Halfway through The Prime of Life, Simone de Beauvoir reflects on the act of autobiography: she writes that she believes still in the theory of the transcendental ego, that the self (moi) has only a probable objectivity, and that anyone saying ‘I’ grasps only its outer edge. An outsider, she suggests, can see more clearly. This personal account is not offered as an explanation, she continues, but as a self-revelation; self-knowledge is impossible.
With this in mind, the movement of the book becomes all the more absorbing: to watch a conscious mind interpret its acts, not by justification, but by observation. The Prime of Life follows de Beauvoir’s literary apprenticeship, her life with Sartre, and the years of Paris’s occupation.
The stimulation lies in reading yourself into the mind of a fiercely intelligent woman attempting to understand an earlier self with unremitting honesty. The ‘I’ who testifies in this autobiography possesses a knowledge denied to the ‘I’ who lived through those events. De Beauvoir places her younger self under the microscope with the rationality that only time allows.
Compared to her early diaries, where the emotional tenor is more immediate, The Prime of Life offers a cooler, more reflective narrative, occasionally drawing from her wartime journals to capture the tenor of the period.
It seems inconceivable that The Prime of Life is out of print in English: it is a superior work to Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, a first-rate autobiography by any measure. I will read the later volumes, though not immediately. The immersion under de Beauvoir’s skin has been all-consuming.
>I didn't realize The Prime of Life is out-of-print…how strange. I'm curious whether you've read de Beauvoir's fiction, can you compare it with her autobiographical writing? I've only read l'Invitée (She came to stay) and am hopefully inexperienced with the rest of her work, but your posts have gotten me quie interested. Thank you!
>Michelle, I've not yet read de Beauvoir's fiction, but plan to read 'She Came to Stay' and 'The Mandarins.' In this book she talks of the gestation and execution of the former.
>Argh, want to dive into this right away! (It's my French-language pick for next month, so I don't have long to wait in any case…) So excited that you liked it even better than Memoirs. Love your evocation of:her exploration of how a conscious mind examines its acts.That's exactly what I loved about the first volume and am now very excited to read the second.
>'She came to Stay' was a fascinating read because of my pre-conceived notions of de Beauvoir. I'd be interested to see what you think since you've read her memoirs. In any case, I can see that I will enjoy her work and will hopefully find the time later this year to start a fuller de Beauvoir read.
>You have a treat ahead of you, Emily. I've got Force of Circumstance on order, but I'm lead to believe it is the weakest of the four.
>I look forward to your thoughts on the memoirs, Michelle.
>Interesting post, I say that because I have tried reading Simone de Beauvoir but struggled to get into her prose. Which of her works would you recommend? I read “She Came to Stay” and found it somehow disappointing.
>I've read the first two volumes of de Beauvoir's autobiography: Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter and The Prime of Life, both are outstanding. I've yet to get to the fiction but plan to read She Came to Stay. Her most respected work, I think, is The Mandarins