Nausea: Week of 2/16

Do you like what you are reading? Why or why not?

Pages: 0-70

     Nausea has left me confused. Not in the way that I don't understand the story--I get that. Normally when I read books, it doesn't take long for me to decide on whether or not I'll like it. That hasn't really happened with Nausea. I started off really liking it. I liked the idea, the style, the descriptions. Then there was that one part that seemed to really make it go down hill, a part that was much more boring than the previous pages by a landslide (all in my opinion). Since then, it feels like the story hasn't fully recovered. While it's bounced back, it hasn't reached the same interesting state that it was in at the beginning. It's disappointing and leaves me not being able to say if I really like it or not.

     The thing I like most about this book is the wording or style of writing: lots of description. Description is a very important part of the book as the main character is describing everything and everyone around him. With this, you hear his opinions and thoughts as he analyzes these people, objects, and feelings. This produces some interesting observations--some interesting quotes. The observations made aren't always positive (I don't think this book even knows what positive is) but some of them are very relevant and leave you feeling very "wow". 

     The book has reminded me of a movie I watched sometime ago: "It's Such a Beautiful Day". The movie was about a man named Bill living a very monotonous life until he finally began to lose his grip on reality and his memory. It seemed like a really happy movie from the title and then it just kind of hits you with Bill. Both this book and this movie deal with the same topic of existentialism. It's great--it's interesting. The observations are being analyzed with the idea of existence on mind, making them extra depressing but also extra interesting. In Nausea, a lot of the focus is on time and what you do in that time (so far).                    

Take this nice Nausea quote with you:

"There are moments when you have the impression that you can do what you want, go forward or backward, that is has no importance; and then other times when you might say that the links have been tightened and, in that case, it's not a question of missing your turn because you could never start again."