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A review by dianaj23
The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir
4.0
"They don't write books like this anymore" was the first thing I thought after finishing this book. What an astounding, lengthy view of the post-war intellectual society in France. How different were those times.
The Mandarins is not an easy book to digest. Even with its apt portrayal of women, even with its well-conjured, believable men, it might still shock people today to think there was a time when everyone thought communism was the answer or that affairs were as benevolently looked upon as marriages. But it does offer us some memorable characters and their struggles to change the world for what they believe is better, while dealing with their own insecurities and temptations, while realising there's only so much people with good intentions can do.
It will stay with me for a long while.
The Mandarins is not an easy book to digest. Even with its apt portrayal of women, even with its well-conjured, believable men, it might still shock people today to think there was a time when everyone thought communism was the answer or that affairs were as benevolently looked upon as marriages. But it does offer us some memorable characters and their struggles to change the world for what they believe is better, while dealing with their own insecurities and temptations, while realising there's only so much people with good intentions can do.
It will stay with me for a long while.