Review: No Exit and Three Other Plays, by Jean-Paul Sartre

No Exit and Three Other Plays by Jean-Paul Sartre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a collection of four plays by Sartre, and it is an interesting read. The first play, No Exit, is by far the best. It has a great premise, and the conclusion is both funny and deep. It was also great learning that this is the origin of the saying "Hell is other people"! I give this whole book a 4/5 rating just because of this play; if it was only the others, I would give a 3/5 at best.

The second play, The Flies, is a retelling of a Greek myth, and it is very weird.

The third (Dirty Hands) is interesting, it's about revolutionaries during a war (write what you know, I guess ;) ), with a lot of discussion about whether it's ok to commit murder in the name of the revolution. There is a lot of navel gazing, and the women are written weirdly, but it is till interesting.

The last story, The Respectful Prostitute, about racism and racial crimes in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, is disturbing and sad.


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