La morte nell'anima

Les Chemins de la Liberté #3

by Jean-Paul Sartre, Giorgio Monicelli (Translator), Paolo Caruso (Introduction)

Dal rifiuto giovanile alla scelta militante. La dolorosa maturazione di un intellettuale nella Francia travolta dal nazismo.

Mathieu, il protagonista di La morte nell'anima è un intellettuale coinvolto nella disfatta della Francia, invasa dalle truppe naziste. Soldato contro le proprie convinzioni morali e politiche, non si accontenta di subire la disciplina, di assistere all'interno disfacimento dell'esercito francese, ma continua ad analizzare e programmare ogni suo atto con impotente lucicità. Si accorge così che la guerra cui partecipa è una «falsa guerra» e che lui stesso è solo un simulacro di soldato.

Genres: Fiction, Philosophy, France, Literature, French Literature, Classics, Novels

377 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology). His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution."
Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyles and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, 'bad faith') and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre's introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946), originally presented as a lecture.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, aged nearly 16 I was an observant, Orthodox Jew. I enjoyed the ritual, I enjoyed the scholarship, I submerged myself in the study of Rashi, the Ramban, Talmud and Torah and boys. Then I read Iron in the Soul and the next day I started to think for myself. I've been an existentialist ever since.

I remember that day. It was a Shabbat and I was walking home from the synagogue, nearly three miles, looking for four leaf clovers in the hedgerows. (I have a small talent in being able to find four-leaf clovers which mysteriously I have passed on to my son) and wondering what the shiur would be about. A shiur is a lecture that all the young people would go to on a Shabbat afternoon at the rabbi's house. Served' up with cakes, sweet wine and grape juice it was a lot of fun to listen and debate and maybe hook up with someone interesting. But there was a big row with my mother over lunch and my father went off to the rugby and I hid in my bedroom with Sartre and stayed there until next morning. That was my shiur.

And when I awoke I had a whole new world of literature open to me and began to form my own existentialist philosophy and never again walked home from the synagogue. In fact, I hardly ever went again after that.

I wrote this review because today I found a paper-thin, pressed four-leaf clover in an old book I didn't know I still had

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the core messages of Les Chemins de la Liberté is that you are, more than anything, defined by your actions. Often you do things you didn't expect you'd do, and this can force you to reevaluate your self-image.

In the first volume, Mathieu ends up doing something quite extraordinarily despicable. He doesn't have a high opinion of himself (when we get to listen in on his mental sound-track, he's often thinking je suis un salaud), but he'd never expected that he'd steal a large amount of money from a close friend to pay for his mistress's abortion.

So is he just a salaud, then? Here, World War II has started for real, the Germans have broken through, and they're advancing confidently through France. Resistance is futile. So Mathieu is again surprised when he finds that he's picking up a rifle and heading for the top of the church tower. His girlfriend asks him why the hell he wants to be a hero. He has no idea. But he still does it.

I've wondered several times if this scene didn't inspire the rather similar one near the end of Saving Private Ryan.

[E. G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction

--Iron in the Soul

[م. الماجد · Rating 3 out of 5]

عرفت الاستاذ سارتر بفكره وفلسفته الوجودية قبل ان اتناول هذا الكتاب
ومن صفحات هذا الكتاب تعيي تماما فكره فهو يؤمن بوجود العمل لتجد الفكره وهذا ما حصل
الكتاب هوالجزء الثالث من ثلاثية
لكن لا اعتقد انك بحاجة ان تقرأ الاجزاء السابقة فلسوف تعي الافكار مع رتم القراءة

الكتاب يحتدث و يصف شعور الفرنسيين وخاصة الجنود بعد هزيمتهم امام المانيا، الحزن العميق الذي يظهر بصور غريبة و مفجعة و ربما مضحكة بطريقة اليمة
حرص الكاتب عل نقل المشاعر والكلمات بحذافيرها حتى البذيئة والمقرفة و الفاحشة منها
بالنهاية هذا هو الفكر الوجودي
فكر الواقع بكل ما فيه

فكر شوارعي ان صح التعبير
هذا الكتاب غريب فبرغم عدم الترابط الواضح فيه لكنك تشتاق لمعرفة ما يحصل في الورقة التالية وكيف يعبر الناس عن مشاعرهم

ليت مشاعر القهر والغصة المريرة التي تجرعها اجداد المحتل الفرنسي للجزائر والدول العربية من الالمان انتقلت الى احفادهم

و لكن هكذا ابن ادم لا يشعر الا بالضربات التي تلقاها بدنه و لا يكترث بالالم الذي سببه للاخرين


اقتباسات

الجنود هم فقط من يموتوا بالميدان بينما الجنرالات يموتوا على اسرتهم
***

هذه القهوة نتنة!!
نحن في حرب يا سيدة.
هذا ليس بعذر!

***
نحن نقسو على احبائنا دوما لانهم لنا ونعامل الغرباء بحنان كبير
***
انت جميل جدا

هذا وصف لايحبذ للرجل!
***
وهل يتوقف الفنان عن الرسم؟

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the third and what was to be the final book of the "Roads to freedom" series, Sartre explores and elaborates on his philosophy of what it means to be human and his central concepts of freedom and responsibility are here set in the context of war and politics. The setting is world war II and the fall of France.

The book follows a number of people in and out of France, but focuses on a number of soldiers, one group choosing to fight against all chances of success and another being captured. It is a book that will stick with you, and even if a number of characters are introduced in the earlier books, it can very well be read on its own.

[Xander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like The Reprieve (1945), the second volume in a planned tetrology, the third installment Iron in the Soul (1949) sees Sartre developing the original story as told in The Age of Reason (1945), the first part in the series. In contrast to The Reprieve, Sartre returns to a style of writing that compares to The Age of Reason - no longer jumping from character to character with each sentence. This makes Iron in the Soul kind of a fresh breath of air.

The story itself is rather dull. France has been defeated by Nazi Germany in their Blitzkrieg, and now all characters find themselves in situations related to this invasion. Gomez, the communist Spaniard finds himself a refugee in New York, having abonded his French wife Sarah and their son Pablo, who are fleeing Paris in a massive stream of refugee. The fate of all three is unknown.

Daniel, the homosexual antagonist of The Age of Reason decides to stay in Paris, to see this city being raped by the Germans. He revels in resentment towards anything French, being determined solely by the other - in effect projecting his feelings of rejection by society on the dead city. Boris, the student of protagonist Mathieu has to decide - against the clock - whether to flee to London or stay in France with his girlfriend Lola. He cannot decide and he outsources his decision to Lola, who has yet to arrive - if she isn't dead by now. In contrast, Mathieu is serving in the defeated French army and is longing to kill. At the end of the book, he is defending a church and shooting at Germans. The church collapses and Mathieu's fate remains unknown.

The overarching theme is the design of your own life. Are you willing to face up to the Nothingness that you, as a consciousness, are? Are you willing to overcome the anguish and alienation this realization brings? If so, will you take up your freedom and be responsible for who you are? or would you rather lose yourself in the everdayness and make up excuses for yourself - live in bad faith with yourself and others?

All characters have to decide, in the here and now, who they are. It is their choices which determine the meaning of their existence. Some, like Gomez, fall into bad faith. This is the man who took up his responsibility to fight in his homeland Spain against Franco's forces, flees his homeland and abandon his family, to live life as a down-trodden refugee writing cynical articles about modern art. From a once authentic individual he transforms into a person of bad faith. Mathieu, in contrast, travels the other road. In The Age of Reason we see him cheat, steal and lie to anyone, living the life of an apathetic vagabond and shun all responsibilities, yet at the end of Iron in the Soul, we see him pick up arms voluntarily against the Germans and fully follow up his decision to shoot some of them. Finally, Daniel is a typical Nietzschean nihilist - a nobody full of resentment towards the world, hurting others to escape his own suffering. He never changes during the three volumes of The Roads to Freedom.

Sartre is able to develop his characters throughout the three volumes and to implement some very interesting themes - all to do with his existentalist philosophy. The problem is, not all volumes are equally readable and/or interesting. And after a while, Sartre's style becomes rather repetitive. I noticed my curiosity dropping quickly in Iron in the Soul; and the further I got in the book, the duller its contents became...

Nevertheless, I think the trilogy (the fourth and final volume was never finished) is interesting from a philosophical perspective as well as from a historical standpoint. The books are a case study of existentialism, and is much more readable (and enjoyable) than Sartre's philosophical magnum opus Being and Nothingness (1943). Also, it details the time period summer 1938 - summer 1940, conveying the feelings of uncertainty and the looming abyss of a nation threatened with invasion, and the coping of everyday people with the loss in war. Historically, Sartre's novels are thus interesting to get a sense of what normal people were feeling, thinking and doing in these very chaotic and dangerous times - and this is worth much more than the usual dry descriptions in history books.

It's just, I have become tired of Sartre. And I have become tired of existentialism. It is one of the key ideologies in twentieth century philosophy, but I think it rather over-hyped. Sartre selectively took the ingredients he liked from Descartes, Hegel, Husserl and Heidegger and concocted his own witches brew. Of course this is permissible, and we cannot deny Sartre his creativity and originality. But having recently studied Husserl and Heidegger, and being familiar with the ideas of Descartes and Hegel, I cannot help but feel that Sartre's loose use of these philosopher's ideas is genuine. It is illustrative that in his Being and Nothingness - a 800 page long essay on these doctrines - he never mentions any sources or names. One of the more common critiques of Sartre thus is that he distorts, selects and misuses whatever he can get his hands on to fit his own theories. Again, illustrative of this selectivity is the rumor that Heidegger started reading Being and Nothingness and piut it down after having read the first couple of pages. Alledgedly, when an acquaintance asked what his take on Sartre's work was, he shook his head.

Anyway, The Roads of Freedom are philsophically and historically interesting time capsules of the 1930-1940's from a French perspective. The books differ in their style and content, and it's probably a hit-or-miss kind of reading. Personally, I disliked volume 2, while being hugely impressed with volume 1. Volume 3 is a decent but not outstanding novel.

[Moshtagh hosein · Rating 3 out of 5]

نیمه ی اول کتاب که بلحاظ ادبی و‌نثر چیز خاصی نداشت اما در نمیه پوم کتاب،سارتر مایه هایی از خودش نشون داد ولی خببب.

[leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

وصلت إلى نهاية دربي مع سلسلة دروب الحرية، درب الحرب كان قاسي وخشن ومفزع ووحشي وطويل.
كتاب الحزن العميق هو الختام، وداع مرتبك.
بعد أن انتهيت الآن من السلسلة يبدو لي أن الموت من أجل -لا شيء- سخيف، والموت من أجل -شيء ما- يجعلك أحمق.
من الفظيع أن تستمر حياتك بعد أن يخدشك الموت.
ومن الصعب أن تمضي قدماً بعد أن تترك أصابعه أثرها المُدمي على إنسانيتك.


"لو تعلمون، أيها الفتية، إنها ليست غلطتكم"
"لا أحد عندنا يفكر بأنها غلطتكم"

هذا ما قاله العجوز الفرنسي أثناء زيارته للجنود الأسرى الفرنسيين، قرأتُ الود والإخاء الإنساني في كلماته، كان يربت بابتسامة على أنفسهم اللوامة، يواسي أرواحهم المخذولة يريد أن يطهر سحناتهم من العار. أحداث الكتاب بالكامل في كفة وهذا الحدث القصير في كفة أخرى.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Faute de pouvoir donner cinq étrons, je le donne une étoile.

Penguin very effectively promoted this book when I was a high school student. I still trust them despite having read the three ghastly works in this series. If you have read the first two novels in the "Chemins de Liberté" trilogy and are wondering if you should continue, I urge you to stop now.

[uh8myzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a number of years since I read this series, so i will have to be rather general about it even though it has stuck with me all these years.

I am a fan of Sartre's and his existentialist contemporaries, but this series was an amazing display of Sartre's skill as a fiction writer. While I am generally more fond of Camus' fiction, every book in the "The Roads to Freedom" trilogy stands out as my favorite fictional work by that group. Make no mistake, this trilogy is a masterpiece of existentialist fiction.

"The Roads to Freedom" series (originally meant to be a tetralogy) was a fictional representation of new direction in Sartre's vision of existentialism which was far more participatory. Using the back-drop of the Nazi occupation, Sartre's characters move from a prewar existence of complete apathy toward their life and others into individuals who are empowered by the will to resist any impediments to their freedom.

This book is my favourite of the three, and was the first that I read of the series.

[Frabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giugno 1940: i tedeschi sono a Parigi, la Francia è capitolata in un tempo vergognosamente breve. Gente allo sbando, in fuga, o bloccata, paralizzata; c'è pure chi collabora. Soldati prigionieri, a migliaia, con la morte nell'anima, ripensano, discutono, imprecano; qualcuno reagisce, rischiando, morendo, i più attendono il loro destino ignoto, che sarà di deportazione e di campi.
Questo grande romanzo di Sartre, del 1949, faticoso e dolente, chiude un trittico denominato “Le vie della libertà” dopo “L'età della ragione” e “Il rinvio”.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely the least interesting of the series. It seemed like Sartre got bored writing about these characters and really just wanted to finish the series. The only character that reached some sort of conclusion was Mathieu. All I can say about Mathieu is... yes, he found his freedom. I could have lived without Burnet and his story. No mention of Marcelle, which I thought was unfortunate because I wanted to see where she would go. Same with Gomez, he just sort of falls out of the picture. Boris, Lola and Ivich have small parts. The existential theme carries through Daniel and Mathieu.

There are some interesting themes, the exhaustion and futility of the war, the frustration due to a lack of understanding of what they were actually fighting for, and the feeling of an uncertain future continue from the previous books.

[Heather Fineisen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up for a buck yesterday and I can't put it down--that is a good thing--too bad it's not raining.
Next Day--
Beautiful day and finished beautiful story. I will be mulling this one over for a while.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nella tristezza i motivi di rallegrarsi si fanno tristi, e ci se ne rallegra tristemente." (p. 76)

[كِنان | ابنُ الصَّلاح · Rating 4 out of 5]

على هذا النحو من النحو من السرعة ، يمكنُ للحياةِ أن تطاق .

ليس هناك عبارة تلّخص الفلسفة الوجودية كما فعلت هذه العبارة . يحاول سارتر بعبقرية باردة تسليط الضوء على حقبة زمنية ذات أهمية تاريخية استثنائية إنها الحرب العالمية الثانية بفلسفته الشهيرة برؤية وجودية ضاربة نتائج المستقبل بعرض الحائط. وكيف سقطت فرنسا على يد النازيين.
يغوص في أعماق النفس البشرية ويحاول سبر أغوارها وليس أي نفس إنما تلك القابعة على خط النار الخائفة واللامبالية والوطنية والوجودية والمؤمنة والملحدة والاشتراكية والشيوعية .واللامنتمية ثُلّةٌ من الشباب الفرنسيين من ثكنات متفرقة هم أبطال هذا العمل الروائي . يطرحون أرائهم حول الحرب والهزيمة والظفر بالانتصار. ويبحر في عقل كل واحد منهم ساخطاً مرة . ومدافعاً آخرى . ناظراً بعيون كل واحد منهم مستفهماً شكل الحياة التي كان يحلمُ بها . وتطالعات كل واحد منهم إلى هذه الحرب . وإلى نتائجها.
يحاول سارتر كشف اللثام عن أهم شعور غرائزي يرافق الإنسان منذ فجر الزمان ، إنه الخوف. ليس الخوف بالمطلق بل في حالات استثنائية وفردية عندما يكون الحاضر أقسى وأظلم من كل اللحظات التي عاشها المرء . فلا يملك رفاهية العودة للماضي . ولا أمل بصلابة القشة التي تلوح في افق المستقبل . . إن ما أزعجني في هذه الرواية هو ترجمتها الرديئة كان بالإمكان أن يبذل الدكتور سهيل إدريس جهدًا أكبر من ذلك . لقد فقد هذا العمل جوهره بسبب هذه الترجمة التعيسة.

هذا ما استطعت فهمه بسبب ترّدي الترجمة . أنصح بها إن كان هناك نسخة بترجمة مختلفة .
نمّت بعون الله.

[Dany · Rating 4 out of 5]

این یکی رو فارسی مینویسم، گرچه زبان خود کتاب انگلیسی بود.
من از سبک سارتر خوشم میاد؛ واسه‌م جالبه که به دلیل ساده بودن ساختار جملاتش در اثر ترجمه چیز خاصی از دست نمیره، ولی نویسنده با وجود این سادگی هنوزم به خوبی میتونه پیام و فضای ذهنی و تصوراتش رو منتقل کنه. نوشتار پر از جملات کوتاهیه که ۴ یا ۵ کلمه بیشتر نیستن و به شدت ساده اند ولی به دلیل جایگیری مناسب میتونن خیلی کارا باشن و باعث شن کتابی مثل خواب‌آشفته که مضمون تاریخی دوری از شرایط زندگی عادی داره، با وجود اینکه حجم نسبتا زیادی هم داره (۴۳۵ صفحه) اصلا حوصله سر بر و بیروح نشه.
کتاب واقعا زیبا بود. به خوبی میشه فضایی که نویسنده ازش حرف میزنه رو درک کرد و این واسه کتابی که نه به زبان مادریم بود و نه فرهنگ یا تجربه ی مشترکی با نویسنده اش داشتم واقعا جالب بود.

[Maha · Rating 4 out of 5]

يختتم الجزء الثالث الثلاثية التي يستمر السرد فيها كشريط سينمائي نتابع فيه الشخصيات في عدة مراحل مفصلية من تاريخ الحرب العالمية الثانية. الجزء الأول من الثلاثية يضعنا في جو فرنسا في الأيام السابقة لإعلان الحرب. في الجزء الثاني نتوه، فنحن مع المكلفين في طريقهم إلى المعسكرات، وفيها يختلط الحابل بالنابل. الجزء الثالث أقرب للقلب لأننا مع الخسرانيين السكارى بالهزيمة المفاجئة واستسلام فرنسا.

[Maurice Halton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose I have to say that I just don't get this book at all.

[Emir · Rating 5 out of 5]

BUGÜN DE VAROLUŞÇUYUZ!

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weaker than the two prior, but still worth reading. The aspects that made The Reprieve and The Age of Reason particularly strong are both present here, but it comes across weaker, perhaps muddied by the purposeful inclusion of (regularly) dull scenes with soldiers. The Age of Reason excels for its characters coming to grips with their freedom, and The Reprieve excels at a study of a society in the throes of a wartime scare amidst a heat wave coming to terms with, again, its freedom, but also the immediacy of death in all parts of life—only for this to be all too readily abandoned at the reveal that war is not imminent at the end of the Munich Agreement.

I see in this novel both things happening at once. While the latter is slightly different—a mass of men, namely the French Army feeling abandoned, guilty, etc. at their own almost uselessness, ready to die for a conflict that becomes peace so soon, leading to anger—the former of individual freedom is still being expressed, of course this being one of Sartre's large philosophical and aesthetic goals throughout his work. That said, both have glimmers but are often not in display. Sometimes the novel gets very bogged down in day-to-day activities of these armymen finding themselves aimless, that the point gets a little vague at times. It's one of those events where, ironically, insofar as the medium is the message, the message becomes obscured.

Mathieu comes to terms with his ability to kill. Here he realises a freedom, and a pleasure in that freedom, that is slightly disturbed, and revealing of who he is as a person throughout the trilogy:

He made his way to the parapet and stood there firing. This was revenge on a big scale. Each one of his shots avenged some ancient scruple. One for Lola whom I dared not rob; one for Marcelle who I ought to have left in the lurch; one for Odette whom I didn't want to kiss[...]Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself—bang! in that bugger's face—Thou Shalt Not Kill—bang! at that scarecrow opposite. He was firing on his fellow men, on Virtue, on the whole world. Liberty is Terror[...]He fired. He was cleansed. He was all-powerful. He was free.

Mathieu brings to the fore the point of freedom's link to death, etc. But also the clear existentialist strain of experience as something: here as revenge, as a reason for murder, as an attack on the world. The narrative, focalising slipping fluidly into first person thought without warning exemplifies this.

Sartre's prose, as always, is generally quite good: e.g. "On every face the moon brought pallid flowers to birth."

Part two of the novel departs from the rest of the main narrative majorly, especially in style. The text has maybe on or two paragraph breaks, and apart from that is a solid block of text. I suppose this is meant to be the representation of the physical conditions? A prison of sorts keeping thousands of soldiers all starving, tired, unclean, and all claustrophobic. One character, a staunch communist, seems to keep to his ideology like faith against people who outwardly would turn to Nazism if it meant security. Or Schneider, a left-wing sympathetic, simply goes along with this character for the sake of not being lonely.

In all it is weaker than the other two in getting to its point, but it's a worthwhile read, and similarly depressing.

[İlke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Özgürlük Yolları üçlemesinin son kitabı Yıkılış. Sartre 4 cilt olarak tasarladığı büyük romanının üçüncüsünü yazdıktan sonra oyunun romandan daha güçlü bir iletişim aracı olduğuna karar vererek bu serinin devamını getirmemiş. Dolayısı ile kendisine çok kırgınım. Serinin ilk kitabı Akıl Çağı'nı okuduğumda beynimden vurulmuş gibi oldum. Beni kendimle yüzleştirdi, sanki kitaba değil aynaya bakıyordum. Bazı satırlarda hayatımda hiç yaşamadığım bir şey oldu ve okurken ellerim titredi, kitabı bırakıp birkaç gün hiçbir şey okuyamadım. Bu seri ile kurduğum kişisel bağı tarif edebilmem mümkün değil. Son kitabı bitirmemek için elimden geleni yaptım..Şimdi yarım kalan bir sürü hikaye, hayatlarında ne olduğunu asla bilemeyeceğim bir sürü karakter ile başbaşayım. Mathieu, Daniel, Boris, Iviç, Marcelle...Bir zamanlar çok yakın olduğum ama sonra kopup bir daha haber alamadığım arkadaşlarım gibi hayatım boyunca aklımın bir köşesinde olacaklar.

[Ben | The Immersion Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

💫Immerse Yourself in Iron in the Soul💫
🎶Listen: French Classical for Reading & Focus | 1900-1949

He's suffering from the iron that has entered his soul, and it's you who are to blame!

This third installment of the Roads to Freemdom series does not impress me quite as much as The Age of Reason and The Reprieve but it is an astounding piece of literature still. The narrative focuses on the French condition after German occupation in 1940 so perhaps the war setting and the soldier's experience feels too heavy for me. As in the previous books, Sartre provides several perspectives from his characters but in a more traditional fashion as opposed to the Reprieve. Therefore, I feel it lacks the same kind of layering that immerses the reader in the essence of the ideas. I also miss the Mathieu of The Age of Reason as we follow his path as a soldier.

Characters like Mathieu, Brunet, Gomez, Sarah and Daniel must now put their thoughts and principles into action as France loses herself. All the nobility which compile her identity fails against the onslaught of Nazi Germany. Now she must choose who she is, what she will do and cope with the despair often paired with shattered meaning.

We begin with Gomez in New York, lost among Americans who willfully ignore news of the European conflict fearing its acknowledgment would transport it into their dream world across the Atlantic. Unexpectedly, Gomez finds connection with others through abandonment. Not like the truly abandoned Sarah who escapes Paris as part of a hoard of refugees void of individual humanity. Sartre's focus starts wide and, with each narrative section, brings the reader closer in proximity to the terror; like zooming in on Google Earth.

For the final time, Sartre contrasts Mathieu and Daniel. With Paris conquered and barren, Daniel finds freedom from the opporessive eyes of morality and gloats in the failure of his judges; though these presumed judges, like Mathieu, barely acknowledge his existence. Like a fallen Lucifer, he rejoices in the devestation and heralds the Fascist conquerors while Mathieu keeps his thoughts introspective and navigates his new life's dynamic. Not until the end does he commit to action and release his grasp on his precious analyses. Even still, I can't help but feel a despair for Mathieu that I think he finally escapes.

In Part Two, Sartre constructs his narrative as one massive paragraph. It does read like an unbroken stream but unfortunately the desired effect is countered by its length. Nevertheless, Brunet joins a mass of prisoners of war who nonchalantly accept their fate with hopes of human treatment and personal ends to fighting. However, Brunet fears this acquiescence will transform rebellious captives into thankful, subservient citizens depending, like sheep, on their captors. He forges a connection with Schneider with whom he argues for organized action through the tenets of the communist party. These scenes remind me of Viktor Frankl's Man’s Search for Meaning . Schneider seems interested in providing the POWs that personal Frankl meaning, even if illusory, while Brunet persists with organizing global political action. And yet at the end, any meaning found for humanity as a whole makes no difference to the personal conviction to freely determine one's own meaning and fate, especially when faced with internment camps.

As in the previous books, Sartre takes no shortcuts in disecting his ideas and exploring what his characters do with them. I do not want to spoil the joy of discovery in working through them yourselves. For now, I must cope with the end, the sadness in knowing that no other book follows this. But what a journey...

[Nasser_j_88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

الرواية الفلسفية هي الرواية التي تخدم فكرة جوهرية من أفكار مذهب فلسفيٍّ ما ، وتجمع عادة جميع عناصر البناء الروائي وأساليب التشويق في الأحداث والحوارات والسرد الخ ، لكن في حالة سارتر مع هذه الرواية ؛ فإنّه يُضَحّي بالكثير من عوامل تكامل الرواية من أجل الفكرة الفلسفية ، فهي لذلك لن ترضي القارئ الذي لا يقوم بالتحليل والتدقيق ؛ فيصيبه الملل معها .
في هذا الجزء بالتحديد من الثلاثية ، وبالتحديد في فصلٍ هو الأطول بين فصول الكتاب ، ذلك الفصل الذي يصوّر الأسرى الفرنسيين عند الجيش الألماني بعد هزيمة فرنسا عام 1940 ، أقول بأن سارتر في هذا الفصل هو أقوى ما يكون قدرةً على الوصف والتعبير ، ذلك أن المعاناة الإنسانية بشكل عام ، والأسر بشكل خاص هما الأرضية الخصبة لتصوير المأزق الوجودي .
من أروع وأغرب المسائل التي طرحها ، كان مشهد كاهن فرنسي يقوم بإلقاء خطبة قداس الأحد على زملائه الأسرى ، أقول بغرابة هذا الطّرح لأن المؤلف ملحد ، كما أقول بروعته لأنّه تكلّم على لسان رجل الدين بأقوى الحجج التي لا أظن بأنّ ثمّة خطيبٍ يستطيعها لو كان الأمر واقعيّاً ، فهو يبدأ كلامه بقوله "لا تيأسوا ! فإن اليأس انتحارٌ روحي سواء عند المؤمن أو الجاحد" ثمّ يذكر قول القائلين بعبثيّة الحوادث التي يمرّ بها الإنسان ، فيذكر شواهد من تاريخ الكتاب المقدّس على من قال بأن هذه الأحداث تحدث اتّفاقاً ، فينبّه بعد ذلك على خطورة هذا الاعتقاد لأنه مدعاة لليأس ، فالإنسان يصاب باليأس عندما يعتقد بـ(لا جدوى) معاناته ، وأن كل ما يحدث للفرنسيين هو نتيجة مباشرة للانحلال الأخلاقي الذي جاءت به الماديّة والفكر المادي ، فيقول : "وإنما هُزمتم لأنكم ماديّون ، إن فرنسا ، ابنة الكنيسة البكر ، هي التي سجّلت في التاريخ سلسلة باهرة من انتصاراتها ، وإنّ فرنسا التي لا ربَّ لها هي التي عرفت الهزيمة عام 1940" .
وبعد أن يذكر سارتر على لسان كاهنه تفسيرات رجل الدين ، يبيّن لنا انهزاميّة الحلول التي يقدّمها إذ يقول الكاهن "ابتهجوا يا إخوتي ! ابتهجوا من أعماق هوّة آلامكم ، لأنّه إذا كان ثمّة خطأ وكان ثمّة تكفير ، فهناك أيضاً فداء" .. وهذا الكلام ترفضه الفلسفة الوجودية التي ترفض التجريد وأن يُعامل الإنسان كرقم (على حد تعبير كيركجارد) .
كما أن هناك طرحا آخر أو صفعة أخرى في وجه التجريد ، لكنه هذه المرة يوَجّه فيها النقد و الكلام إلى (برونيه) المناضل الشيوعي وتهافت مادّيته الجدلية أمام قسوة الواقع الوجودي : "لقد فاجأتك مئة مرّة وأنت تراقب الرّفاق بعينيك الباردتين كأنّك تقوم بتحقيق ، حسناً ، فماذا تحقّقت ؟ تحقّقتَ أنّني نفاية السير التاريخي (المادية التاريخية) ؟ اتّفقنا ، نفاية إلى الحد الذي تريد ، ولكني لست ميّتاً يا برونيه ، لست ميتّاً مع الأسف ، إنّي مدعوٌّ إلى أن أعيشَ سقوطي ، فهو مذاق في فمي ، ولن تفهم ذلك أبداً ، إنّك تجريدي ، وأنتم التجريديين جميعاً ، أنتم الذين صنعتم منّا النفاية التي نحن إيّاها"
"صحيح أنّك ما تزال تأخذ بالسير التاريخي ، ولكن قلبك ليس بعد مؤمناً به ، إنّ الحزب الشيوعي يتشكّل من جديد بدونك ، وعلى أسس تجهلها ، فبوسعك أن تهرب ، ولكنك لا تجرؤ ، لأنّك تخاف ممّا سوف تجده هناك : فالموت والحزن العميق في نفسك أيضاً"

[Komal Raja · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Iron in the Soul' is third part of Jean-Paul Sartre's trilogy. The narration starts when the war broke between Germany and France in 1939-40. Sartre threw light on what happens after defeat in a war. How people face it? How they live defeat hour after hour and day after day. what it means to loose in a war for soldiers, government workers, intellectuals and civilians. Sartre portrait a tragicomedy picture of aftermath as France fell . With a blend of poetic wit and artistic sarcasm he describes what a war brings. How defeat or victory makes people shudder,run,immigrate, act on impulse, take pride or make celebrations on massacre. How it feels when masses have to stay roofless, food-less, sleepless and on the verge of collapse even hopeless for the indefinite period of time during the war. How wars make brave men learn to hate and kill. No matters, how one once thought about life, what beliefs one held, what laws say, what's written in books. With a sudden rush of impulse all beauty and virtue lost their meanings and all gets shot with a big BANG when one is not sure whether one is going to take in his next breath or the current one is going to be his last one!
Personally I've found the book amazing. Loved Sartre's expression and language. :)

[Javier Jiménez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creí que este libro no era de ficción, pensé que era un ensayo o algo por el estilo. Pero es una novela. Una novela acerca de los franceses en la segunda guerra mundial. En realidad no me gustó mucho, tal vez lo más rescatable es el análisis que realiza Sartre del sentimiento de derrota de los franceses, de su desesperación y a la vez respeto hacia los alemanes.

Hay una parte en la que algunos soldados franceses prisioneros ven a los alemanes como seres realmente superiores porque eso los hace sentirse menos mal por haber perdido la guerra contra ellos, ya que visto de esta forma los alemanes son invencibles y no se podría haber hecho nada más. Es decir, aceptan la derrota como algo natural y harían lo que sea (incluso venerar a sus vencedores) por volver a estar en libertad. Vale la pena pensar un rato sobre estas situaciones.

Pero en general siento que la trama está muy extendida para lo que se quiere decir. Un libro que siento que pudo haber sido escrito en la mitad de páginas.

[Alexander Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel, composed of several slightly related stories, describes the angst felt by the soldiers and civilians following the fall of France in 1940. It is slow going at first but is worthwhile for those interested in Sartre, anguish or the fall of France.

The various protagonists respond to defeat with: boredom; passivity; denial of responsibility; sensual indulgence; drunkenness; and anger leading to suicidal resistance. The soldiers deny any compliance in the political policies (appeasement) that contributed to the outbreak of war.

In captivity, the attention of the men is on immediate concerns such as food and shelter. They eagerly follow false hopes of early release (as part of French surrender); they become religious. A small group of communists try to establish a cell and exhibit bad faith in their rejection of the cynical betrayal by Russia in the nonaggression pact of 1939.

The translation used too much English vernacular for my taste.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

So that's me finished Sartre's "Ways To Freedom" trilogy covering the period from the build up to WW2 to France's surrender to Germany. What I thought would be an endurance test turned out to be a great adventure. These novels never feel like a promo for his philosophy, and the main word that comes to mind is "humanist". He looks at the impact of war from the perspective of a huge number of people, from Daladier to conscripted teachers to communist newspaper editors to pacifists, and on and on and on. I've left these books with the feeling that no-one understands how we think better than Sartre. Highly recommended.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final book of sartre's roads to freedom trilogy is the best, in my opinion. This book relates French consciousness during the Nazi occupation / fall of France. In the face of defeat, a country's people struggle for dignity and meaning. In the context of war, Sartre explores what it is to be human.

[One Flew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good end to the trilogy. I didn't care for 'The Reprieve', which was too dis-jointed to get into. Iron in the Soul was a much smoother and interesting read. Particularly the scenes in the POW camp and Matheiu's transformation. Even then, I wonder about the necessity of certain characters minimal story lines, such as Daniel, who didn't need resolution. All in all, well worth the read.

[michael raymond raymond Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any previous doubts of Sartre's skill as a novelist have been completely shattered upon reading this. Although i will always view him as philosopher/intellectual/ first, i cannot doubt him as an artist anymore.