The Library Annex

‘It’s true, it’s really true: I have attained the age of reason.’

I will not attempt to explain the age of reason, nor will I attempt to explain existentialism. My attempt would simply dishonor the beauty of this book. Rather, I will articulate my thoughts and reactions to the story, the characters and the writing. I do commend Henri Peyre’s analysis of existentialism in this edition’s introduction; as it provides brilliant context for the thoughts and behaviors of the characters within The Age of Reason according to the tenets of existentialism. My own familiarity with the philosophy – beyond the cliche phrase “existential crisis” and vague recollections from college philosophy classes – was lacking and this book articulates the ideas better than any classroom lecture or academic treatise can muster. But I won’t set myself up to fail in trying to regurgitate them here.

This book is beautiful. For those with a passive awareness of his contributions to global culture, Jean-Paul Sartre the Philosopher overshadows Jean-Paul Sartre the Artist. But the Artist immediately takes center-stage and masterfully composes a work with value outside academic halls with no need for bolstering from philosophical study. Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Stein can only marvel at Sartre’s ability to seamlessly flow between the actual happenings within the novel and the thoughts and patterns of the characters’ thought processes and moods while still removing himself, as the author, from the telling. French romantics envy the infusion of poetic language and veiled symbolism within a story about a new kind of catharsis. The novel itself becomes an act of existentialism rather than just a lecture about it.

The novel expounds on a particular challenge in Mathieu’s life. Alongside Boris, Ivich, Lola and Daniel, one might say Mathieu’s challenge is all too common for unsettled adults. And yet Sartre does not simply focus on what happens, but rather on how the circumstances challenge and develop Mathieu’s understanding of his Self and how he learns to live with that understanding. He centralizes his motivations on understanding who he is rather than actually solving the challenge. Right and wrong be damned, how would he imbibe the resolution as a development of his Self and an actualization of his freedom? Some readers may find Mathieu’s approach to the challenge uncomfortable along with his understanding of freedom when compared to how we generally evaluate responsibility and happiness. In essence, Mathieu’s every choice must be self-propelled in a world that continuously tries to take control, a bildungsroman fleshed out as a sparring match between our Selves and external circumstances as well as forced acceptance of worldly morality. And one wonders if people are doomed to lose that conflict and succumb to those pressures and suffer the imprisonment of cooperating with the external world. The reader might grapple with the circumstances of Mathieu’s challenge, how to resolve it with a circumstantial outcome that will result in a happy life, but Mathieu only cares about what that resolution would mean for his identity and understanding of his Self.

The novel compiles various existential themes, not least of which is a new definition of freedom. Boris and Ivich value their youth above all else but live as ex-pats in fear of returning to their origins, as if the Self can only truly thrive within a pocket between one’s roots and maturity defined by acquiescence to external circumstances; a bliss of existing beyond the influences of those roots and a stage of mature obligations to world circumstances. Sartre acknowledges that the moral engine of Right and Wrong drives those mature obligations. During encounters with Daniel, he pivots ever so slightly into religious language – “archangel” and “devil” – as if Daniel oppressively challenges Mathieu to allow himself to be propelled by that engine rather than enjoy the freedom of propelling his own Self.

This work challenges the reader with its ideas, serves the academic with its philosophy, and honors the poet in its composition. Again, this book is beautiful.