Wartime Diary

October 6, 2008
Discovered after de Beauvoir's death and published in French in 1990, these seven notebooks—beginning September 1, 1939, and concluding in January 1941 during the occupation of Paris by the Nazis—describe the crisis faced by Europe in relation to the philosopher's own separation from her lover, Jean-Paul Sartre. He was serving in the military and was subsequently detained. De Beauvoir describes her obsessive love for Sartre's student Jacques Bost, as well as sexual relations with several young women, particularly a clingy Russian. Throughout, de Beauvoir works on her novel She Came to Stay,
which editor Simmons argues was a precursor to Sartre's Being and Nothingness
. What gives these notebooks additional zest and texture are allusions to an unexpectedly wide range of writers the diarist read during these searing days, including Gide, Malraux, Lawrence, Jack London, Agatha Christie, Dostoyevski and Margaret Mitchell (“quite delightful”), not to mention her deriving entertainment from low comedies starring the Ritz Brothers and W.C. Fields. Last and shortest, notebook seven is pure philosophy. English readers are now afforded a very different portrait of the feminist philosopher approaching middle age in this well-annotated volume.

January 15, 2009
De Beauvoir's World War II journalwritten between September 1, 1939, and January 29, 1941, after the establishment of the Vichy government in Franceshocked many when it was published in France in 1990. De Beauvoir has been viewed as the constant companion and lover of existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre; yet, here, she recounts her sexual affairs with many young women at the time. Simons (philosophy, Southern Illinois Univ. Edwardsville; "Beauvoir and The Second Sex") argues that de Beauvoir misrepresented her work in philosophy during that period; Sartre might have appropriated parts of her novel "She Came To Stay" into his well-known "Being and Nothingness". The diary offers new insights into de Beauvoir's philosophical development, showing how her ideas evolved from prewar solipsism to the postwar political engagement of "The Second Sex". Le Bon de Beauvoir is her adopted daughter and editor of "Lettres à Sartre" and other works by de Beauvoir. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the development of French existentialism or the relationship of Sartre and de Beauvoir, this is a good addition to any public or academic library.Bob T. Ivey, Univ. of Memphis

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