She raised her kind, ill-favoured face to his. There was in that face an intriguing, almost volutptuous humility that evoked a mean desire to hurt her, to crush her with shame. “When I look at her,” Daniel used to say, “I understand Sadism.” Mathieu kissed her on both cheeks. Enter Ivich A melodramatic element of the story rears itself here, as Sarah suddenly arrives to inform Delarue her Jewish medical professional is leaving for America and won’t do the operation. It’s at this point the concentration camps in operation in Europe are mentioned for the first time in the trilogy, although Delarue passes over this in an attempt to stop his personal information reaching the ears of Ivich. Once Sarah leaves, the two argue, with the young student finally breaching the kiss Delarue had forced upon her. But…’ Mathieu blushed violently. ‘Do you like women too?’ Daniel emitted an odd sniff, and said: ‘Not much.’ Among the others in his circle is his acolyte, Boris (who is having an affair with the nightclub entertainer Lola); the young student from a wealthy family, Ivich, facing her final exams and worried (with good reason) about failing, uncertain about what she can do when the inevitable happens; and the more established Daniel (who would also have the money Mathieu needs, but isn't willing to give it to him). Michel Contat, "General Introduction for Roads of Freedom," in: Jean Paul Sartre, The Last Chance: Roads of Freedom IV, Continuum Books, 2009, p. 195 (reprinting an excerpt from an unpublished 1973 interview).

Feeling connected with the Serguines due to recent events, a bolt of lightning surrounding Lola stuns the three of them. Although Ivich is hungover the next morning and has returned to her petulant ways, she’s simply paranoid about the final exams she’s recently taken and makes a joke she could gain a career as a mannequin. I have a horror of being tight,’ he explained apologetically, ‘I drink, but my whole body revolts against drunkenness.’ Mathieu’s devotion to this philosophy is no secret, with Lola and Boris even openly discussing how Mathieu approaches his life with personal freedom in mind (it’s also what he teaches to his students). The Age of Reason is also a surprisingly indecisive novel: almost none of the characters act decisively.

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He meets Ivich to take her to a museum and show her the works of Gaugin (a French post-impressionist artist). Before meeting her Delarue observes: With some resignation he admits he's reached 'the age of reason' (so the novel's closing lines) -- but it's not a happy place for him. Your age of reason is the age of resignation, and I've no use for it."On and on it goes, as Mathieu reëvaluates his life, his situation, and his relationship with Marcelle.

If read as a standalone novel, the Age of Reason is a brilliant drama played out over a handful of days. In the following books, as part of the Roads to Freedom trilogy, World War II enters the fray.Yes, this is definitely one of the best novels of the 20th century (in my opinion). It’s also my favourite from the trilogy—whilst the Reprieve and Iron in the Soul are profound and moving, there’s a certain unmatchable edge to Age of Reason which is delivered through its detailed analysis of its lead characters.

Boris Serguine is the highly lovable young philosophy student of Mathieu’s who worships his professor. His family is of Russian descent. He is charming, affable, naïve, and romantically fatalistic; he values his youth above all else and early in the novel exclaims his intention to commit suicide at 25 so as not to head into mental and physical decline. Chapter 3 entitled "Please Insert 1: 1945, Jean Paul Sartre", in The Last Chance: Roads of Freedom IV, by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Craig Vasey. Continuum Books, 2009, p. 23. The Age of Reason is the first in a trilogy of novels written by Jean-Paul Sartre that take place in France around the time of World War II. I have yet to read the second and third novels in the series – The Reprieve and Troubled Sleep– but after finishing this first installment, I am eager to get started on them. Other than Nausea, which is one of my favorite books of all time, The Age of Reason is the only one of Sartre’s fictional works that I have read. Nonetheless, I have reached the conclusion that Sartre is among the most masterful writers of philosophical fiction. I was absolutely captivated by The Age of Reason. Mathieu walked out on to the Boulevard Montparnasse, he was glad to be alone. Behind him, Boris and Ivich would soon be whispering together, reconstituting their unbreathable and precious world. But he did not care. All around him, and in full force, there were his anxieties of the day before, his love for Ivich, Marcelle’s pregnancy, money, and then, in the centre, a blind spot—death. He gasped several times, passing his hands over his face and rubbing his cheeks. ‘Poor Lola,’ he thought, ‘I quite liked her.’

Success!

He has a huge amount of admiration for Mathieu, but still doesn’t fancy achieving any grand age of any sort. Of older people, he notes: If you enjoyed The Age of Reason, you might like Sartre's Nausea, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. He finds a reliable but pricey abortionist, but that just increases the time-pressure (the doctor is headed abroad shortly) -- and, of course, that desperate hunt for the money helps keep his mind off the real questions he should be facing, but which he doesn't seem very comfortable entertaining.

According to Hayman, one reason for Sartre's unfinished projects was his restlessness: when Sartre "worked at long-term projects, it was tarnished by ambivalence. Other work would be clamoring for his time, and simultaneously he would feel guilty about enjoying words instead of taking action." [25] Simone de Beauvoir is quoted as saying, "Without having abandoned the idea of a fourth volume, he always found work that needed his attention more." [26] The Age of Reason only concerns a handful of days, I should point out, during which time personal freedom is the main theme established. Boris reappears throughout the novel adding a cheerful, youthful edge to proceedings. In typically chipper mood, ruminating on where his life is at in 1938, he’s planning to steal a book from a shop in an attempt to prove his metal.

Conceptions of Madness in the Middle Ages

Michel Contat, in his "General Introduction for Roads of Freedom" in: Jean Paul Sartre, The Last Chance: Roads of Freedom IV, Continuum Books, 2009, p. 196. It’s clear his brother has been waiting for such a moment to try and bring Mathieu down a level. “Your whole life is built upon a lie”, he begins: Marcelle Duffett is his mistress, a woman uncertain about her position in life and who has seemingly fallen into a convenient routine with Mathieu. Upon becoming pregnant, she’s clearly in two minds to keep the baby and comes to despise Delarue for wanting to rid it from her life. The half-drunk man suggests they head off to wax lyrical in a Parisian café over drinks, but Delarue turns him down (to his immediate regret).