At the Existentialist Café
Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
At the Existentialist Café
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Antonia Beamish
-
By:
-
Sarah Bakewell
About this listen
Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. Pointing to his drink, he says, 'You can make philosophy out of this cocktail!'
From this moment of inspiration, Sartre will create his own extraordinary philosophy of real, experienced life - of love and desire, of freedom and being, of cafés and waiters, of friendships and revolutionary fervour. It is a philosophy that will enthral Paris and sweep through the world, leaving its mark on post-war liberation movements, from the student uprisings of 1968 to civil rights pioneers.
At the Existentialist Café tells the story of modern existentialism as one of passionate encounters between people, minds and ideas. From the 'king and queen of existentialism' - Sartre and de Beauvoir - to their wider circle of friends and adversaries including Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Iris Murdoch, this audiobook is an enjoyable and original journey through a captivating intellectual movement.
Weaving biography and thought, Sarah Bakewell takes us to the heart of a philosophy about life that also changed lives, and that tackled the biggest questions of all: what we are and how we are to live.
©2016 Sarah Bakewell (P)2016 Audible, LtdCritic Reviews
"This lucid study of the existentialists picks out some overlooked figures and exposes the sexual hypocrisies of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre." (Jane O’Grady, Sunday Telegraph)
What listeners say about At the Existentialist Café
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-11-2019
Excellent overview.
Great narration, and just the right amount of author input into the ideas. Other words
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- raz
- 12-10-2018
All about existentialism
Loved the way the book starts sketching out how existentialism came about and how Sartre sought inspiration in phenomenology without getting into it himself. To a large extent 21st century is jammed packed with existentialist ideology especially capitalism has assimilated it. Marketing is all about some sort of existentialist promise in the form of buying this product or consuming this service will make you an individual. Reading this book not only gives you ideals what to read next but would influence your life in more profound ways.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- James
- 23-08-2018
An accessible, engageing thought provoking account of more than just existentialism
I would like to comment, firstly, that I particularly enjoyed the narration. The choice of Antonia Beamish was not only excellent but I believe necessary to bring alive the stories of the individuals throughout this journey.
The Existentialist Cafe is a book that can be read on a train, listened to in the car or, indeed, almost anytime. This is even though it addresses some of the most fundamental and crucial philosophical concepts, questions and considerations of the 20th century and beyond.
You may, therefore, be inclined to think it solely a book of ideas. However, this is not the case and like any great novel Sarah develops the characters as we weave between experiences. As Sarah concludes that we must consider people the more interesting over the ideas, so too the book presents the context and rich description of experience as we consider what existentialism may be.
I am compelled to read more of the protagonists’ work and like any good novel, it has left me wanting more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 30-09-2022
Pretty Decent
A well written biography about a cast of existentialists and how their complex identities contributed to complex philosophies.
It made for an easily digestible introduction to existential philosophy, and it was narrated extremely well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-10-2021
Brilliant
Equally clever, interesting and well read, Beamish is one of the best readers I’ve come across.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- playtime
- 11-12-2016
A way to understand existentialism
What made the experience of listening to At the Existentialist Café the most enjoyable?
It geve a background to why the cafe drinkers came to believe in existentialism and associated ideas
Who was your favorite character and why?
Satre because of his opposition to Nazism
Which character – as performed by Antonia Beamish – was your favourite?
Simone
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Living under tyranny
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-09-2021
Philosophical storytelling at its best.
Personal stories woven beautifully to give context to these great thinkers ideas. A perfectly articulated narrator, I am captivated by the visual story of the Existentialists of the day in French cafes. Fabulous, will listen again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-08-2019
Phenomenal
Loved every bit of it. Thanks to the writer and narrator for delivering such a phenomenal experience to the listener.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- nathan
- 04-09-2017
Boring
A lot of filler. A few good ideas and too many personal stories for me
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!