I'm not a huge fan of stream of consciousness writing, but Sartre really mastered it in The Reprieve. He Thinking some more with that big old brain of his, Sartre, seemingly, goes on to state:A vast entity, a planet, in a space of a hundred million dimensions: three-dimensional beings could not so much as imagine it. What a huge - I emphasize it: HUGE - disappointment The Reprieve (1946) is... A terrible experience - but, by now, I know Jean-Paul Sartre is hit-or-miss. It's suitable because this book is basically one giant cliffhanger, achingly wrenching it's characters (and, via the unique prose style, you) over the engulfing precipice of the disaster of war. Some remarkable stuff in here, from the story of the fellow terrified of suffering disability and disfigurement on the battlefield, to the Jew who does not identify with the suffering of the German Jews because he sees himself as more French than Jewish. When Sarah asks him if he thinks there will be a war, he says:‘I hope so. In THE REPRIEVE, Jean-Paul Sartre recreates those days (September 23 through September 30) leading up to the Munich Agreement as they were experienced by dozens of ordinary citizens throughout France - the turmoil, the confusion, the fears, the good-byes, and then the sudden "reprieve". I finished the series before I realized just awful it was.Sartre combines the craft of an historian and the humanity of a philosopher in describing the events and individual human reaction to the days leading up to Munich and the capitulation of the British Government in a different way. Basically, the style of prose is tied to the whims of the plot, and being as the plot is made up of examples of raw and wildly varying human experiences, the prose style gets relentlessly pulled about in wild directions to accommodate and enhance the style. Thanks to the goodwill displayed by all parties, this agreement may be considered as embodying a definite advance on the Godesberg memorandum.’What was that? It was good also to see this waiting feon different perspectives but there were perhaps too many perspectives.The most impressive book I've read so far, everything happenning simultaneously in a chaos-organized way; truely amazed by how pictureque a novel could be!The most impressive book I've read so far, everything happenning simultaneously in a chaos-organized way; truely amazed by how pictureque a novel could be!Intense but chaotic writing. Well, it was issued by Hitler on 24th September 1938 and was an ultimatum for his demands. It comes from the acclaimed 1970 BBC dramatisation which, for thirteen weeks, had engaged millions of British viewers in Mathieu Delarue’s efforts to define the scope of freedom in a France that was stumbling into world war.Wow. Irene also instigates the brief fling with Delarue, with the latter swept along with it all, so there’s a clear indication of a potential turn in history here as women began to find their voice and assert themselves with authority.Delarue remains ever the gentleman after the two have copulated, I shall indicate with British formality, with Irene then wanting some privacy in a touching moment of humanity.‘Wait a moment,’ she said. The two strike up a friendship and suddenly have a fleeting romance back at Irene’s apartment, before eventually discussing politics, with Irene concluding men are “swine”.‘The point is,’ she said, ‘that as they are such swine, it is even more disgusting to use them to make war.’She identifies herself as a pacifist with no other political aspirations. Just give me a clout on the head if I do.’In a final flurry of 40 pages, events race along, numerous days tick over, and the Munich Conference reaches a big conclusion. War: everyone is free, and yet the stakes are set. While 'the age of reason' takes you nowhere , 'the reprieve' takes you to particular places at particular time . Everyone is on edge as the delayed meetings between Hitler and Chamberlain ramp up the tension.After the paranoia of the first chapter (which is some 70+ pages long – worth highlighting to display how much Sartre subverts conventions with his narrative structure), the second brings about resentment – war seems inevitable. One had just the same feeling about death: if one was certain that other men would still be drinking white rum, bathing in the sea, and listening to jazz bands, one could feel a little comforted: but if everyone had to die at the same time, and humanity closed shop, the prospect would certainly be bleak.An odd, if charming, character, he goes on to reflect about his probable death in 1942 and the number of meals he must have eaten in his life, such as 803 omelettes. I bought all three volumes of the Penguin "Chemins de Liberté" series in a single visit to the only book store in the country.