zuòzhě: xī méng · bō wá Simone de Beauvoir
běn shū shì xī méng nà · dé · bō fú wá jì《 dì 'èr xìng》 zhī hòu yī bù miáo xiě zhī shí fènzǐ mìng yùn de huī huáng jù zhù， zuò zhě yǐ qiújìng yòu lì de bǐ chù， shēn kè zhǎn xiàn liǎo 'èr cì dà zhàn hòu fǎ guó zhī shí jiè fǎng huáng qí lù、 qiú suǒ fèn jìn de zhòng shēng xiāng。 zhè lǐ yòu lì jīng mó nán 'ér jiān shǒu shēng huó xìn niàn de zuò jiā， yòu bǐ shì gōng míng 'ér shǐ zhōng bù gān jì mò de jīng shén fēn xī zhuān jiā， yòu ruì yì jìn qǔ 'ér zhōng yú luò tuò de zhé xué jiā ……
zuò zhě yǐ qí mǐn ruì de guān chá lì hé dòng chá lì， shēn kè dòng rén dì miáo xiě liǎo tā men de zhuī qiú yǔ huàn miè、 xī wàng yǔ shī wàng、 chén lún yǔ fèn qǐ， shǐ běn shū chéng wéi guān zhào nà yī shí dài zhī shí fènzǐ xīn tài yǔ mìng yùn de yī miàn jìng zǐ。
The Mandarins (French: Les Mandarins) is a 1954 roman-à-clef by Simone de Beauvoir. Beauvoir was awarded the Prix Goncourt prize in 1954 for The Mandarins. It was first published in English in 1957.
The book follows the personal lives of a close-knit group of French intellectuals from the end of WWII to the mid fifties. The title refers to the scholar-bureaucrats of imperial China. The characters at times see themselves as ineffectual "mandarins" as they attempt to discern what role, if any, intellectuals will have in influencing the political landscape of the world after WWII. As in Beauvoir's other works, themes of Feminism, Existentialism, and personal morality are explored as the characters navigate not only the intellectual and political landscape but also their shifting relationships with each other.
The British novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch described the book as "endearing because of its persistent seriousness"
Characters
Henri Perron (considered to be Albert Camus) is the editor of the leftist newspaper L'Espoir. He is unhappily married to Paula. Henri primarily sees himself as a writer and struggles with his increasing involvement in the political arena.
Robert Dubreuilh (considered to be Jean-Paul Sartre) is the founder and leader of the SRL, a liberal, non-Communist political group. He is partly responsible for Henri's literary success, and the two are close personal friends.
Anne Dubreuilh (considered to be Beauvoir herself) is the wife of Robert. She is a practicing psychoanalyst. She has an affair with the American writer Lewis Brogan. Her reflections on the lives of the other characters comprises a large portion of the text.
Paula Perron is Henri's wife. She is unrelentingly committed to her relationship with Henri, despite his indifference. She develops severe delusions and paranoia regarding this relationship and is forced to seek medical treatment.
Nadine Dubreuilh is Robert and Anne's daughter. Nadine is haunted by the death of her boyfriend Diego during the French Resistance. She has an affair with Henri early in the course of the novel and later marries Henri and has a child by him.
Lewis Brogan (considered to be Nelson Algren, to whom the book is dedicated) is an American writer with whom Anne has an extended affair.
Scriassine David Cesarani in his biography Arthur Koestler, The Homeless Mind, suggests that Scriassine's character is drawn on Arthur Koestler. |