While Slumry's trust of Bjorn Rorslett's opinions about Nikon lenses is valid, Bjorn evaluates those lenses for a specific application; usually macro photography or at least close-up photography. Bjorn's standards for a lens may not apply to your use of a Nikkor 35 mm lens. When reading Bjorn's assessments, you must keep that in mind.
There are many threads in the Nikon forum on photo.net on this subject. There is a new 35/1.8 Nikkor for DSLRs with the aps size sensor. Before that the only 35 AF lens was the 35/2. There were many more manual focus Nikkors. I have a 35/2.8 'K' lens which I find very sharp. This is the one I use most often. I have a late model 35/2.8 AI which is somewhat more compact and still good. I have a 35/2 Nikkor O which is very sharp but doesn't have the most modern coating. Finally I have a 35/2.8 PC Nikkor. Mine is the second to last version. I haven't used it very much but from what I've seen it is a good lens. It just isn't as fast to use as a non-PC type. From my owm experience I feel that the 35/2.8 lenses do not deserve their bad reputation. The 35/1.4 lenses appeal to some people more than others. They are large and expensive and are not supposed to have such good performance wide open. Eventually I would like to get a 35/2 AI or AIS for use on my AI bodies. The 35/2 Nikkor O has not been converted to AI so it's not convenient to use on the AI bodies with flip-up tabs. All of my experience with these lenses is with film cameras. If you intend to use the lenses with a DSLR you may have different results.