No Exit
Delightful
Thought provoking
Witty

No Exit

Two women and one man are locked up together for eternity in one hideous room in Hell. The windows are bricked up, there are no mirrors, the electric lights can never be turned off, and there is no exit. The irony of this Hell is that its torture is not of the rack and fire, but of the burning humiliation of each soul as it is stripped of its pretenses by the cruel curiosity of the damned. Here the soul is shorn of secrecy, and even the blackest deeds are mercilessly exposed to the fierce light of Hell. It is an eternal torment.
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Reviews

Photo of Santiago Alejandro Crime
Santiago Alejandro Crime@sacrime
4 stars
Apr 7, 2025

Existential yet it feels natural, dread

Photo of diya
diya@diyankilaco
5 stars
Apr 6, 2025

How beautiful it is when we see the other's gaze upon us and it seems agreeable to us, but remove those mirrors and for once we start depending on the audience's gaze, and terror strikes within us.

Oh how we tend to downplay our freedom, our existence our very essence just to have someone else play the judge. Human beings are such fascinating creatures indeed. Sartre you marvelous little genius.

+3
Photo of Léa
Léa@swankadero
4 stars
May 25, 2024

After 2 years I finally read it and in one sitting. I finally read at least one book of each of my holy trinity philosopher and I’m the happiest. This play got me on the edge the whole time waiting to know what’s next.

Photo of a
a@literaury
3 stars
May 21, 2024

Hell is indeed other people

Photo of Katie
Katie@katie_____ad
4 stars
Jan 7, 2024

HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE!

Photo of eris
eris@eris
4.5 stars
Aug 7, 2023

need to queen out with estelle

Photo of Abiiii
Abiiii@mystic_blob
3 stars
Oct 18, 2022

No Exit - four stars, fun as shit The rest- ehhhhHHHHHH

Photo of Trever
Trever@kewlpinguino
4 stars
Jul 2, 2022

Sartre, an atheist, imagines hell. It's got the marks of existentialist despair, and ultimately the hell of No Exit is very earthly: there is no mythical-ness to it, it just is.

Photo of Meriem💫
Meriem💫@mer_iem
5 stars
Mar 10, 2022

I absolutely LOVED this. What a fantastic depiction of what Sartre believes the afterlife, hell to be. I wholeheartedly agree; hell is other people, indeed.

Photo of Arden Kowalski
Arden Kowalski@jonimitchell
4 stars
Jan 13, 2022

HELL IS—OTHER PEOPLE. Not logging this as a book for the reading challenge due to its brevity (this took me like twenty minutes to get through) but it was quite good. (May 4th, 2021) I logged The Yellow Wallpaper, I'm logging this. (December 1st, 2021)

Photo of Olivera Mitić
Olivera Mitić@olyschka
5 stars
Nov 24, 2021

hell 👏 is 👏 other 👏 people 👏

Photo of Chaya Vervaecke
Chaya Vervaecke@chaya_v
3 stars
Oct 21, 2021

Nicer than I thought it'd be. Well actually I wasn't really expecting anything. I love stories about hell, people who're locked up together ( like "and then there would be none" by Christie A.) I didn't thought it'd be about that but it actually makes sense when you read the title. Anyways lovely book, nicely written and very quick read( less than an hour)

Photo of Heather
Heather@heidens
4 stars
Oct 14, 2021

4,5 “ Je ne suis ni le maître ni l’esclave, Jupiter. Je suis ma liberté. À peine m’as-tu créé que j’ai cessé de t’appartenir. “ Huis Clos portant sur l’enfer est ma pièce favorite de ce livre. “ Je vous dis que tout étais prévu. Ils avaient prévu que je me tiendrais devant cette cheminée, pressant ma main sur ce bronze, avec tous ces regards sur moi. [...] Alors, c’est ça l’enfer. Je n’aurais jamais cru ... Vous vous rappelez: le soufre, le bûcher, le gril ... Ah! Quelle plaisanterie. Pas besoin de gril: l’enfer, c’est les Autres. ”

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Jacklyn O’Brien @judge_a_book_by_this_blog
4 stars
Oct 13, 2021

I read this play in high school, and I wanted to read it again because it was so memorable. It was so creative to think that hell can be a room with the people that annoy you most. And you don't really understand their punishment at first until you get to know the characters. And then it becomes most obvious that hell is in fact, other people.

Photo of Christina
Christina@xtina
4 stars
Sep 24, 2021

Always a delight to read Sartre. I don't think I'll ever not be amused by his ability to pack so much meaning into a seemingly frivolous dialogue - or even the entire play, for that matter. I would say he's ahead of his time, but I think his words rang true back in the day, they ring true today, and they will ring true in days to come.

Photo of Gabriela Roxana
Gabriela Roxana @shiftyreads
5 stars
Sep 1, 2021

"Hell is the others."

Photo of marisa calegari
marisa calegari@marisa_c
4 stars
Sep 23, 2024
Photo of lily_z_z_z
lily_z_z_z@lily_z_z_z
+1
Photo of Klara Erčulj
Klara Erčulj@erculjklara
4 stars
Jul 8, 2022
Photo of behringlukas
behringlukas@behringlukas
4 stars
Jun 15, 2022
Photo of Ryan Greene
Ryan Greene@rryangr
2 stars
Jun 23, 2024
Photo of Tim Sedov
Tim Sedov@timsedov
5 stars
Jun 10, 2024
Photo of frdose
frdose@frdose
4 stars
May 20, 2024
Photo of Noah
Noah@wilf
5 stars
Mar 17, 2024

Highlights

Photo of saad
saad@forevermorepain

INEZ: What about your wife, Garcin? GARCIN: Oh, didn't I tell you? She's dead. INEZ: Dead? GARCIN: Yes, she died just now. About two months ago.

Page 80
Photo of saad
saad@forevermorepain

INEZ: I feel you there, in every pore. Your silence clamors in my ears. You can nail up your mouth, cut your tongue out—but you can't prevent your being there. Can you stop your thoughts? I hear them ticking away like a clock, tick-tock, tick-tock, and I'm certain you hear mine.

Page 50

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