Memorie di una ragazza perbene

Oct 22, 2012 ميّ أحمد rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: سير-ذاتية

من أراد أن يعرف من هي دوبوفوار وكيف تشكل فكرها المتمرد فلا بد أن يقرا مذكراتها الرصينة هذا الكتاب يحوي كل التحولات التي مرّت بها من الطفولة وحتى فترة المراهقة التي تضطرب فيها كل الفتيات غير إن إضطراب سيمون كان شعورا بالخواء والوحدة وتلك الحاجة الفكرية التي ظلت تشغلها زمنا طويلا إلى جانب إختلاف نظرتها للحياة عمن هم في سنها هذه المشاعر الفائضة حولت سيمون إلى أنثى بكاءة ضعيفة فلجأت إلى الكتب تنهل منها وإلى الفلسفة تحديدا حتى استعادت ذاتها وبزت أكثر المتحذلقين من الرجال .. قصة سيمون مع صديقتها زازا...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished

‎"مذكرات فتاة رصينة " هي مذكرات كتبتها سيمون دي بوفوار، تحكي فيها سيرتها الذاتية منذ الولادة لحين. تخرجها من السوربون و لقائها بسارتر ، من خلال يومياتها إستطاعت أن ترسم لنا بانوراما عن الحياة الفرنسية في بداية القرن الماضي .. في كثير من التفاصيل التي كانت ترويها ، كنت أجد تشابها كبيرا بين وضع المراة في فرنسا في القرن الماضي ووضعها حاليا في العالم العربي .
سيمون تحكي كيف كان عليها أن تدرس كثيرا و تتحدى المجتمع الذي تعيش فيه لثبت ذاتها و تخرج من محيطها الذي ينظر إليها كبوجوازية صغيرة يجب آن تتزوج...more ‎"مذكرات فتاة رصينة " هي مذكرات كتبتها سيمون دي بوفوار، تحكي فيها سيرتها الذاتية منذ الولادة لحين. تخرجها من السوربون و لقائها بسارتر ، من خلال يومياتها إستطاعت أن ترسم لنا بانوراما عن الحياة الفرنسية في بداية القرن الماضي .. في كثير من التفاصيل التي كانت ترويها ، كنت أجد تشابها كبيرا بين وضع المراة في فرنسا في القرن الماضي ووضعها حاليا في العالم العربي .
سيمون تحكي كيف كان عليها أن تدرس كثيرا و تتحدى المجتمع الذي تعيش فيه لثبت ذاتها و تخرج من محيطها الذي ينظر إليها كبوجوازية صغيرة يجب آن تتزوج بعد حصولها على الباكلوريا أو الليسانس ..
لكن سيمون أكملت دراستها و حصلت على الماستر في الفلسفة ، و هناك ستتعرف على سارتر أبو الفلسفة الوجودية ..
ما فاجأني أيضا هو أنها بقيت عذراء و لم تجرب القبلة ، و لإنتهاء الرواية لم تحكي مشهدا جنسيا واحدا ، ثم التربية الصارمة التي تلقتها من الراهبات و من والديها اللذان كانا يمنعا عنها قراءة بعض الروايات تحت بنذ روايات إباحية ..
شدني إليها حبها للتعلم و إدمانها لقراء. الكتب ، لم يكن لديها الخيار ، إما أن تتزوج أو تتعلم كثيرا لتهرب من الحياة الرتيبة ، و هذا ما فعلته سيمون ،تعلمت و لأجل العلم فقط ..
أنا أيضا أرفض الزواج ، و لا أعرف لماذا ، لكني دائما أسأل نفسي ماذا بعد ؟ ثم لا أتخيل نفسي أقاسم غرفة مع أحد لأسمع شخيره ، لا أفهم لماذا علينا أن نربط مصيرنا الحر جدا بمصير أناس آخرين و أين يكون ذلك قرارا اختياريا .
تساؤلات سيمون كانت وجودية ، أعتقد أنها مثلت جيلا من البورجوازيين الفرنسيين الذين وجدوا تراكما فكريا فلسفيا أتاح لهم تطويره و طرح السؤال ، كان لابد من التغيير ، الوسط البورجوازي الفرنسي
سيمون ، سارتر ، كامو .. السوربون ، المدرسة العليا للإدارة ، باريس ، شوارعها ، حانات موبرناس ، و مونمارت .. حرب الجزائر ، الإحتلال الألماني لباريس ، الحرب العالمية الأولى .. كلها أشياء و أحداث جعلت من مذكرات سيمون شاهد على حقبة مهمة من تاريخ فرنسا و من تاريخ وجدان الفكر الفلسفي في شقه الوجودي . (less)

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Aug 06, 2011 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, biography, favorites

I loved this book so much any review will be wholly inadequate. I loved is how she captures the innocence of childhood and the pains her parent took to maintain that innocence far beyond what seems right. I loved the confusion, despair and vanity of adolescences and how she could feel so strongly about ideals that themselves constantly changed. I loved how her idea of self was in constant flux and the richness of her inner life. I love how books meant just so much to her, and all those descripti...more I loved this book so much any review will be wholly inadequate. I loved is how she captures the innocence of childhood and the pains her parent took to maintain that innocence far beyond what seems right. I loved the confusion, despair and vanity of adolescences and how she could feel so strongly about ideals that themselves constantly changed. I loved how her idea of self was in constant flux and the richness of her inner life. I love how books meant just so much to her, and all those descriptions of her spending day after day of her youth reading outdoors in some lovely garden just demands the reader should enjoy this book in the same way. Even the smell of this book was intoxicating.

"I loved those evenings when, after dinner, I would set out alone on the Metro and travel right to the other side of Paris, near Les Buttes Chaumont, which smelled of damp and greenery. Often I would walk back home. In the Boulevard de la Chapelle, under the steel girders of the elevated railway, women would be waiting for customers; men would come staggering out of brightly lit bistros; the fronts of cinemas would be ablaze with posters. I could feel life all around me, an enormous, ever-present confusion. I would stride along, feeling it's thick breath blow in my face. And I would say to myself that, after all, life is worth living."

I place this above 'Speak, Memory' on my list of favorite memoirs, and there isn't any higher praise I offer then that! It's absolutely beautiful. If, just once, while reading a book I become so enamored that I gasp it to my chest uttering uncontrollable signs; then that, for me, is an automatic five stars. I probably did that a dozen times or more throughout this book; just utterly lost in the ethereal dreaminess of her passions or shattered by her despairs; especially the end, I sat at work for nearly a half hour, completely still, completely moved.

"At night I would climb the steps to the Sacre-Coeur, and I would watch Paris, that futile oasis, scintillating in the wilderness of space. I would weep, because it was so beautiful, and because it was so useless."
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Sep 19, 2010 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, favorites

The short of it: From the opening pages I fell head over heels for Memoires d'une jeune fille rangée (translated into English as Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter but more literally "Memoirs of a well-behaved girl"), the first of four volumes in de Beauvoir's autobiography. It's been a long time since I connected with a book at such a level of visceral sympathy—since I had the feeling "Yes! That's what it's like for me too!," since I felt such a sense of loss upon turning a final page. So there may...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Nora alhemaid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"لا تحزني يا أمي الحبيبة، ففي كل أسرة نفاية، وأنا النفاية في اسرتي"
هكذا كانت تحتضر صديقتكِ زازا ياسيمون، وهكذا بدأت حياتها، هل تتذكرين زهدها وتعففها عن الحياة؟ كيف كانت ترى الحياة بعيني راهبة يائسة؟ ومع أن كلاكما اعتزلتا وقتا طويلا في القراءة والتفكير، الا أن العزلة لاتخرج نفس الأشخاص ونفس الأفكار، عن الذات والوجود والآخر..
وجاك حين قال"كنت أثق بهذا الصديق، ولكني كنت أعانق آخر" هل ترين كيف أن رثائك للآخر كان رثاء حقيقيا؟
"ان الريح اذا رافقت التعب، تحمل دائما على البكاء" قد كان شاحب الوجه هزيلا بجل...more "لا تحزني يا أمي الحبيبة، ففي كل أسرة نفاية، وأنا النفاية في اسرتي"
هكذا كانت تحتضر صديقتكِ زازا ياسيمون، وهكذا بدأت حياتها، هل تتذكرين زهدها وتعففها عن الحياة؟ كيف كانت ترى الحياة بعيني راهبة يائسة؟ ومع أن كلاكما اعتزلتا وقتا طويلا في القراءة والتفكير، الا أن العزلة لاتخرج نفس الأشخاص ونفس الأفكار، عن الذات والوجود والآخر..
وجاك حين قال"كنت أثق بهذا الصديق، ولكني كنت أعانق آخر" هل ترين كيف أن رثائك للآخر كان رثاء حقيقيا؟
"ان الريح اذا رافقت التعب، تحمل دائما على البكاء" قد كان شاحب الوجه هزيلا بجلده الذي تنازعه العروق المزرقة، عروقه التي تومض بشدة من السكر والتيه، كان ذاك حينما التقيتما بعد 20 سنة من الانقطاع، حينها قد أدرك جيدا معنى أنه لم يخلد بك..
كانت حياتك تماما كما فكرتِ أن تكون، حرة، رحبة، ووقتك مملوء بالكتابة والمرح، رصانتك اكسبتك اتزانا مع صبرك الدؤوب لتتبع الثقوب في لأبواب المغلقة، وتحسسك لتدفق الهواء البارد منها، توقا لأن تفتحيها..
حديثك عن سارتر، وأمنياتك التي تخبئينها عنا لأنك لست متأكدة بعد، إن كنت ستفشلين معه أيضا أم لا..
أنتِ تحبين نفسك جيدا.. والعزلة التي عشتيها فترة من حياتك، عرفتكما على بعضكما أكثر، أوه انني أعيش في وقت، يصعب عليك فيه أن تختلي بشيء، إذ أن كل شيء يلح على متابعة تفاصيك الصغيرة مثل جرذ مهووس بقضم كل جزء من أي قطعة قماش،،
لقد أودعت سرا في غلافك المترجم الى العربية، خبأت وشوشات، متأكدة من أنك سصغين اليها جيدا فيم أنتِ نائمة في معتزلك الأبدي..
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Jun 05, 2008 Nibelheim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classiques

Anecdotes, correspondances, souvenirs de lecture, beaucoup de choses y passent, et nous vivons du dedans la réalité d'un foyer bourgeois du début XXème siècle. Néanmoins, le plus intéressant n'est pas là. Ce qui compte surtout, c'est la réflexion menée par l'auteur sur son propre passé. Il ne faut pas oublier qu'un tel travail de mémoire est en grande partie reconstruction des souvenirs, et dans ce premier tome des Mémoires, Simone de Beauvoir a égrené les pistes qui permettent d'expliquer pourq...more

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Dec 25, 2012 RMD rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to rate it as amazing simply because it led me on a strong journey of self rediscovery.
Going through the same patterns of thought as this precocious little girl that understands, step by step, the major philosophical questions of all teens left me realizing that confirming or remembering why you think the way you think is not only worthwhile, but probably essential for mental confidence.

The best parts were both how she describes her moments of self-realization in the most dramatic of ligh...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Smart women and open minded men

Shelves: memoir, books-from-1958

I looked forward to this first volume of Simone de Beauvoir's autobiography with much anticipation, but had no idea how wonderful it would be. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter covers the first twenty-three years of her life beginning with her earliest childhood memories. I loved the way she explained the early tantrums that came over her whenever adults attempted to block her efforts to act in an independent, self-realized fashion. Apparently she was born with the sense that she was an individual w...more I looked forward to this first volume of Simone de Beauvoir's autobiography with much anticipation, but had no idea how wonderful it would be. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter covers the first twenty-three years of her life beginning with her earliest childhood memories. I loved the way she explained the early tantrums that came over her whenever adults attempted to block her efforts to act in an independent, self-realized fashion. Apparently she was born with the sense that she was an individual who mattered and had the right to follow her own ideas.

Her upbringing was bourgeois Catholic, though her family was by no means wealthy. She went to Catholic schools, was trained and guarded as a young girl by a devout, socially conservative mother, yet stimulated by her father's love of the theater. Although she was kept close to home and inculcated with fears about bodily functions, passion, men and sex, Simone had always a brilliant inquiring intellect. She read and studied incessantly all throughout grade school, high school and college, entering the Sorbonne as one of the few female philosophy candidates. Every drive she had was sublimated into mental activity. She was almost twenty before she went out on her own to bars, plays, movies, at which point she went a bit wild but never experienced more than a kiss from a male.

As she relates her female friendships, her infatuation with her cousin Jacques, her quest to understand life through philosophy, I was enthralled by the combined emotional, spiritual and intellectual fervor which imbued every minute of her coming of age. The loss of her Catholic faith and her attempts to understand her own mind, passions and aspirations were as exciting to me as her tortured relationship with her best friend Zaza.

I doubt that I will ever reach the intellectual heights of this amazing woman, but I have always dreamed of doing so. As I mentioned in my review of The Second Sex, it blows my mind that Simone de Beauvoir was of my own mother's generation yet our mothers were so much alike. It is almost true that she went through my life a generation earlier in another country, in Paris of all places. I am lucky that she always kept a journal and could write so movingly about her life.(less)

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May 04, 2011 Marta Traverso rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ci sono figure femminili che mi affascinano in modo prepotente. Anche se non so nulla (o quasi) di loro, a pelle avverto un'affinità. Patti Smith, Anais Nin, Piera degli Esposti.

La avverto anche nei confronti di Simone De Beauvoir, donna di cui non so molto In quinta liceo l'anno scolastico terminò prima di poter iniziare Sartre, e la mia promessa di studiare filosofia per mio conto è ancora da essere mantenuta.

Ho voluto approcciarmi a Simone leggendo la sua vita come lei l'ha raccontata. Memori...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Anne Nikoline rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: the open minded

Recommended to Anne Nikoline by: book club

Shelves: book-club, non-fiction, own-a-copy, autobiography, read-in-2012

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir is a delightful read even though I have not yet had the pleasure of reading any of the authoress works, however, I can surely say that this is now about to change. Beauvoir's writing style is simple, yet elegant, easy and yet the meaning is complex. It has been a while since I have last read something as gracefully written as this.

I found a cheap copy of this novel in a second hand shop, and I knew right away that I wanted to read it and own i...more

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Oct 15, 2011 March rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first Simone de Beauvoir and the first French author I’ve read in a very long time. I chose this particular title thanks to, what’s new, a list of “bests,” in a book on books, as it were, given to me as a present by my brother (thanks, bro, I love it!) – it was in the “biographies/autobiographies” section, and I have been feeling like biographies recently, so that one was among my immediate picks.

MDD is the first in a series of four autobiographical works by Simone de Beauvoir, in which she g...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Theresa Leone Davidson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Simone de Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, non-fiction, and although I have not read The Second Sex since college, she stands out as being one of the great feminists of all time, who furthered women's rights more than most. For all of this I admire and respect her. I'm going back and rereading The Second Sex because I remember liking it years ago. Her Memoirs, however, I just did not enjoy. I like reading in her own words what her upbringing was like but the inclusion of every single detail, every...more

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Mar 15, 2013 shaihanah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, أدب-فرنسي

كنت قد اطلعت على هذا الكتاب حين كنت في التاسع عشر من عمري ، ولم يكن بطبعة جيدة وكان ممزق الصفحات .
الأن حصلت على نسخة ممتازة نوعا ما .
كنت خائفة من التكرار .لكن على العكس ..لم أمل منه ، علاقة سيمون بقريبها جاك في طفولتها أتصور لعبة دور مهم لنضجها .
في بداية المذكرات تتحدث سيمون عن تمردها وعن حوارات كثيرة دارت بينها وبين جاك ،الذي كانت عائلتها تصر على أنه سيكون زوجها في يوم من الأيام ..لكن هذا لم يحدث ..
تتحدث بعدها عن تفاصيل كثيرة ..وعن تطويرها لذاتها .حيث كانت تعمل طوال النهار ، وتقرأ مابين العشر...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

La mia vita sarebbe stata una bella storia che si sarebbe avverata a mano a mano che me la fossi raccontata.

Una calda e friabile brioche tra le mani, una tazza di caffè fumante, fiocchi di neve, dapprima sporadici, iniziano a mulinare nell'aria, schiantandosi contro il vetro offuscato della finestra, ed ecco Simone che mi raggiunge nel tepore della mia camera da letto, prende posto accanto a me e inizia a raccontarmi la sua Verità. Un flebile sorriso le illumina il bel volto, stringe tra le sue...more La mia vita sarebbe stata una bella storia che si sarebbe avverata a mano a mano che me la fossi raccontata.

Una calda e friabile brioche tra le mani, una tazza di caffè fumante, fiocchi di neve, dapprima sporadici, iniziano a mulinare nell'aria, schiantandosi contro il vetro offuscato della finestra, ed ecco Simone che mi raggiunge nel tepore della mia camera da letto, prende posto accanto a me e inizia a raccontarmi la sua Verità. Un flebile sorriso le illumina il bel volto, stringe tra le sue mani tremanti una cloche cremisi, quello stesso rosso che, anni or sono, foderava il sofà di Jacques. Mentre le sue parole si susseguono senza tregua, rincorrendosi in un vortice forsennato, il mio viso diventa lo specchio di mille emozioni: costernazione, ilarità, dubbio, rabbia, gioia, incredulità, rassegnazione, dolore. Le mie labbra bevono avidamente la vita di Simone, si bagnano alla fonte della sua saggezza; mi investono le luci e le ombre della sua straordinaria esistenza. Con fare entusiasta mi racconta di quando, piccola e imperterrita sciovinista, sventolava orgogliosamente la bandiera della sua patria; di quando, virtuosa e impeccabile studentessa, incontrava e imparava ad amare Zazà; di quando, profittando dell'assenza dei suoi genitori, sedeva ai piedi della libreria di famiglia e si tuffava tra le pagine delle letture proibite; di quando, vittima di una fatale Inquietudine, stanca della vita, s'interrogava sul significato del proprio essere; di quando, in preda ad un inderogabile desiderio di indipendenza e di fuga dalle convenzioni borghesi, s'inebriava dei fumi dell'alcool; di quando gemeva e gioiva per Jacques, incapace di coglierne i veri sentimenti; e infine di quando, a fianco di Sartre, imparava ad amare se stessa, ad amare gli altri, ad amare il mondo, ad amare la Vita.
La sua voce mi stringe in un abbraccio caldo e confortevole, mentre la mia mente comincia a ribellarsi ad alcune delle sofferenze e delle ingiustizie che scivolano attraverso le sue labbra agitate, ingiustizie che hanno macchiato la sua infanzia, che l'hanno seguita anno dopo anno, sofferenze che le hanno sottratto le gioie dell'adolescenza.
Scuote lievemente il capo rievocando l'immagine di se stessa all'età di nove anni, fanciulla perspicace, orgogliosa di dar prova a chi la circonda di pruderie e virtù invidiabili, alle prese con le menzogne e con l'ipocrisia dell'ambiente borghese, vittima delle sue tristi consuetudini, del suo falso pragmatismo, delle sue inutili proibizioni, delle sue stupide convenzioni. Continua a percorrere con passo malfermo il sentiero del suo passato per incontrare l'ostilità dei suoi genitori nei confronti di Zazà, della sua disinvoltura inusitata, del suo cinismo e della sua sagacia; e ancora, la diffidenza nei confronti di Jacques e i rimbrotti per le serate trascorse tra un gin-fizz e le braccia di uno sconosciuto.
E poi eccola afferrarmi convulsamente la mano, una lacrima solitaria le riga la bella guancia rosea, e riaffiora il ricordo del senso di solitudine, di straniamento e di totale esilio provato per aver dimostrato di essere una persona superiore, capace di pensare, parlare e giudicare, una persona che voleva semplicemente amare e servire l'umanità, avere una più grande intimità col mondo ed esprimere questo mondo in un libro; una persona che voleva afferrare la Verità e l'Assoluto, diventare la Verità e l'Assoluto, credere in qualcosa, fare qualcosa.
E' una bella storia quella che seguita a raccontarmi, una storia che è un fitto concentrato di lacrime e sorrisi, un groviglio di emozioni eternamente vorticanti, una storia che ha del romanzesco e dell'impossibile, che ci sorprende e ci stupisce, talvolta insinuando nella nostra mente il dubbio che tutte queste vicissitudini possano essere accadute davvero ad una persona... Sì, in fondo, poteva semplicemente essere la nostra vicina di casa, la cassiera del supermercato che ogni giorno ci consegna con indolenza uno scontrino stropicciato, l'impiegata della banca, la vecchina inferocita che sbraita alle nostre spalle mentre attendiamo che arrivi il nostro turno alle poste.
Ma la verità è che Simone non è e non sarà mai la nostra vicina di casa, la cassiera del supermercato o l'impiegata di banca: l'esistenza di Simone conserva tuttora un fascino ragguardevole e continua a richiamare su di sé l'attenzione di migliaia di lettori perché è lei stessa ad essere straordinaria, ad essere sempre un passo più avanti di tutti noi, ad essere meravigliosamente inquieta, sempre pronta a darsi da fare, ad offrire a questo nostro mondo fatiscente una possibilità in più.
Eppure, con la sua straordinarietà, Simone è presente in ognuno di noi, costituisce un'infinitesimale parte del nostro DNA: attende solo di esser scovata e di diventare, con la sua saggezza, con la sua capacità di riflessione, con i suoi impulsi e i suoi indugi, con i suoi amori e le sue ideologie, il nostro asso nella manica.
Dobbiamo solo concentrarci per accorgerci che il tiepido calore della sua presenza è tutt'intorno a noi, ci avvolge, ci avviluppa in una tenera stretta dalla quale non vorremmo più sfuggire. Dobbiamo credere che sia possibile incontrare la nostra Zazà e imparare ad amarla nel suo terribile sarcasmo, che il nostro Sartre sia proprio là, appostato dietro quell'angolo, una pipa fumante stretta tra le labbra, pronto ad aspettarci; che ci sia una Poupette anche per noi, che ci sia un Herbaud pronto a scortarci nelle nostre follie notturne, che ci sia una Stépha tutta eccessi e ribellione e che, con il suo Fernando, ci inviti a mangiucchiare una brioche in un café degli Champs-Elysées.
Ma soprattutto, dobbiamo credere che, nonostante ci abbia lasciati silenziosamente, scivolando nell'oblio della morte quel 14 aprile 1986, lei, Simone, continui ad esistere, pronta a correre in nostro soccorso non appena ne avremo bisogno, non appena decideremo di farci avanti, agire e servire l'umanità.(less)

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Dec 15, 2012 MashailGhammas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

" Simone de Beauvoir’s Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (HarperCollins, 1958) chronicles the early years of Beauvoir’s development as the dutiful daughter of a bourgeois family circa 1900’s, with an atheist father and a stifling and devout Catholic mother. Like most women, Beauvoir attempts to forge a path for herself that is independent of her parents without disrespecting them. This is a beautifully moving memoir of one of the most important women of the feminist movement in the United States, fo...more " Simone de Beauvoir’s Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (HarperCollins, 1958) chronicles the early years of Beauvoir’s development as the dutiful daughter of a bourgeois family circa 1900’s, with an atheist father and a stifling and devout Catholic mother. Like most women, Beauvoir attempts to forge a path for herself that is independent of her parents without disrespecting them. This is a beautifully moving memoir of one of the most important women of the feminist movement in the United States, for although Paris was scandalized by the publishing of her landmark work The Second Sex, the feminists in the United States were more than ready to apply her theories on female sexuality and patriarchy to their personal lives.
As it applies to women, Beauvoir focuses her memoir on the relationships she forged with family and friends and traces how each of them influenced in her the intelligent and existential thinker that she became. It is the story of a courageous life, a woman whose childhood and oppressive mother made her feel “engulfed in the rising dark of [her] own helplessness” (12). A young girl who realized that she had grown up in “a masculine world, [her] childhood had been nourished by myths forged by men, and [she] hadn’t reacted to them in at all the same way [she] should have done if [she] had been a boy” (“Force of Circumstance”, 103).
Having grown up during a time when there were extreme differences between what was allowed for men and what was allowed for women, Beauvoir learned to navigate a singular path that pleased only her. Living in a time wherein women could not vote, could not have lovers, had to abide by the strict moral code of Catholicism, and was bred to be married to the highest bidder, her only gift in life stemming from the birth of her children, Beauvoir rejected everything she was born into. She lost faith in God and her mother by the age of fifteen, and identifying with men and her father, she pursued an intellectual life at the age of fifteen, knowing that she wanted to be independent, make money, and write from an existential perspective. She fell in love and had a long and open relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre, who was her lover, friend, and companion for years, even though they never married, had children, of even lived together.
At an early age, Beauvoir “insisted that men should be subject to the same laws as women…[and that] both sexes should observe the same rules of chastity and continence” ( 167).
A woman who “flattered myself that I combined a woman’s heart and a man’s brain,” Beauvoir didn’t feel the need to compete with men, especially the men with whom she went to college. The only girl in a classroom full of boys, she felt that even though she was unique in pursuing a career only men pursued, they did not compete with her or condescend to her because she was a woman. She didn’t feel inferior to them and they didn’t make her feel inferior or lacking, but this is simply because she was a girl and “there was no struggle for the first places between the sexes” (295). Men only competed with men. Her handicap in being a woman only afforded her success as a woman, and the men in her academic circles enjoyed her success without feeling threatened by it – because she was a woman.
A woman in her own right, in this memoir, Beauvoir shows her readers that if a woman has courage, she can and will fulfill her dreams, even if they are dreams that society tells her are unpopular, unconventional, and unwomanly. Pursuing an intellectually masculine field of study in philosophy, she is stubborn in holding on to her femininity while achieving the dreams that preserved the best in her character: “my love of personal freedom, my passion for life, my curiosity, my determination to be a writer” (340). She teaches all of us that we can dream and live according to our own desires as women. We can all use a good dose of courage as we pursue our own paths in life "
By Mariena. D(less)

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May 02, 2011 La Stamberga dei Lettori added it · review of another edition

Shelves: tancredi

Non sarà del tutto errato affermare che Simone de Beauvoir ha certo contribuito a cambiare il mondo, ma ormai ha fatto il suo tempo: nel terzo millennio, fa quasi senso leggere le storie di vita quotidiana altoborghese che la scrittrice rievoca in questa prima parte della sua romanzata autobiografia, tra disquisizioni puramente filosofiche, lettere tra amiche dense di formalità e amori tormentati. Ma se oggi possiamo permetterci il lusso di pensare che in fondo qualcosa sia cambiato (quanto sia...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Callie S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Avevo dieci anni, quando ho letto per la prima volta questo libro. Non ho mai smesso di farlo per i cinque successivi.
Ho incontrato lei e, da quel momento in poi, ho sognato di poterla emulare, almeno un poco.
E' patetica, fragile, eroica, viva, Simone: è una ragazza molto poco perbene, in un momento storico in cui 'per bene' e 'per male' sono misure di libertà, non di morale.
E' libera, Simone? Forse meno di quel che vorrebbe, stretta com'è tra le maglie dell'essere e del dover essere - fos...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Esraa Muhammed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: aml kamal

انهيت الكتاب, بالنسبه لسيمون الكاتبه من اسم الكتاب مذاكرات فتاه رصينه تبدو كتابتها رصينه وتلمس الاسلوب ده
ولكن على مستوى سيمون الشخصى ك فتاه,هتلاحظ اكتر من مجرد رصانه هتلاحظ شخصيه متفرده- ذكيه- لها هدف واضح- رغبه قويه ف الاستقلال وعين ناقده قويه لمجتمعها ووسطها ترفض اساليبه السطحيه وخاصه البرجوازيه
الكتاب لم يتعمق ف علاقتها بجان بول سارتر اللى هيستمروا بعلاقه حب قويه الى ان يموت سارتر ولكن الكتاب يركز على فتره من طفولتها الى الجامعه
وحيث انها عرفت على اصدقاء سارتر ف سارتر فى اواخر فتره الجامعه يمكن...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Amel Musghani rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

مذكرات فتاة رصينة لسيمون دوفوبوار
أوراق من طفولة سيمون و مرحلة مراهقتها ، أين إكتملت لتصبح مشروع مفكرة و فيلسوفة قرأت للعديد من الفلاسفة لتهرب من وحدتها و من صراعات المشاعر التي راودتها أثناء فترة المراهقة
بداية الكتاب أدخلتنا عالم سيمون تلك الطفلة وحيدة أبويها التي لمست بداخلها إختلافا عن باقي البنات و ميولا أثار في نفسها أسئلة كثيرة
لم تجد لها الإجابات التي تروي فضولها إلا بقراءة الكتب الفلسفية ...
إقتربنا أكثر من سيمون حينما كانت تخبرنا عن أولى مشاعر الحب التي باغتتها ، عن صديقاتها ، عن أحلامه...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Carolyn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another bargain basement find, this book was painfully boring. Most memoirs I've read are full of personal anecdotes, colorful characters, and a broad spectrum of emotion while this was like reading 300 pages of which authors Simone de Beauvior liked and disliked. Perhaps I would have gleaned more from this memoir had I had any inkling as to who de Beavior was before buying this book, but even after doing some biographical research, I found this memoir to be nothing but dry personal facts. If I...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Tancredi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: francesi, memoir, classici

Ogni giorno, la colazione, il pranzo; ogni giorno fare i piatti; ore che ritornano indefinitamente e che non conducono a nulla: sarebbe stata questa la mia vita? nella mia mente si formò un'immagine, così nitida, così desolante, che me la ricordo ancor oggi: una fila di quadratini grigi che si estendevano a perdita di vista, rimpicciolendo secondo le leggi della prospettiva, ma tutti identici e piatti; erano i giorni, le settimane, gli anni.

Non sarà del tutto errato affermare che Simone de Beauv...more Ogni giorno, la colazione, il pranzo; ogni giorno fare i piatti; ore che ritornano indefinitamente e che non conducono a nulla: sarebbe stata questa la mia vita? nella mia mente si formò un'immagine, così nitida, così desolante, che me la ricordo ancor oggi: una fila di quadratini grigi che si estendevano a perdita di vista, rimpicciolendo secondo le leggi della prospettiva, ma tutti identici e piatti; erano i giorni, le settimane, gli anni.

Non sarà del tutto errato affermare che Simone de Beauvoir ha certo contribuito a cambiare il mondo, ma ormai ha fatto il suo tempo: nel terzo millennio, fa quasi senso leggere le storie di vita quotidiana altoborghese che la scrittrice rievoca in questa prima parte della sua romanzata autobiografia, tra disquisizioni puramente filosofiche, lettere tra amiche dense di formalità e amori tormentati. Ma se oggi possiamo permetterci il lusso di pensare che in fondo qualcosa sia cambiato (quanto sia cambiato, ecco, è tutto da discutere), è anche grazie a lei, a quello che la sua figura, i suoi scritti e le sue lotte hanno rappresentato.
Ma Simone non è tutta femminismo e perbenismo, no, niente affatto, che sgarbo sarebbe esaurire così la sua grandezza! Tolti il piedistallo e la corona, meritati per la sua fama e il suo ruolo nello sviluppo del pensiero occidentale novecentesco, rimane un romanzo scritto meravigliosamente, stilisticamente adeguato, né stucchevole né asciutto, colmo di riflessioni ed epifanie lucidissime. Con grandissima capacità, la Beauvoir scava nel suo passato e dentro se stessa in maniera chirurgica, implacabile ed infine liberatoria: è quasi freudiana la rievocazione della sua infanzia, profondamente intima e sempre nitida, e allo stesso modo ricostruisce, passo dopo passo, la sua crescita, il suo continuo e sofferto divenire. E quant'è doloroso, per lei, crescere, scrostarsi del suo passato, delle convenzioni e delle sue convinzioni, per poi scoprire un'identità sempre più ignota, misteriosa. Lei, che vuole essere un altro tipo di donna, che aspira alla carriera, anziché al matrimonio: e che per questo non capisce perché non dovrebbe sentirsi più una donna. Lei, che viveva oppressa dal peso dei giorni, e che pure sentiva il bisogno di essere "incasellata entro confini il cui rigore giustificava la sua esistenza". Lei, che amava Jacques, ma si diceva "troppo lucida e troppo esigente per riposarsi nella falsa sicurezza dell'amore."
Lei, dopotutto, malgrado tutto, una ragazza perbene.(less)

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Jan 12, 2013 Novieta Tourisia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A rich tapestry of thoughts, emotions, character sketches and details, written with the elegance of a novelist and the insight of a philosopher, a woman in the fullness of maturity looking back on her youth. Memoirs d'une Jeune Fille Rangée (translated into English as Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter) is the first of four autobiography volumes by Simone de Beauvoir, a notable author, philosopher and feminist. This first volume amalgamates memoirs of her childhood until the moment where she pursued...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Mónica added it · review of another edition

La primera entrega de la serie de escritos autobiográficos de, lo digo con mucho sentimiento, mi pensadora favorita: Simone de Beauvoir... o el Castor.

La conocí a mis 22, supe de ella gracias a mi entonces novio; fue él quien me regaló el libro.

Puedo decir que desde entonces nunca la olvidé, ni a ella ni a su obra. Su vida me resultó inspiradora y si bien no me considero una seguidora suya si creo ser una admiradora.

Tanto me marcó e influyó estas memorias, que mis lecturas posteriores las fui el...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Aubrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, reviewed, translated, existential-bzns, authorness, non-fiction, french, reality-check

Well written discourses on growing up are amazing. The clarity with which the author described her years from infancy to childhood and beyond was astonishing; it was as if the babies in Mary Poppins had retained the eloquent speech which they used to discourse with birds and other nonhuman entities. It made for some serious misunderstandings on my part at the beginning though, as I was originally very annoyed with Simone at the beginning of her life. Her tantrums and her taking of her blessed li...more Well written discourses on growing up are amazing. The clarity with which the author described her years from infancy to childhood and beyond was astonishing; it was as if the babies in Mary Poppins had retained the eloquent speech which they used to discourse with birds and other nonhuman entities. It made for some serious misunderstandings on my part at the beginning though, as I was originally very annoyed with Simone at the beginning of her life. Her tantrums and her taking of her blessed life for granted were very frustrating, at least until I realized that the way she was conveying her emotions and thought processes made her seem much older than she actually was. It was easier to forgive her then, and actually made the reasons behind her outbursts as a child fascinating instead of insufferable. Once my annoyances with her cleared up, her life was one of the more intellectually stimulating biographies that I have had the pleasure of reading, to the extent that I will have to find more works by the deep thinkers of the period. I'm especially looking forward to reading Jean-Paul Sartre; the way she describes him makes me wish I had met him, and if given the chance I would gladly give my right arm in order to do so. Many of the people she interacted with were interesting, but what shone clearest through her time with them is how it was normal for her to quickly fall in with them, discourse for a while, and then fall out just as quickly. This resonated deeply with my own experiences with others, along with the fact that she had multiple periods of stagnancy that overwhelmed her body and soul. To want for everything, yet be limited to a repeating daily life barred on all sides by both physical walls and ignorant people! There is no greater torture than this. Reading this book doesn't help my own dissatisfaction with my short term goal of settling down to a career, but it was satisfying in my long term goal of figuring out exactly what my existence is supposed to consist of. I think there's a little too much personal reflection in here. Darn. Going back to the book, it was a heady mix of descriptive elegance and intellectual stimulation in a never ending journey of self-discovery, and Simone honed the process of its creation down to a science. Not sure if I'll ever look into any of the books that she devoured in the course of the novel, but as said previously, I definitely need to read Sartre. Someone who was described as always thinking definitely deserves some attention.(less)

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Oct 22, 2011 g rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I don't think I've ever read anything that so wonderfully captures the intellectual development of a smart young woman, especially that period when you simultaneously overestimate and underestimate yourself, when the stakes are so high that a word of praise will inflate your ego to monstrous proportions and a word criticism--even if it's well-meant and constructive--will fling you into paroxysms of despair. One moment you think you're the smartest person ever to walk the face of the earth; from...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Raj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, autobiography

The first volume of Beauvoir's autobiography spans her early life until her graduation from the Sorbonne. She goes into a lot of detail and puts us into her head very well, although part of this is the head of a teenage girl which was sometimes teeth-grinding. From very early on, Beauvoir is shown to be a very intelligent person with a tendency to analyse everything around her and she is very good at also showing us the sort of world she grew up and and the mindset of her class and her attempts...more

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Apr 23, 2011 Amélie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, france, relecture, non-fiction

Je sais pas par où commencer pour parler de ce livre.

J'avais lu Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée il y a peut-être quoi, quatre-cinq ans? & j'en garde à peu près aucun souvenir. (Parfois je m'inquiète de l'état de ma mémoire.) Juste une vague impression d'avoir trouvé le livre intéressant.

Alors cette relecture-ci c'est mon plus grand argument en faveur de toutes les relectures du monde, parce que cette fois-ci j'ai trouvé tellement, tellement de choses dans ce récit autobiographique. Parfois...more Je sais pas par où commencer pour parler de ce livre.

J'avais lu Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée il y a peut-être quoi, quatre-cinq ans? & j'en garde à peu près aucun souvenir. (Parfois je m'inquiète de l'état de ma mémoire.) Juste une vague impression d'avoir trouvé le livre intéressant.

Alors cette relecture-ci c'est mon plus grand argument en faveur de toutes les relectures du monde, parce que cette fois-ci j'ai trouvé tellement, tellement de choses dans ce récit autobiographique. Parfois avec une auto-dérision affectueuse, le plus souvent de façon très introspective, sur un ton contemplatif, Simone de Beauvoir raconte son enfance, sa famille, ses grandes histoires d'amitié & d'amour, mais surtout ses doutes & ses longues périodes d'abattement, ce chemin tortueux & solitaire qu'elle pris dans l'espoir de se forger elle-même. & c'est d'un suspense étrange mais agréable, d'attendre avec elle qu'elle devienne ce qu'on sait déjà qu'elle deviendra.

J'ai trouvé fascinant de voir une femme aussi intelligente, aussi incroyablement perspicace, se pencher sur sa propre vie, les vingt & une premières années de sa vie, & tenter d'expliquer sa propre genèse. & ça sans complaisance, sans essayer de dissimuler les situations ridicules ou faussement mélodramatiques dans lesquelles elle s'est empêtrée, tout ça avec une honnêteté émotionnelle qui, même enveloppée d'une certaine pudeur, malgré les omissions & les approximations, laisse l'impression que le témoignage est complet & aussi sincère qu'il peut l'être.

& c'est difficile d'en dire plus que ça, malgré mon enthousiasme, parce que c'est un livre qui se vit tellement de l'intérieur, qui est tellement axé sur la réflexion & l'apprentissage de la connaissance de soi -- impossible de mettre en mots tout ce à quoi j'ai pensé en le lisant.

Maintenant j'ai vraiment, vraiment très envie de lire les deux autres tomes de son autobiographie, La force de l'âge & La force des choses. Un projet pour cet été, peut-être!(less)

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Sep 17, 2010 Manny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french, history-and-biography

Be careful of those quiet, nerdy-looking teenage girls, they may grow up to become famous authors. Here's Simone listening to her parents' friends (my translation):

Ils lisaient et ils parlaient de leurs lectures. On disait: "C'est bien écrit mais il y a des longueurs." Ou bien: "Il y a des longueurs, mais c'est bien écrit." Parfois, l'œil rêveur, la voix subtile, on nuançait: "C'est curieux" ou d'un ton plus sévère: "C'est spécial."

They read, and they talked about what they'd been reading. They

...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all Beauvoir fans

Shelves: memoir-biography, french-literature, read-2011

This is the first of 4 volumes of Beauvoir's biography. The main characters are unforgivable, such as Zaza ( la chere amie), Padrelle, Garric, James (son premier amour) and finally Sartre.

page 57:
"...je m'habituai a considérer ma vie intellectuelle - incarne par mon père - et ma vie spirituelle - dirigée par ma mère - étaient deux domaines radicalement hétérogènes, entre lesquels ne pouvait se produire aucune interférence.

page 161:
Par le savoir ou le talent, des femmes s'étaient taille leur plac...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Hala rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أحببت الكتاب كقيمة أدبية عالية و كقيمة انسانية للصراع الفتيات في المجتمعات المنغلقة لاثبات وجودهن و التمرد على القيود ويعد بدون منازع من أفضل الكتب التي قرأتها في حياتي و جماله في رأيً يكمن بأنه قصة واقعية عن معاناة فتاة ضد قيود العائلة و المنظومة الاجتماعية .. سيمون في قلب كل مرأة و لكن هناك من يتناسوها أو يغتالوها و هناك من تشتعل في قلوبهم و يكملون المسيرة .. في العديد من فصول الكتاب تذكرت طفولتي و مراهقتي .. تلك الاسئلة الحائرة الرفض للواقع و البحث عن الاجوبة في كل شيء

رائع و ملهم

اقتباسات

"كن...more

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