Nausea was not that good. In some sense I feel bad saying that, especially when the Amazon tagline is "Sartre's greatest novel — and existentialism's key text." Geez, who am I to say that it was not that good? Well I am me, I exist, and I didn't like it.

The book was okay, I am not saying it was bad. However, for even such a short book, it was too long. There were moments that just dragged on without any point. There were really only a few parts of the book which held the essence of the message. The rest of the book felt like window dressing, a setup just to make room for a couple soliloquies of sorts.

Perhaps I am not refined enough to understand the deep existential meaning here. I would argue that I agree with the basic tenants of existentialism, so it is not a case of my dislike due to disagreement. No, I feel like I understood the point, I took something away, but nonetheless I was not entertained.

That is the point though. The nausea associated with life pervades even these pages. The feeling of existential dread and longing are brought to life. He certainly makes you understand his philosophical perspective through the trials of Roquentin. However, I think that existentialism is better portrayed in a non-fiction sense.

If you want to say you've read "existentialism's key text" then pick this up, otherwise I'd say try The Stranger instead.