No Exit and Three Other Plays

Too many times principles in life are overstated and oversold, as if infallible or as if principles absolutely design the essence of civilization. (Don't they?) With these four plays, the great Sartre demonstrates--sometimes masterfully and other times less so--the limits of Ideals, the roles of conventions, the blinders of conceptual designs to remind us that we are free--we are prisoners of imagination, if we must be prisoners at all, but we can decide to be free mentally at any moment. Yes, it's quite Western, romantic, secular, and abstract; this book is a remnant of a bygone era; etc. But it dares to tell the reader she or he is powerful, and mostly succeeds, which is remarkable on its own, and an empowering message regardless of era.My favorite play was No Exit, followed by The Flies, The Respectful Prostitute, and lastly Dirty Hands, which I found too pedantic and loquacious as a story/play yet philosophically piquant, especially about party politics of the Left. The other three plays were well crafted and mesmerizing; I didn't feel I was being brow-beaten by an Existentialist but invited to reflect on human nature's machinations to auto-correct/direct--they were enlightening. Dirty Hands, however, seemed a thoughtful polemic dressed as a play--not the most overt ever (Waiting for Lefty) but overt enough to wonder about the footnotes that were missing to this essay written as a play. (Was this Sartre's answer to Plato?)Great book! I'd read it again, mostly; I'd recommend it, definitely. In our time, a little Sartre can be the realignment we all need.

Eerie confusing book I had to read for a French literature class. For those reading I hope you understand better than I do. It was a confusing read at times, and required deep thought into the levels of hell.

Sartre makes Existentialism come alive through these plays. The philosophical ideas are made understandable and one does not even have to know that this is an Existentialist work, in other words, the plays stand on their own as interesting and well written. I would have paid the full price just for the one play No Exit. Fantastic stuff - highly recommended.

This book is an answer to a question many people have been avoiding all their lives. And when you finally develop the ability to ask it to yourself, Sartre provides his suggested answer for you, though it may not be the answer you wanted.The premise of the main play, "No Exit", is that many people have chosen to exist in misery, even when the exit to that misery presents itself clearly. For these people, there is "no exit". Their existance is defined by their misery. If they make the concious decision to exit, then they have nothing to live for.All four plays are written in non-pretentious and easy to understand styles, unlike many philisophical writings. They don't require a great deal of effort to read or understand. In fact, they are quite enjoyable and I found myself reading each play many times before moving on to the next one.Don't expect to feel uplifted about the state of humanity while reading these plays, however. Sartre's message about human existance can be a dismal one. It is quite helpful, though, to come to terms with the fact that many of our fellow humans are just puzzled about their lives, and sharing a social existance with these people can be precarious to your own search for meaning.

A classic Sartre work, "No Exit", grouped with three other plays not previously known to me when I first picked up this book many years ago. "No Exit" remains one of my all-time favorites and often Sartre's definition of hell finds its way into my conversations and thoughts.Any fan of mid-20th century existential brilliance will fall in love here. It's like Camus, without the social justice.

I bought this book because I was assigned to read "The Flies" for a class, but after reading that play I had to read more. I have not had time to read "Dirty Hands" yet due to time, but will as soon as I get a chance. The other plays in this book were all excellent, enjoyable reading, but by no means mindless. They all make strong points and have deeper meaning and more undertones than most modern reading material.

The best of the lot is Waiting for Godot, simply put, perfect, some of the best dialogue on the planet.Should be required reading for everyone.

The media could not be loaded. The quality of the book (material) is really low. Horrible cover. So far, the translation is also mot much of a good style either. Hopefully it will get better (I have only read dozen pages yet).