No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre and Stuart Gilbert and Lionel Abel

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • Four seminal plays by one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. An existential portrayal of Hell in Sartre's best-known play, as well as three other brilliant, thought-provoking works: the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict, and an arresting attack on American racism.

Actually pretty good ngl

Three people are escorted into a room, a room where they are to stay for all eternity. All three are dead. We come to know each character and are not surprised to learn that each has lead a life of great wickedness. “Hell is—” one of the three tells us, “other people!”

GARCIN: I died too soon. I wasn't allowed time to--to do my deeds. INEZ: One always dies too soon--or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are--your life, and nothing else.

It's really a 3.5 star, I wish there were half-star ratings on here. It might have just been the translation I read, or maybe the pace at which I read it, but I wasn't especially grasped by the story presented. Conceptually it's brilliant, and of course this is the story where the famous “hell is other people” line comes from, but something felt much missed. I'll probably try reading this again in the future, just with a different translation. It's short enough anyway.