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Jean-Paul Sartre
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The Wall: (Intimacy) and Other Stories (New Directions Paperbook) Paperback – January 17, 1969

by Jean-Paul Sartre (Author), Lloyd Alexander (Translator)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 154 ratings
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One of Sartre’s greatest existentialist works of fiction, The Wall contains the only five short stories he ever wrote. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the title story crystallizes the famous philosopher’s existentialism.

'The Wall', the lead story in this collection, introduces three political prisoners on the night prior to their execution. Through the gaze of an impartial doctor―seemingly there for the men's solace―their mental descent is charted in exquisite, often harrowing detail. And as the morning draws inexorably closer, the men cross the psychological wall between life and death, long before the first shot rings out. This brilliant snapshot of life in anguish is the perfect introduction to a collection of stories where the neurosis of the modern world is mirrored in the lives of the people that inhabit it . This is an unexpurgated edition translated from the French by Lloyd Alexander.
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  1. Print length
    144 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    New Directions
  4. Publication date
    January 17, 1969
  5. Dimensions
    5.4 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0811201902
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0811201902
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Leaves Lady Chatterley’s Lover asleep at the post."
― Punch

About the Author

Jean-Paul Sartre was a prolific philosopher, novelist, public intellectual, biographer, playwright and founder of the journal Les Temps Modernes. Born in Paris in 1905 and died in 1980, Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964―and turned it down. His books include Nausea, Intimacy, The Flies, No Exit, Sartre’s War Diaries,Critique of Dialectical Reason, and the monumental treatise Being and Nothingness.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Directions; 3rd edition (January 17, 1969)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0811201902
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0811201902
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.5 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 154 ratings

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Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

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Novelist, playwright, and biographer Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) is widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. His major works include "No Exit," "Nausea," "The Wall," "The Age of Reason," "Critique of Dialectical Reason," "Being and Nothingness," and "Roads to Freedom," an allegory of man's search for commitment, and not, as the man at the off-licence says, an everyday story of French country folk.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
154 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Scáth
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2014
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I love this book because of its creepy pre-Film Noir darkness based in Existential nausea. Want to be seriously spooked? Buy it. Read it.
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nica
4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy, and well written
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2017
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The first story was my favorite. The last one was my least favorite, because the way Sartre dragged out his character development felt too long for what I expected from a "short story". This book is meant for college-aged and above readers. Not a light right, either. But very well constructed and had me thinking deeply about the psyche of the characters.
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Nope
5.0 out of 5 stars Not growing a mustache.
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2013
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It captured the pitfalls of intimacy as the best relationship of life thus far fell apart. The mention of "Blue Skies" was uncanny.
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Philey
3.0 out of 5 stars Ugh
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2014
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Textbook for class. Some good stuff in their. Kinda expensive though. I only used it a few times and wish i rented it.
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Fleurdepavot
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2014
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Excellent condition.
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Purchaser
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a keeper.
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2015
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Absolutely loved this book and plan on rereading it in the years to come.
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Glenn Russell
5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Existentialism
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2013
My focus is on one of the book's five pieces - The Wall. This existentialist story has the feel of a film shot in stark black and white; the prose is as hard boiled as it gets, told in first-person. The opening scene takes place in a large bare room with white walls where the narrator, Pablo Ibbieta, a man we can visualize with a thin, chiseled face, slick back hair and looking a bit like Albert Camus or Humphrey Bogart - a visualization in keeping with the tone of black and white film - is interrogated, and, along with two other men, sentenced to be shot dead. The condemned are taken to a cellar with bench and mats, a room shivering cold and without a trace of warmth or humanity. The story unfolds here in the cellar room that's hard and dank and ugly. Absurdity and despair, anyone?

Sartre has us live through the evening and night with Pablo and the two other convicted men: Tom, who has a thick neck and is fat around the middle (Pablo imagines bullets or bayonets cutting into his flesh), and Juan, who is young and has done nothing, other than being the brother of someone wanted by the authorities. We watch as Pablo and Tom and Juan turn old and gray; we smell urine when Tom unconsciously wets his pants; we hear Tom saying how he heard men were executed by being run over by trucks to save ammunition. A doctor comes in and offers cigarettes and asks if anyone wants a priest. No one answers. Pablo falls asleep and wakes, having no thought of death or fear - what he is confronting is nameless; his reaction is physical - his cheeks burn and his head aches. Meanwhile, the doctor, referred to as the Belgian by Pablo, takes Juan's pulse and writes in his notebook. All is clinical; all is calculating. The cold penetrates - the doctor looks blue. Pablo sees that he himself is drenched in sweat. Sartre has written philosophical works such as Being and Nothingness where he deals with the meaninglessness of life and the reality of death in conceptual terms. In this story, his ideas are given flesh and blood.

The core of this story is everyone dealing with their own death. Tom talks so he can recognize himself --- talk as a way of anchoring his sense of self in the world. He says something is going to happen he doesn't understand: death is a blank for Tom. And also for Pablo, who observes the doctor entered the cellar to watch bodies, bodies dying in agony while still alive. Pablo remembers living as if immortal and reflects he spent his life counterfeiting eternity but he understood nothing although he missed nothing. Meanwhile, Tom touches the wooden bench as if touching death. Now that Pablo is looking at things through the lens of death, objects appear less dense -- several hours or several years are all the same when you have lost the illusion of being eternal. Pablo feels a horrible calm, a distance from his body; being with his body feels as if he is tied to an enormous vermin. Feeling your body as an enormous vermin - what disgust and alienation. Just in case you are wondering if this is existentialism - this is existentialism.

The Doctor lets everyone know it is 3:30. At the mention of the time, Juan loses it and become hysterical but Pablo simply wants to die cleanly. After some time, the guards come and take away Tom and Juan. Pablo hears shots fired out in the yard and wants to scream, but rather gritts his teeth and pushes his hands in his pockets to stay clean. What does it mean to die cleanly? We are not given anything more specific. Pablo is taken to the first floor where he is given a chance to live by revealing the whereabouts of one Ramon Gris. What happens from this point offers a twist, a twist, that is, for a tale soaking in absurdity, dread, alienation and death. Please order a copy of this book and read The Wall. You will be chilled; you will have an existentialist experience, you just might laugh so hard at the end you will start to cry.
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Arnold Layne
5.0 out of 5 stars A Mesmorizing Journey. Extreme Psychological Insight
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2000
"The Wall and other short stories" is a triumph in literature. Each story explores the depths of human thought and reason through an existential point of view. Each story can be interpreted different by all readers, therefore making this a great book for discussion.
"The Wall" is the first story presented. It consumes the reader because of its brilliant writing style. The story is narrated by a man named Pablo Ibbieta, who is in a jail cell with 2 others awaiting execution the following morning. Every event that transpires that particular night is analyzed almost too thoroughly thus leaving the reader in a trance. I wont get into it too deeply, but believe me, this story is worth reading...i guarentee it will have to be read again. After finishing the story, I felt as though nothing mattered. Who cares if the dishes were not washed, who cares if I would be late for work. Believe me, this story will have a profound impact on the way you think. Don't be surprised if you have a new appreciation for life. This story enlightens the mind.
Another great story from this book is called "Erostratus". Erostratus was a character who wanted to be famous, so he burned down the temple of Ephesus, which was one of the 7 wonders of the world. This is the central symbol of the story, the quest for glory. It also brings up an interesting point when the narrator asks one of his colleagues "Who built Ephesus?" and the colleauge did not know, he only knew who burned it. "Erostratus" in short is one mans decent into madness because of his quest to be remembered. The ending of "Erostratus" is filled with suspense and makes your heart beat in fear. It serves as a grim reminder that there are people of this type, and we should be prepared at any time for them to strike.
There are also 3 other stories, that being "The Room", "Intimacy", and "The Childhood of a Leader", which also draw the reader inside the workings of the mind through an existential window (ie: we are all here by accident, man is condemned to choose).
In short, these stories are all perfect, and leave the reader with a feeling of enlightment. Sartre is an extremely intelligent and clever writer. This is evident in these short stories. So turn off the television, buy this book, and start questioning your existence, you owe it to yourself. Besides, they are short stories, so you will be able to get through at least one a day...that isnt much to ask considering the benefits you will reap by reading them.
47 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

FQ
5.0 out of 5 stars Great work by Sartre
Reviewed in India on April 1, 2022
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This collection of stories is a great work of Sartre. Sartre was a great writer
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good author of
Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2017
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arrived quickly. Good author of course
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I. DORKING-CLARK
5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Back
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2010
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I read this when I was a young man of nineteen tender years, mainly because I thought I ought to. All my peer group were reading it; studying philosophy at University; pretending to have more intelligence than they were gifted with. I had to join the throng. That was too many years ago for me to tell, but I accidentally lost my copy (Of course, it was accidental; one doesn't lose a book deliberately) but have retained many of the images ever since. Now I have found this copy on Amazon. Welcome home Book. The stories are still stunning, frightening, claustrophobic and decadently evocative: each is a masterpiece in itself. I couldn't be happier with finding an old friend.
5 people found this helpful
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P. Ronayne
4.0 out of 5 stars Early Sartre
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2020
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Sartre’s only collection of short fiction was written just before WW2 and reflects an important time in his writing oeuvre. These pieces are bitingly viscous as only Sartre could be. ‘The Wall’ is a poignant, at times harsh treatment of men condemned to be executed the following morning during the Spanish Civil War. It’s the rest of the collection that really brings out the greater Sartre. Existential, anti Bourgeois and sexually decadent his portrayal of Paris and it’s occupants is spot on.
A fine introduction to Sartre’s early fiction, not for the faint hearted. Gets better with repeated readings.
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5 Below
5.0 out of 5 stars read it once, read it four times
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2016
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This is such a great book, the stories are demanding in terms of engaging emotionally and thoughtfully- and extremely rewarding if you are open to both
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