus I haven't read French literature in a while.

 

[bentjazz]

I read "Nausea" many moons ago. It's really hard to believe Sartre was related to Albert Schweitzer. I'm not impressed with Sartre or "Nausea." Let's not forget Sartre called the murderer and totalitarian idealogue Che Guevara "the most complete human being of our age." If anyone knows anything about Che, then that should tell you all you need to know about Sartre. Like Blaze, I really like Albert Camus and much prefer him to the other noted existentialists of his time: Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Camus is famous for "The Stranger," but my favorite Camus book is "The Fall." To be quite honest, I not only prefer Albert Camus as a writer in contradistinction to Sartre and de Beauvoir, but also as a human being. Whedon, being the overrated hack and product of nepotism that he is, should have pimped existentialist works that weren't penned by pals of humanity's lowest common denominators. That said, existentialism has meant a great deal to me over the years and Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" has helped bring meaning to my life.....

 

[SRMarx]

I read Nausea a couple years ago but didn't really find it that compelling. I feel like there is better existentialist reading out there. As far on any relation to Buffy, I guess I never really considered.

Whedon, being the overrated hack and product of nepotism that he is, should have pimped existentialist works that weren't penned by pals of humanity's lowest common denominators.

But I have to agree that I can think of better examples of existentialists than Sarte...

 

[Xin Rong]

I read "Nausea" many moons ago. It's really hard to believe Sartre was related to Albert Schweitzer. I'm not impressed with Sartre or "Nausea." Let's not forget Sartre called the murderer and totalitarian idealogue Che Guevara "the most complete human being of our age." If anyone knows anything about Che, then that should tell you all you need to know about Sartre. Like Blaze, I really like Albert Camus and much prefer him to the other noted existentialists of his time: Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Camus is famous for "The Stranger," but my favorite Camus book is "The Fall." To be quite honest, I not only prefer Albert Camus as a writer in contradistinction to Sartre and de Beauvoir, but also as a human being. Whedon, being the overrated hack and product of nepotism that he is, should have pimped existentialist works that weren't penned by pals of humanity's lowest common denominators. That said, existentialism has meant a great deal to me over the years and Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" has helped bring meaning to my life.....

True, but Early Sartre and Later Sartre are almost two entirely different people. Sartre moves away from existentialism and into Marxism/communism as he progresses in life. It may not be the best existentialist novel, but it is one of the first, and I don't think it's appropriate to completely dismiss it because Sartre turned into a bit of an idiot as he got older.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I love Camus. I've read "The Stranger" multiple times.

I have read "Nausea", and had forgotten that Angel is reading that book in the show. Neat observation! In relation to the Buffyverse, I'd say that Angel's feelings of self-hatred mirror those of the protagonist, and his struggle to find meaning and come to terms with his existence.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

I myself like Sartre's writings (what I've read at least...Being and Nothingness and excerpts from his novels). I find him more profound than Camus. He has a lot more to say, and he has a fully developed, fully fleshed out philosophy of the human condition and the world. Existentialism would be nothing without his efforts.

Sartre wasn't a bad person by the way. He actively fought in the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II, spoke out often against racism and anti-semitism (and wrote about a book about anti-semitism too), and in his later years was an active political humanitarian.

Nausea seems like a poignant book for Angel to read. Angel was always a man searching for redemption, and the protagonist from Nausea (his name I can't remember, Rosequintin or something like that) eventually finds his redemption in the form of discovering his freedom to create his own meaning. I'm sure Angel could relate to this, because he was struggling to create a meaning for his life after his curse, and to redeem himself from it. The main character from the book is disgusted by himself and his condition (same as Angel) and he suffers from Existential 'anxiety' of choice (Also just like Angel...his need to decide about his future with Buffy, the previous choices he made his whole life long as an evil vampire...although maybe this isn't choice so much, since vampires are usually be nature evil and in a sense they have to act the way they do). Without getting to much into it (I want to keep my post short after all) I think Nausea was just the kind of book that Angel needed to read at the time.