The Age of Reason

by Jean-Paul Sartre

Book Overview

The first novel of Sartre's monumental Roads to Freedom series, The Age of Reason is set in 1938 and tells of Mathieu, a French professor of philosophy who is obsessed with the idea of freedom. As the shadows of the Second World War draw closer -- even as his personal life is complicated by his mistress's pregnancy -- his search for a way to remain free becomes more and more intense.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679738959
• ISBN13: 9780679738954
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Sartre as a Thinker

Mathieu is 33 and obsessed with maintaining his freedom yet achieves it only by his lack of comitment to any cause or person. When Marcelle announces she is pregnant,he feels trapped and desperately tries to raise the money for an abortion. Mixed into this we meet Mathieu's aquaintances, from the misanthropic sociopathic-but beautiful and charming-Daniel to the vapid Ivich whom Mathieu loves.Whilst in the background, almost unnoticed is the threat of war. This is a great book, the first in 'The Roads to Freedom' trilogy.It makes your mind pulse both with its ideas and of the Paris Sartres characters and he himself lived in. The book makes you look at freedom as something all mankind aspires but has little hope of achieving either as an individual or race.All the characters are deluded;caught in prisons one way or another-the freedom of youth-largely vanity and ego based-can only last 'until you're 25' and is doomed by time. Mathieu is only free as he refuses to make a decision or reach 'the age of reason' He fears being ensnared although he admires his friend Brunet who has committed himself to the communist cause rather than the nothingness of Mathieu. Sartre believed you would reach a decision when you reach the age of reason and find freedom in your cause. This is great, mind expanding themes,wonderfully written and truly absorbing. Sartre always perplexed in life with his political leanings and patronage he bestowed. Saul Bellow theorized that Sartre was a communist supporter-despite all the flaws and patently obvoius failings (which surely flew in the face of his ideas)as he feared Europe was going down the communist route and he was afraid to denounce it; fear of the gulag! This maybe so (although Sartre was an active opponant of fascism including when France was occupied-hardly moral cowardice!) or it might be for more childish reasons as communist was a force against America and everything America represented. Maybe Sartre was so anti American owing to Nelson Algren having been bedding his life partner Simone De Beauvoir for a decade...!! The beauty of Sartre is that he leads you to speculate on so many things;he makes you think. This is top drawer literature.

Must read this

The book arrived quickly and in excellent condition. The writing is brilliant and one of the most affecting novels I've read.

Get beyond the image of Sartre with the real thing

It's hard to move oneself past the overwhelming image of the Great Jean-Paul Sartre, but if you're at all interested in getting beyond the pretentious references to existentialism and into the heart of the matter, this novel is an excellent gateway. Sartre addresses a topic the Simone de Beauvoir does in All Men Are Mortal, what does it mean to be really free? As the main character Mathieu deliberates on a lifechanging choice, the scourge of World War II threatens Paris and his way of life. But an inner battle rages, too (apologies for what may be too heavy-handed of a metaphor...) and Mathieu realizes a period of his life is coming to an end, no matter what his choice. The theme Sartre and de Beauvoir have in common? When men and women are free to make their own choices, we must sit helplessy by as they often make the wrong, wrong, wrong ones. Sartre and de Beauvoir both illuminated, to me, the principle that freedom is the goal. The choices humanity makes using that freedom can be devastating, but the option to make devastating choices is an irrefutable aspect of life, and, to my mind, is a very compelling one. I approached this novel by Sartre, after reading Nausea several years ago with some trepidation, but with determination after spending a lot of time on de Beauvoir. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The story was lifelike with a philosopher's vision and view, a slight aloofness that gives the reader a window not only to the life of Mathieu and his circle but also to Sartre's philosophies and carefully worked out beliefs.

Freedom Starts With Sartre

The Age of Reason is one of those rare classics in literture that combine an interesting and readable account with a deep quest for understanding.Sartre has taken the disruptive world of Paris, on the brink of invasion by Germany in 1939, and used this backdrop to debate the meaning of freedom. Obviously the idea of freedom is subjective and Sartre certainly does not presume to have found the answer in absolute terms. He uses the protagonist, Mathieu, as well as the peripheral characters, to examine different view points; albeit, with mixed results. The Age of Reason can certainly be read as an independent novel, but if one is to truly understand Sartre's vision, it will be necessary to read the other works in the trilogy, The Reprieve and The Troubled Sleep. Both are excellent and follow up on the secondary characters that are first introduced in the Age of Reason. The three novels, known collectively as The Roads to Freedom, represent, to me, the most significant analysis of what freedom means to a given individual. It will force the reader to reexamine long cherished views and address their own concept of freedom. If you haven't been introduced to the writings of Sartre, The Age of Reason is an excellent starting point.

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It's always puzzled me that this book gets so little attention when Nausea is so acclaimed -- and even Nausea gets trashed by many of the more academic critics. I read a series of interviews with Sartre at one point, after all of his major books were a ways behind him, and he himself did not seem to consider the Roads to Freedom trilogy of particular significance or importance. I find this puzzling because the Age of Reason is one of the best novels I have ever read. It is more of a story than Nausea (and more of a story than its sequels, from what I've read of them), and, well -- it's just incredible. The psychological accuracy and moral neutrality with which Sartre places himself, and the reader, in each character's shoes, is remarkable; the existential "adventure" of the book is intoxicating, and there are some simply incredible moments. As with anything Sartre writes, it is a bit self-indulged, and the characters will not appeal to everyone, but personally, I found this an incredibly rewarding book; it left me feeling giddy.