Being and Nothingness: An Essay in Phenomenological Ontology

The translation is awesome and fits the meaning and thoughts of the author with little ambiguity. This is a great translation of Sartre.

Don’t know this book (or is it a record)? I bought this for my husband and Healy liked it slow.

I'm a purist I believe and I want a book that does not or has to the up-most minimal amount of changes to the original text and this company has decided all by themselves and feeling darn proud of it that they had the nerve to add commas and colons semi-colons essentially changing his original intent and way of communicating it's really sad and i'm not really happy but I'll put up with this because i can't afford another expensive hardcover of being and nothingness ...DISAPPOINTING!

Okay, book’s great. We all know it. But I want to talk about it’s ability to impact us today. The idea that this book translates well to 2020 is absurd. We have long since left the thirst for knowledge and introspection behind and in their place we have evolved into consumer driven, “fun” loving, self centered, narrow minded lemmings. Lovable and cuddly. We no longer gather in small adult groups to dususs why we’re here or what matters, etc. Sure we have environmental groups, political radicals debating communism and or some such law of political jurisdiction. But these are top view. And often ineffective. Very, very few people want to discuss the nature of self at a cocktail party or any kind of party for that matter. Truffaut has been replaced by Tom Cruse (yes I’m aware of exceptions like Donnie Darko and Extinction but they are just that, exceptions). Bob Dylan by Lady Gaga. Even our schools smother any ambition at learning beyond 2+2 or See Dick and Jane Run. “Pseudo intellectual” is a powerful epitaph that will crush a spirit to contemplate in a heartbeat. Yessir, with very few exceptions, todays generations have had the desire to understand life’s deeper meanings swept under the rug. If you purchased and read this book, even if you understood not one word, bravo!

I ordered this to re-read, as I studied in Stockholm when younger I wanted to see what I got right, within the context of years of life experience now. Have not yet finished it. It seems more complicated to me now than before. That probably reflects my youthful belief I understood more than I did. Warning to readers: this is a potentially very satisfying dive into one of the great early existentialists - who did later change course - but unless somewhat familiar with the theme(s) it would be quite demanding.

This is not really a book for the average reader with no formal training in philosophy. However, I think I knew that before I bought it, but wanted to stretch myself and certainly succeeded. Happy to say that I am getting something out of it, probably about 25% of the content. Also that I am able to say to myself "I agree with that" or alternatively "no, I don't think that can be right", in other words, enter a dialogue of sorts with the author and form my own opinions is pleasing. Sartre was certainly one of the intellectual giants of the last century, but this does not mean you can't disagree with some of his thoughts.The book possibly merits 5 stars but for what it's worth, from the position of a layman,I give it 3So, if you are an average reader with an interest in philosophy and in particular phenomenology and existentialism you may want to give it a try. Its a demanding read but I'm glad I did.