Simone de Beauvoir by Ursula Tidd

Abstract

88o Reviews While Paul Smith understandably makes out a quite proper case in his intro duction for considering this collection as a conceptually unified project, its interest might rather be found by readers to lie precisely in itsversatile diversity, and in the centrifugal impulse of the ideas and connections it throws up. For this reader, such an impulse came often from the cross-currents relating tometadiscursive strategies and in particular tomultiple rewritings. This latter is richly evident in the careful study of Perec's choice and reuse inLa Vie mode d'emploi of quotations from Rabelais, who may in turn be quoting Pliny or Lucian, just asMontaigne re writes Plutarch before being rewritten in turnby Celine. This highly self-conscious awareness of and play with earlier writing seems particularly to characterize the periods juxtaposed here, and the reminder of how exciting that kaleidoscope of reference can be isnot the least of the virtues of this stimulating volume. University of St Andrews David Gascoigne Simone de Beauvoir. By Ursula Tidd. (Critical Lives) London: Reaktion. 2009. 187 pp. ?10.95. ISBN 978-1-86189-434-2. This book is part of a series of critical lives' which sets out to explore the lives of 'leading cultural figures of themodern period' (p. 2) and relate them to their major works, and this is exactly what Ursula Tidd does. The series already numbers twenty-one volumes, but Simone de Beauvoir is the firstwoman to be included. The book is aimed at the educated reader who wants to gain an overview of Beauvoir's lifeand work, not the specialist. Notes are kept to aminimum, works are quoted inEnglish, and thebibliography ishighly selective. Tidd, however, does not simplify Beauvoir's thought and does not shun presentation of her philosophical ideas. The text is short (166 pages ofmain text) and is illustratedwith thirty-sixphotos, most of these being of Beauvoir at various ages. The task of presenting a major thinker and prolific writer in such a short space cannot have been easy, but Tidd has done itvery well. She has synthesized a lot of information and presented it in a clear narrative. Her text ismainly descriptive?she isnot defending a thesis?but she expertly weaves together Beauvoir's life and themajor historical events of the twentieth century and shows what impact these have had on her thinking and writing. Tidd has adopted a dual structure,mainly chronological but also thematic, di viding Beauvoir's life into seven periods that correspond to seven themes, such as 'The Birth of an Intellectual' or 'Becoming aWoman'. The topic of the Other is one that Tidd highlights in her presentation. In her chapter 'The Problem of the Other' she looks at the relationship between Beau voir and Jean-Paul Sartre and their famous pact, the tragedy of her friend Zaza's death, and the role played by Olga Kosakievicz both in Beauvoir's life and in her work, since Xaviere inVlnvitee is based on her. At that point in Beauvoir's life theOther was something to be eliminated, as Francoise does inVlnvitee. In MLR, 105.3, 20!0 881 the following chapter, 'The Discovery of History, Tidd shows how the Second World War prompted Beauvoir to become involved politically; how, rather than suppressing theOther, shewas going to discover theOthers of her contemporary society. Beauvoir, as everybody knows, was to denounce in Le Deuxieme Sexe the oppression of women in patriarchy, but also, which is less well known, she was to expose in La Vieillesse the ways elderly people are badly treated in a society geared towards productivity and youth. Tidd also narrates Beauvoir's involvement with her significant Others, mainly Sartre and Nelson Algren, but also Claude Lanzmann, and Sylvie Le Bon. She relies, of course, on Beauvoir's autobiographies, but also on more recently published letters and diaries, as well as critical studies. Tidd discusses all of Beauvoir's major works and even some of her lectures, such as those she gave in Japan, summarizing the argument or the plot and highlighting themain ideas. She signals too what kind of reception some of the essays and novels had. Beauvoir emerges as a formidable figure, perhaps more of a philoso pher...