The Woman Destroyed (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

Product Information

Tragedies are all right for a while: you are concerned, you are curious, you feel good. And then it gets repetitive, it doesn't advance, it grows dreadfully boring: it is so very boring, even for me.”

Has my watch stopped? No. But its hands do not seem to be going around. Don't look at them. Think of something else - anything else: think of yesterday, a calm, ordinary, easy-flowing day, in spite of the nervous tension of waiting.” La mujer rota" contiene tres relatos breves: La edad de la discreción, Monólogo y, finalmente, La mujer rota. Y qué mejor que las propias palabras de De Beauvoir para hablar de ellos: "He querido hacer escuchar aquí las voces de tres mujeres que se debaten con palabras en situaciones sin salida. Una tropieza con una ineluctable fatalidad, la de la edad. La segunda conjura por medio de un monólogo parafrénico la soledad a donde la ha arrojado su egoísmo exacerbado. La mujer rota es la víctima estupefacta de la vida que ella misma se eligió: una dependencia conyugal que la deja despojada de todo y de su ser mismo cuando el amor le es rehusado. Sería en vano buscar moralejas en estos relatos; proponer lecciones, no; mi intención ha sido totalmente diferente. No se vive más que una sola vida, pero, por la simpatía, a veces es posible salirse de la propia piel. He querido comunicar a mis lectores ciertas experiencias de las cuales participé de esa manera. Me siento solidaria de las mujeres que han asumido su vida y que luchan por lograr sus objetivos; pero eso no me impide -al contrario- interesarme por aquellas que, de un modo u otro, han fracasado, y, en general, por esa parte de fracaso que hay en toda existencia. The couple is both around 60. He still works as a scientist but feels only younger people can contribute. “Great scientists are valuable to science in the first half of their lives and harmful in the second.” [quote from Bachelard] She argues with him until her latest book that she thought of as 'filled with new insights’ is panned by both critics and friends as a summary of her earlier work.Moglie di un medico, ha immolato tutta la sua vita per dedicarsi alle figlie ed al marito finché un giorno lui le confessa di tradirla e, da lì, si scoperchia un doloroso vaso di Pandora. The Woman Destroyed is Simone de Beauvoir’s beguiling fictional analysis of womanhood’s complexities. The work is a collection of three novellas, each featuring a different woman in crisis and trapped by circumstance. “The Age of Discretion” recounts the desperation of a successful professor and writer who feels her power and influence over her newly-married son slipping. “The Monologue” centers around an aging, rich woman sits at home, alone, and pours out her bitterness in a stream of consciousness diatribe. In the title story, an older heroine struggles to rediscover happiness after her husband confesses to an affair. The three stories, each captivating in its beautifully profound exploration of the woman’s mind, center around individuals battling the unstoppable passage of time, the inevitably of age, resounding loneliness, the indifference of loved ones, and the unfortunate decay of passion. Simone de Beauvoir´s impeccable writing style full of wits and eloquence paired with my curiosity about the destiny of three women in the book kept me engaged from start to end. There you are. The sight of the changing world is miraculous and heartbreaking, both at the same time.

The woman telling her story has two grown daughters, one of whom is married and the other pursuing an independent career in the United States. Now, as her unhappiness builds, she even questions her upbringing of her daughters. My life was hurrying, racing tragically toward its end. And yet at the same time it was dripping so slowly, so very slowly now, hour by hour, minute by minute. One always has to wait until the sugar melts, the memory dies, the wound scars over, the sun sets, the unhappiness lifts and fades away.” What we have are three female voices, one louder and more strident than the other, but all disconcerting. None of them throw any real light upon the melancholy situations complained about.Several years ago, shortly after finishing “The Mandarins”, Simone De Beauvior's tour de force novel, I came across an article titled: “Are Good Books Bad for You?” I immediately thought of De Beauvior’s fiction. Like nothing else I’ve ever read, her fiction has the ability to influence my emotions and my opinions in a deep and powerful way. It’s nearly dangerous, I think, the depth at which she strikes chords in her readers. Reading “The Woman Destroyed”, I was reminded that all great writing is a warning, or at the very least, veiled advice on how one might attempt to live a meaningful life. Referring to the Past: A Review of ‘New York Art Worlds, 1870-1890’ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art