Details Books Concering The Mandarins
| Original Title: | Les Mandarins |
| ISBN: | 0007203942 (ISBN13: 9780007203949) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Paris(France) |
| Literary Awards: | Prix Goncourt (1954) |
Simone de Beauvoir
Paperback | Pages: 752 pages Rating: 4.14 | 4055 Users | 280 Reviews
Define Based On Books The Mandarins
| Title | : | The Mandarins |
| Author | : | Simone de Beauvoir |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 752 pages |
| Published | : | May 3rd 2005 by Harper Perennial (first published October 21st 1954) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Cultural. France. Philosophy. Feminism |
Relation Toward Books The Mandarins
In her most famous novel, Simone de Beauvoir does not flinch in her look at Parisian intellectual society at the end of the Second World War. Drawing on those who surrounded her -- Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler -- and her passionate love affair with Nelson Algren, Beauvoir dissects the emotional and philosophical currents of her time. At once an engrossing drama and an intriguing political tale, The Mandarins is the emotional odyssey of a woman torn between her inner desire and her public life.The Mandarins won France's highest literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.
Rating Based On Books The Mandarins
Ratings: 4.14 From 4055 Users | 280 ReviewsAppraise Based On Books The Mandarins
A lot of people appear to dislike Les Mandarins, which I think is a pretty excellent novel, so let me try and explain what I think is good about it. To me, it's basically about what happens to people (particularly to women) when they realize that they are no longer young. This has several consequences. To start off with, not being young means that you're no longer as physically attractive as you were. Of course, you can go into denial, and say that as long as you eat healthily, exercise, andI totally enjoyed this book. Like some other reviewers here, I found the first few pages to be challenging to go through: so many characters are introduced and the narrative seems sparse. By the second/third chapters though, I was captured by the book and could barely put it aside.I don't think I have so far come across any better illustration of the classical idea of "intellectual" in the pure French tradition, that which was started with Zola's public stance during the Dreyfus Affair. de
for all of my bitching and moaning, this was one of those books that answered on one of those Rilkean crying out nights, and it did such a lovely job of telling at least three different stories, and yes, six hundred pages was sometimes a slog, and yes existentialism sometimes makes me reach for a sweater, but I still loved this book and it will be living in my head for a long time.
A harrowing classic that deftly covers the onion-like layers of individual decision making and the multitude of actions and inactions that decision making process affects over a short period of time, especially in the wake of a great trauma. In this case, the trauma is WW II, and most of the characters fought for the French resistance. In the aftermath of the war, the change from necessary, immediate action to assessing each act for every possible outcome becomes daunting. Exploring the affect
I learned that Simone de Beauvoir was one smart cookie. I learned about existentialism for the first time and absuridty and the French resistance and Paris bars. I took this book to Paris and read it there. I went to the bars and cafes and read it there. I was on a late and horrible honeymoon and still have the book but the husband.....non
So glad to know that Simone isn't only author of "The Second Sex". I really love this book and surprisingly for me the language of the story is so bright and alive. Of course this is still Simone with her existentional questions and deep philisophy, but this time I can see a lot of her personal feelings too.
The story meanders across the last half of a lifetime and is at times absolutely brilliant. The second chapter in and of itself is a masterpiece. I frequently read this portion on it's owns a random times in the year and it is able to bringing me to tears almost everytime.
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