Literature
The Words
CevvelaSummary
Sartre’s autobiographical work, in which he recounts his own childhood years, how he discovered reading and writing, and how he made sense of the world through words. A confrontation that pokes fun at his own genius and explains how literature and language both construct and distort human existence.
Quotes from Cevvela
“Words were invented not to grasp the world but to escape from it.”
“I didn’t really want to be a writer; I only wanted to be someone important.”
“Reading is sharing other people’s dreams and escaping one’s own wakefulness.”
“I spent my childhood playing the role assigned to me.”
“With words, a person can build both their own dungeon and their own fortress.”
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Reader Score: 7.5 / 10(1.103 votes)
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Sartre attacks without sparing his own childhood, using words like a whip. The text possesses a frankness that will unsettle anyone who considers themselves intelligent. We’ve placed it in the Student Coaching category because it shows how family and society distort that innocent essence in a child through the expectation of a “prodigy.” The author confesses how, as a child, he actually escaped reality by taking refuge in the world of words—how he played at life rather than living it. This is an assault on his own intellectual arrogance. It embodies Cevvela’s sharp spirit; because “being useful” means being authentic, not playing with words. Life cannot be lived through reading alone.