DNF

When the author is more clever than her characters.

Didactic essays [stories], which don't possess the iterative, self-aware-self-reflexive thoughts which are no longer acceptable omissions in a "modern" text.

Essay 1) Half-formed thoughts on aging/death; mediocrity of old age - what do they know about suicide.

Essay 2)"The monologue is a form of revenge." - Flaubert

Essay 3)"Dickensian" character confined within a circumscribed thought process. Lacks insight to say anything surprising. The "moral of the story" is stated explicitly.

"Unbelievable! You as a prosecuting counsel against me."

( )

Three novellas centering on the growing pains of middle-aged women as they suffer from perceived betrayals of their loved ones.

My favourite was The Age of Discretion where de Beauvoir expertly creates a complex, proud, flawed protagonist and her two key relationships. From between the lines of her own words charting her rage and disappointments, we can infer her pride and her follies. The years of history and context of relationships are succinctly and realistically brought to life. We fully inhabit her person, can understand her perspective, but also how each character was driven to each point in the story. I feel de Beauvoir's key strength is the thoroughness of her characterisations which allows her to simply place them in a setting and the events to organically develop.

An excellent psychological portrait of a character and her relationships. ( )

I rather liked the first story (The Age of Discretion) more than the last (TWD) and quite loathed the middle story. Simone de Beauvoir write devastating portraits -- the women are strong, proud, and ceaselessly good, and yet are failed and broken by the male figures in their lives. Most of all I appreciated how real the women's thought processes were -- de Beauvoir harvested her own emotional winds and ran them into these characters, and they were more real for it, and their troubles more painful for me to take in. ( )

TW: Suicide, Loss of a child, Depression

THE AGE OF DISCRETION:

‘A scholar faces the harsh rejection of her latest academic work and the waning love of a son more interested in his young wife and her worldly values.’

I struggled with this story. In my opinion, De Beauvoir wanted us to see the ‘pains of growing old, the onset of loneliness..’ and ‘...the decay of passion,’ in seemingly everyday situations, that any woman could find themselves in. However, my small mind could not get past the main character’s determination to cut her son from her life. Although it claimed they had ‘broken off for ever more than once,’ implying they would be in contact in the future, my own perceptions of parenthood could not relate to the finality of the statement.

THE MONOLOGUE:

‘A rich and spoilt woman is consumed by bitterness and loneliness after her son and husband have left home.’

The lack of punctuation and the haphazardness of the writing show real insight into the mind of the monologue’s author. Is her pain in adulthood stemmed from trauma, as a result of her childhood? Despite her sanctimony and sense of entitlement, my heart broke for her and the loss of her daughter.

THE WOMAN DESTROYED:

‘Monique attempts to piece together the remnants of her former life after her husband confessed to an affair with a younger woman.’

Written in the form of a diary, I found this a quick read. However, It was by no means an easy read.
The Woman Destroyed was not an enjoyable book. It was a book that made me think, that made me feel.

I will say, if you’re feeling low, reading of other’s despair is not necessarily helpful! This one may not be for you.