by Guy de Maupassant
translated by Majorie Laurie
"Yvette," a novella. A courtesan’s daughter, Yvette enraptures a handful of suitors, in particular Servigny; her flippancy masks true innocence, however, and she becomes horrified by the life her mother lives. An engrossing psychological portrait; the gaps between classes, between generations, between the sexes are made all too clear, helped along by the characters’ unwillingness to acknowledge them overtly. Even at the end when Servigny seems to have won Yvette’s love, he tells himself no woman is to be trusted; the reader knows it will end with someone hurt.
"Lost At Sea." A woman’s horribly abusive husband is eventually lost at sea. Then she buys a parrot that imitates his swearing and abuse. She beats it to a pulp. Uh, okay.
"The Olive Grove." An old Abbé, living as a respected, vigorous man in a small village, is surprised by his lost, illegitimate son. The gap between their worlds is made explicit: “Between him and this creature, who was his son, he began to realize there lay a trench brimming with moral filth, with a foulness, that is mortal poison to a healthy mind.” It ends violently. A stark tale of immorality and moral repercussions.
"The Hostelry." Two men keep an inn going for the winter, alone with a dog; then one goes out hunting and never returns. The remaining caretaker, whom the owner’s daughter loves, develops a severe case of cabin fever and goes mad. A compelling story, though overly depressing.
"A Portrait," a very short story. A man wonders what his friend’s attraction is to women, until he sees a portrait of his friend’s mother, who appears artless and aloof and beguiling. Hmmm.
"The Apple Dumplings." A farmer couple waits as her father wastes away on his deathbed. They show callousness and selfishness, resenting his extended survival, hoping he’ll die so they can get on with their busy, scant lives. A very good demonstration of the human tendency to be insensitive and to live for the moment. “Every man has his turn," it is noted. “It was their turn, they reflected, to be eating dumplings."
"Shali." A French Navy man goes to India, where he is given, among other gifts, an eight year old girl as a slave. Disgusted by most of the Raja’s other entertainments, he grows overly fond of her; but she meets a bad end. A rather horrifying and morbid story which suggests that there are just too many chasms of misunderstanding for people to find love. If indeed love is the right word for a relation that smacks of pederasty.
"Idle Beauty." A Countess is made pregnant by her husband seven times in eleven years, because, she says, he wants to ruin her looks out of jealousy. So she tells him one of the children is not his, subjecting him to tortures of worry and resentment. A tale steeped in anti-Romanticism, claiming (with extended commentary by two observers) that humans deserve more refined aims than the base and natural urge to procreate. But at the end, when the Count has come round to this view as well, he is gripped by a new “strange emotion” (understanding that his wife has her own dreams and desires independent of his own?) which riles him as much as his “primitive passion of earlier days." One just can’t win, can one?
"The Murderer,” a five-page story. It consists of a lawyer’s defense speech for his client, an upstanding man whose murder of his second, perfidious, wife is excused on grounds of righteous passion. Like a lot of Maupassant’s stories, the putative jolt lies entirely in the event rather than the telling.
"An Encounter,” a brief story. A Baron separates from his wife because of her treachery; he encounters her years later on a train, seemingly by chance. Actually, she has planned it, but not to effect a reconciliation: she is having a baby and wishes to avoid scandal. This is one of Maupassant’s more gratifying stories, although the last lines – "He never saw her again. Was she lying? Was she speaking the truth? He never knew" – seem unlikely given the established fact that they live in a hotbed of Parisian gossip. Would he really never hear word that his estranged wife, separated or not, had a child?
"The Horla." A man finds himself under the influence of some supernatural, invisible, and malevolent force, which he calls the Horla. Its presence is so disturbing that he resolves to kill it. An early example of the horror genre; Maupassant felt the need to explain the flight of fantasy by pointing out how much of the natural world is invisible to the naked eye. Quite chilling, especially at the beginning; a good idea well told in diary form.
three stars
Showing posts with label french. Show all posts
Showing posts with label french. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 1999
Monday, November 16, 1998
The Stranger
by Alfred Camus
1942
translated by Matthew Ward
I continue to find that I still identify very closely with the existentialists and absurdists, and that my fascination in high school was not just a phase. I identify very much with Meursault, the protagonist of this story; although I certainly can’t see myself allowing evil to become so contagious so quickly, I can see how the world sort of takes us up in its series of events, and things simply happen without us intending them to. The way in which his girlfriend, Marie, for example, asked him to marry her, and his indifference to the idea either way, struck me as startlingly familiar. The book says so much in what it doesn’t say: the terse, laconic style speaking pages about Mersault’s state of mind, how he takes everything at face value and sees no need to dissimulate about the world, or make false pretenses. The theme of man’s helplessness in the face of the world’s absurdity comes through in a much more stark fashion, perhaps more so than in “The Trial,” because of Mersault’s failure to panic and his dismissal of hope. Quite a profound and moving book in its few pages.
four stars
1942
translated by Matthew Ward
I continue to find that I still identify very closely with the existentialists and absurdists, and that my fascination in high school was not just a phase. I identify very much with Meursault, the protagonist of this story; although I certainly can’t see myself allowing evil to become so contagious so quickly, I can see how the world sort of takes us up in its series of events, and things simply happen without us intending them to. The way in which his girlfriend, Marie, for example, asked him to marry her, and his indifference to the idea either way, struck me as startlingly familiar. The book says so much in what it doesn’t say: the terse, laconic style speaking pages about Mersault’s state of mind, how he takes everything at face value and sees no need to dissimulate about the world, or make false pretenses. The theme of man’s helplessness in the face of the world’s absurdity comes through in a much more stark fashion, perhaps more so than in “The Trial,” because of Mersault’s failure to panic and his dismissal of hope. Quite a profound and moving book in its few pages.
four stars
Sunday, November 1, 1998
The Man In the Iron Mask
by Alexandre Dumas
1850
edited and annotated by David Coward, from an older translation
Well, the mammoth saga of the once-invincibles comes to a rather sad end. Porthos dies because his strength gives out. Aramis flees France in disgrace because his schemes come to ruin. And Athos dies because the one thing dearer to him to God, his son, leaves his company to go die in the Africa campaigns under the Duke of Beaufort. And d’Artagnan – well, d’Artagnan’s star does not decline under the sun king, but that’s only because this once so haughty Gascon spirit humbles itself rather abjectly before the iron will of Louis (chapter 81, simply and appropriately titled “King Louis XIV”). I have one complaint with this action-packed adventure, during which in the course of 570 pages the suspense hardly slackens. Why did Aramis, General of the Jesuits, master planner always with an out at his disposal, admit defeat instantly when Fouquet announced he would denounce him? Up to that point, Fouquet had been a pawn of Aramis. Suddenly, Aramis had to flee for his life on the word alone of Fouquet. Well, maybe it was the onset of age that weakens Aramis’ resolve.
1850
edited and annotated by David Coward, from an older translation
Well, the mammoth saga of the once-invincibles comes to a rather sad end. Porthos dies because his strength gives out. Aramis flees France in disgrace because his schemes come to ruin. And Athos dies because the one thing dearer to him to God, his son, leaves his company to go die in the Africa campaigns under the Duke of Beaufort. And d’Artagnan – well, d’Artagnan’s star does not decline under the sun king, but that’s only because this once so haughty Gascon spirit humbles itself rather abjectly before the iron will of Louis (chapter 81, simply and appropriately titled “King Louis XIV”). I have one complaint with this action-packed adventure, during which in the course of 570 pages the suspense hardly slackens. Why did Aramis, General of the Jesuits, master planner always with an out at his disposal, admit defeat instantly when Fouquet announced he would denounce him? Up to that point, Fouquet had been a pawn of Aramis. Suddenly, Aramis had to flee for his life on the word alone of Fouquet. Well, maybe it was the onset of age that weakens Aramis’ resolve.
Thursday, October 10, 1996
Letters On England
by Voltaire
translated, with a rambling introduction and rather sporadic annotation, by Leonard Tancock
This book is a series of epistles to no one in particular, comparing the relatively tolerant and free atmosphere of England of the time (1734), as well as its great men of letters and science (Newton and Locke) to that of France, for the benefit of the French public. The book was banned in France. At the same time, Voltaire satirizes certain foibles of the English nobility, the Quakers, English poetry, etc, so he really hits two birds with one stone. Actually, three, because the last letter is a criticism of Pascal’s Pensées – it doesn’t have anything to do with England, but it’s the best section, composed of a few brilliantly cutting and logical rebuttals to some of Pascal’s notes.
Although short, this book took me an inordinately long time to read because I had to look up a great number of historical and contemporary references Voltaire made. I enjoyed it where it was witty and sharp, notably the beginning and end.
four stars
translated, with a rambling introduction and rather sporadic annotation, by Leonard Tancock
This book is a series of epistles to no one in particular, comparing the relatively tolerant and free atmosphere of England of the time (1734), as well as its great men of letters and science (Newton and Locke) to that of France, for the benefit of the French public. The book was banned in France. At the same time, Voltaire satirizes certain foibles of the English nobility, the Quakers, English poetry, etc, so he really hits two birds with one stone. Actually, three, because the last letter is a criticism of Pascal’s Pensées – it doesn’t have anything to do with England, but it’s the best section, composed of a few brilliantly cutting and logical rebuttals to some of Pascal’s notes.
Although short, this book took me an inordinately long time to read because I had to look up a great number of historical and contemporary references Voltaire made. I enjoyed it where it was witty and sharp, notably the beginning and end.
four stars
Tuesday, April 11, 1995
Troubled Sleep
by Jean-Paul Sartre
translated by Gerard Hopkins
(Translated from La Mort Dans L'Ame – a somewhat different title.) This series was apparently supposed to continue beyond three books, and although I get the sense of transition in this book, there's also completion: Mathieu makes a final decision for freedom, Brunet finds out that the mindset he wants his fellows to share does not come about so easily. It is sad that we never find out what happens to Odette & Jacques, Daniel & Philippe, or Gomez, lost in America... However, the main focus of this book is Mathieu, representing the typical soldier who fights simply because, and Brunet, the party member who has a cause which is shared by few. The scene describing Mathieu's last stand was particularly moving, as was the death of the printer at the end of the book. A great series, all in all, that I am very sorry to see end before the end of the road is found for everyone.
four stars
translated by Gerard Hopkins
(Translated from La Mort Dans L'Ame – a somewhat different title.) This series was apparently supposed to continue beyond three books, and although I get the sense of transition in this book, there's also completion: Mathieu makes a final decision for freedom, Brunet finds out that the mindset he wants his fellows to share does not come about so easily. It is sad that we never find out what happens to Odette & Jacques, Daniel & Philippe, or Gomez, lost in America... However, the main focus of this book is Mathieu, representing the typical soldier who fights simply because, and Brunet, the party member who has a cause which is shared by few. The scene describing Mathieu's last stand was particularly moving, as was the death of the printer at the end of the book. A great series, all in all, that I am very sorry to see end before the end of the road is found for everyone.
four stars
Sunday, March 26, 1995
The Reprieve
by Jean-Paul Sartre
translated by Eric Sutton
The second volume of the Roads of Freedom. It is a completely original, intricately planned masterwork. The narration of the novel shifts frantically back and forth from character to place to first person, all without warning, once even going into the head of a dead man (he died secure in the knowledge that WWI was the last war). This duplicates the confusion and frantic anxiety everyone was feeling as the Germans demanded Czechoslovakia. Often, two scenes that parallel each other are shown intertwined, to great effect. Perhaps the most powerful of these was the final scene, when the taking/rape of Czechoslovakia shifted and corresponded with the taking/rape of Ivich. And beyond matters of style, it was fascinating to read about the war years from a totally European perspective, a book in which America is mentioned (I believe) once. It really was an utterly European concern. A great book, a classic.
five stars
translated by Eric Sutton
The second volume of the Roads of Freedom. It is a completely original, intricately planned masterwork. The narration of the novel shifts frantically back and forth from character to place to first person, all without warning, once even going into the head of a dead man (he died secure in the knowledge that WWI was the last war). This duplicates the confusion and frantic anxiety everyone was feeling as the Germans demanded Czechoslovakia. Often, two scenes that parallel each other are shown intertwined, to great effect. Perhaps the most powerful of these was the final scene, when the taking/rape of Czechoslovakia shifted and corresponded with the taking/rape of Ivich. And beyond matters of style, it was fascinating to read about the war years from a totally European perspective, a book in which America is mentioned (I believe) once. It really was an utterly European concern. A great book, a classic.
five stars
Wednesday, February 22, 1995
The Age of Reason
by Jean-Paul Sartre
1945
It's the first book in his Roads of Freedom trilogy. A very meticulously planned novel, it centers around Mathieu, a disenchanted college professor with a pregnant mistress. The character of Daniel, the cruel and masochistic homosexual who hates himself, is one of the great instigators in literature. Throughout the book, Mathieu trees to be free, even though he doesn't know how to attain freedom. He sees marriage as sacrificing his freedom, but has no clear alternatives.
There are exceptional passages, such as when Mathieu goes up to Lola's apartment after Boris has mistakenly reported her dead. The complex network of occurrences takes place in the space of three days in the book, so it's a very tight examination of its characters' minds. All in all, a great work, the theme of which will hopefully be expounded on in the second novel
four stars
1945
It's the first book in his Roads of Freedom trilogy. A very meticulously planned novel, it centers around Mathieu, a disenchanted college professor with a pregnant mistress. The character of Daniel, the cruel and masochistic homosexual who hates himself, is one of the great instigators in literature. Throughout the book, Mathieu trees to be free, even though he doesn't know how to attain freedom. He sees marriage as sacrificing his freedom, but has no clear alternatives.
There are exceptional passages, such as when Mathieu goes up to Lola's apartment after Boris has mistakenly reported her dead. The complex network of occurrences takes place in the space of three days in the book, so it's a very tight examination of its characters' minds. All in all, a great work, the theme of which will hopefully be expounded on in the second novel
four stars
Monday, February 13, 1995
Intimacy
by Jean-Paul Sartre
translated by Lloyd Alexander
A volume containing five stories. Each of these is repugnant in its own way, coming a little too close to the characters' personalities for the reader's comfort. The protagonists in the stories all deal with existentialist crises, much like Roquentin in Nausea does (in fact, some passages contain identical phrasing to describe these feelings). The stories:
"Intimacy." A fairly straightforward account of a wife who almost leaves her impotent husband. She suffers in that, like Roquentin, the essence of people is stripped away for her, and she sees nothing but their rather disgusting existence.
"Erostratus." A portrait of a serial killer (predating Henry). He can't handle humans existing all around him either, and fires off a diatribe against humanists, just like you-know-who again.
"The Wall." The agony of men who know they will die (they are to be shot the next day). An amazing excursion into this mindframe, with an oddly rote ironical ending.
"The Childhood of a Leader." How a boy grows disenchanted and turns to anti-semitism, believing he can find the reason for existence in power. Hard to read, the same way Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold is.
"The Room." An insane man, and his wife who wants to live as he does, see what he sees. ...Er, didn't quite get this one.
four stars
translated by Lloyd Alexander
A volume containing five stories. Each of these is repugnant in its own way, coming a little too close to the characters' personalities for the reader's comfort. The protagonists in the stories all deal with existentialist crises, much like Roquentin in Nausea does (in fact, some passages contain identical phrasing to describe these feelings). The stories:
"Intimacy." A fairly straightforward account of a wife who almost leaves her impotent husband. She suffers in that, like Roquentin, the essence of people is stripped away for her, and she sees nothing but their rather disgusting existence.
"Erostratus." A portrait of a serial killer (predating Henry). He can't handle humans existing all around him either, and fires off a diatribe against humanists, just like you-know-who again.
"The Wall." The agony of men who know they will die (they are to be shot the next day). An amazing excursion into this mindframe, with an oddly rote ironical ending.
"The Childhood of a Leader." How a boy grows disenchanted and turns to anti-semitism, believing he can find the reason for existence in power. Hard to read, the same way Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold is.
"The Room." An insane man, and his wife who wants to live as he does, see what he sees. ...Er, didn't quite get this one.
four stars
Tuesday, January 24, 1995
Nausea
by Jean-Paul Sartre
1938
translated by Lloyd Alexander
An engaging novel of philosophy. The long passages of pure angst and self-examination, where everything is reduced to pure existence, were fairly hard to slog through. But passages wherein Roquentin is dismantling the élite, or arguing against pure humanism, were great. Also, The Autodidact is a great character. And it did have a surprisingly happy ending. A book worth talking about, and well worth revisiting some day.
four stars
1938
translated by Lloyd Alexander
An engaging novel of philosophy. The long passages of pure angst and self-examination, where everything is reduced to pure existence, were fairly hard to slog through. But passages wherein Roquentin is dismantling the élite, or arguing against pure humanism, were great. Also, The Autodidact is a great character. And it did have a surprisingly happy ending. A book worth talking about, and well worth revisiting some day.
four stars
Sunday, September 18, 1994
The Words
by Jean-Paul Sartre
In terms of its style and craft of writing, this autobiography may well be unequaled. The prose is perfect, beautiful and brilliant. The depth of thought in the self-analysis, the clarity of the examination and the honesty, is also brilliant. A lot of the references to Sartre’s childhood reading material went over my head, unfortunately. But that’s minor; I was still awed by his insight and style. Sartre says elsewhere that this is not an apology or a self-repudiation, although it may seem so. It’s merely a totally open representation of a life from its origins to its path to rebirth.
In terms of its style and craft of writing, this autobiography may well be unequaled. The prose is perfect, beautiful and brilliant. The depth of thought in the self-analysis, the clarity of the examination and the honesty, is also brilliant. A lot of the references to Sartre’s childhood reading material went over my head, unfortunately. But that’s minor; I was still awed by his insight and style. Sartre says elsewhere that this is not an apology or a self-repudiation, although it may seem so. It’s merely a totally open representation of a life from its origins to its path to rebirth.
Thursday, September 1, 1994
Sartre By Himself
by Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Contat, Alexandre Astruc
A transcription of a film of Sartre discussing various issues with fellow intellectuals. It’s an interesting look at his development from moralist, to realist, to moralist for the masses, and it also depicts him working at galvanizing the masses & protesting oppressive actions in the late ‘60s. There’s also a short analysis of works such as Nausea & Being and Nothingness, which I haven’t read – but it’s a start on understanding them, anyway. An intriguing book, if (necessarily, because it’s conversations) choppy and disjointed in structure.
A transcription of a film of Sartre discussing various issues with fellow intellectuals. It’s an interesting look at his development from moralist, to realist, to moralist for the masses, and it also depicts him working at galvanizing the masses & protesting oppressive actions in the late ‘60s. There’s also a short analysis of works such as Nausea & Being and Nothingness, which I haven’t read – but it’s a start on understanding them, anyway. An intriguing book, if (necessarily, because it’s conversations) choppy and disjointed in structure.
Thursday, August 25, 1994
No Exit and Three Other Plays
by Jean-Paul Sartre
"No Exit," translated by S. Gilbert. Three strangers, locked in a room. Can't really say anything about this brilliant allegory without revealing too much. It should be very widely read.
"The Flies," translated by S. Gilbert. A reworking of the Orestes/Electra story. I liked it better than Euripides'. Sartre made the characters multi-faceted and real; he also added Zeus as an adversary of Orestes who feeds on remorse. Orestes' refusing to repudiate his crime, create his own freedom and deny Zeus & nature, was very existential, I thought. Plus, perhaps, the killing could be identified with the workers' violent revolt which creates their own justice maybe. Anyway, a great, complex play, that also works as an anti-Nazi or anti-occupation message.
"Dirty Hands," translated by Lionel Abel. It was about an intellectual who yearns to act for the Communist Party, and is manipulated by them to such an extent that the man he is supposed to kill sees it all and even tries to reveal it to him. There’s a great, well-crafted argument scene about the process of power-taking and political machinations between the intellectual (Hugo) and his target (Hoederer). In the end, Hugo is convinced he acted for the right reasons, despite the party's re-writing of history. Like Sartre’s Orestes, he too refuses to repudiate his crime and makes his own destiny. A great, great play.
"The Respectful Prostitute," translated by Lionel Abel. It’s a short, very chilling, scathing attack on American corruption and racism. I don’t remember it from my previous reading as being this powerful, but it is – a nasty little piece of work.
[read twice]
five stars
"No Exit," translated by S. Gilbert. Three strangers, locked in a room. Can't really say anything about this brilliant allegory without revealing too much. It should be very widely read.
"The Flies," translated by S. Gilbert. A reworking of the Orestes/Electra story. I liked it better than Euripides'. Sartre made the characters multi-faceted and real; he also added Zeus as an adversary of Orestes who feeds on remorse. Orestes' refusing to repudiate his crime, create his own freedom and deny Zeus & nature, was very existential, I thought. Plus, perhaps, the killing could be identified with the workers' violent revolt which creates their own justice maybe. Anyway, a great, complex play, that also works as an anti-Nazi or anti-occupation message.
"Dirty Hands," translated by Lionel Abel. It was about an intellectual who yearns to act for the Communist Party, and is manipulated by them to such an extent that the man he is supposed to kill sees it all and even tries to reveal it to him. There’s a great, well-crafted argument scene about the process of power-taking and political machinations between the intellectual (Hugo) and his target (Hoederer). In the end, Hugo is convinced he acted for the right reasons, despite the party's re-writing of history. Like Sartre’s Orestes, he too refuses to repudiate his crime and makes his own destiny. A great, great play.
"The Respectful Prostitute," translated by Lionel Abel. It’s a short, very chilling, scathing attack on American corruption and racism. I don’t remember it from my previous reading as being this powerful, but it is – a nasty little piece of work.
[read twice]
five stars
Monday, August 1, 1994
The Devil And the Good Lord And Two Other Plays
by Jean-Paul Sartre
"The Devil and the Good Lord," translated by Kitty Black. I loved it. Goetz is one of the inscrutable characters of literature: why does he act the way he does? Is he pretending to be Good just to do Evil more? But though the play is enigmatic, the message is clear. It doesn't matter if God is alive or dead, if we try to do absolute Good or total Evil. No matter what, we're all equal in that we're buffeted by the winds of fate regardless of what we might want to bring about.
"Kean," translated by Kitty Black. Apparently based on a Dumas play. I don't really know what to make of it. It's a fine comedy and refreshingly (for Sartre) non-communist, with a happy ending. It seems to be a satire of class relations and antiquated gender relations, with a little bit of Shakespearean object-of-desire switching thrown in for comedy. On top of that, it's a comment on the artificiality of almost all relations in life.
"Nekrasov," translated by Sylvia & George Leeson. It was a very cunning and biting farce on politics, journalism and the nature of man. A swindler pretends to be a Soviet official/defector: the consequences are far-reaching, realistic, and work to further the causes of the powers that be, despite what Georges, the crook, wants. Another great play.
four stars
"The Devil and the Good Lord," translated by Kitty Black. I loved it. Goetz is one of the inscrutable characters of literature: why does he act the way he does? Is he pretending to be Good just to do Evil more? But though the play is enigmatic, the message is clear. It doesn't matter if God is alive or dead, if we try to do absolute Good or total Evil. No matter what, we're all equal in that we're buffeted by the winds of fate regardless of what we might want to bring about.
"Kean," translated by Kitty Black. Apparently based on a Dumas play. I don't really know what to make of it. It's a fine comedy and refreshingly (for Sartre) non-communist, with a happy ending. It seems to be a satire of class relations and antiquated gender relations, with a little bit of Shakespearean object-of-desire switching thrown in for comedy. On top of that, it's a comment on the artificiality of almost all relations in life.
"Nekrasov," translated by Sylvia & George Leeson. It was a very cunning and biting farce on politics, journalism and the nature of man. A swindler pretends to be a Soviet official/defector: the consequences are far-reaching, realistic, and work to further the causes of the powers that be, despite what Georges, the crook, wants. Another great play.
four stars
Tuesday, July 19, 1994
Life/Situations
by Jean-Paul Sartre
translated by Paul Aster & Lydia Davis
A collection of philosophical essays. I came away with a split opinion: either I was awed by Sartre's brilliance & clear vision, or turned off by his faux "arguments" (simply laying down a few comments & then pretending the issue had been established). And then, there's the fact that most of the references went over my head. It contained:
"Self Portrait at Seventy," an interview, taking up almost half the volume. What I understood, I really liked.
"Simone de Beauvoir Interviews Sartre," a conversation about feminism & the struggle.
"On The Idiot Of the Family," a good academic analysis of his work on Flaubert.
"The Burgos Trial," a strong argument for Basque independence.
"The Maoists in France," just what it says.
"Justice and the State," an essay repeating much of the previous one, on Marxist, or popular, justice, what he calls the only true justice. Here, he says he's a contradiction because he writes bourgeois books but urges Marxist revolution. I think one sees a contradiction only if one sees everything in such black and white, bourgeois-popular, either-or terms. There are gems of brilliance in this essay.
"Elections: A Trap for Fools," in which he argues that universal suffrage serializes us and gives us a false sense of power. It is true, voting delegates no authority: we are choosing people with authority, but we have no power to give (we couldn't represent ourselves, for example). This was the feeblest essay, in my opinion: anyone can work for any case he wants, and if he can't convince others to vote his way, that means they have their own causes. I just don't think voting is as serialized as he says.
three stars
translated by Paul Aster & Lydia Davis
A collection of philosophical essays. I came away with a split opinion: either I was awed by Sartre's brilliance & clear vision, or turned off by his faux "arguments" (simply laying down a few comments & then pretending the issue had been established). And then, there's the fact that most of the references went over my head. It contained:
"Self Portrait at Seventy," an interview, taking up almost half the volume. What I understood, I really liked.
"Simone de Beauvoir Interviews Sartre," a conversation about feminism & the struggle.
"On The Idiot Of the Family," a good academic analysis of his work on Flaubert.
"The Burgos Trial," a strong argument for Basque independence.
"The Maoists in France," just what it says.
"Justice and the State," an essay repeating much of the previous one, on Marxist, or popular, justice, what he calls the only true justice. Here, he says he's a contradiction because he writes bourgeois books but urges Marxist revolution. I think one sees a contradiction only if one sees everything in such black and white, bourgeois-popular, either-or terms. There are gems of brilliance in this essay.
"Elections: A Trap for Fools," in which he argues that universal suffrage serializes us and gives us a false sense of power. It is true, voting delegates no authority: we are choosing people with authority, but we have no power to give (we couldn't represent ourselves, for example). This was the feeblest essay, in my opinion: anyone can work for any case he wants, and if he can't convince others to vote his way, that means they have their own causes. I just don't think voting is as serialized as he says.
three stars
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