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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freedom Starts With Sartre, January 21, 2000
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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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
In the immortal words of Jean-Paul Sartre, "Die gopher!", November 5, 2004
Jean-Paul seems like such a likeable character. Especially towards his later years, when he became quite politically active in anti-colonial issues. But a lot of his early work is inconsistent. This novel, the first of a trilogy, was written leading up to and during the second world war, and is a compelling portrait of a parisian bourgeois as the shadows of fascism grew longer. This bourgeois professor, mathieu, fancies himself a prime actor in his own life, a man free to act as he chooses because he doesn't have any illusions. But that is his worst illusion. He is 35 years old and acts like a modern spoiled american university student. He can't commit to anything, whether it be to head to spain to fight against franco, marry his pregnant mistress or demand that she have an abortion, or act decisively enough to win the heart of his OTHER girlfriend, a spoiled early 20's russian emigre.
SO the whole novel passes with us watching these spoiled bourgeois lunk-heads wander around and do nothing with all their vaunted freedom.
But That's the point. As you get into the trilogy more, you see that mathieu's problem is that his life is unbearably light, to steal from Kundera here. And it is Kundera's "unbearable lightness of being" that provides a great insight into what Sartre is getting at here. Our freedom as human beings comes into play when we make choices, not avoid them.
So, I recommend this book, but stick it out because this first volume is tough at times. The characters herein are all fools. But they are all learning to act, and as Hitler draws closer, you can see they now know that they will HAVE to make a choice in the near future.
And after you read these three volumes, read Kundera's book, which is about a lot of the same issues but is a lot more humane and sexy too. Say what you want about Sartre but he wasn't really a sexy writer. In fact he kind of reminds me of wallace shawn in "manhattan." But that's another story.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
what is freedom?, November 24, 2004
the age of reason is the 1st book in a trilogy, roads to freedom. i have not yet read the next two books, but after this one, i plan to. this is an excellent novel.
it is a thinking man's book not an action thriller. it's concepts are existential in nature and deal specifically with the concept of freedom.
the story, which covers only a few days in the the life of character mathieu in 1938 france, deals with mathieu's obsession with his personal freedom. he has just been informed of the unwanted pregnancy of his girlfriend. i personally did not see the pending war as a significant element in the story. it is there, but does not drive the quest for freedom. this is most likely picked up in the later novels. as mathieu searches for funds to abort the child, we meet his friends. all of them have hidden personal problems of their own. the results of this quest and the resolution of his problem make up the storyline.
the interesting issue is the understanding of freedom. what does mathieu think about it in the beginning and how does that change as he reaches the age of reason.
the story is best summed up in mathieu's comment near the end:
"i don't know what i would give to do something irrevocable."
this is a book that raises amazing questions and has the potential of changing your life.
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by Jean Paul Sartre
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