Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
A superb autobiography by one of the great literary figures of the twentieth century, Simone de Beauvoir's Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter offers an intimate picture of growing up in a bourgeois French family, rebelling as an adolescent against the conventional expectations of her class, and striking out on her own with an intellectual and existential ambition exceedingly rare in a young woman in the 1920s. She vividly evokes her friendships, love interests, mentors, and the early days of the most important relationship of her life, with fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre, against the backdrop of a turbulent political time.
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So I was hit by a relative, flung on the table, got a flu from this, chased after an illusion of a person who felt more like a drug than anything substantial and was just getting disillusioned with people and crowds.
So thus this book was relatable and I read it at a great time. It shows me how important it is to surround yourself with the right ideas and people, with the right environment. This shows me that you can have a drive way beyond what I saw. The world functions differently than I imagined or in other words I can imagine that it functions in a different way which in turn will change my world. We really make up our own rules and worlds and it's people who strive to achieve their own that are the most magnetic.
I must read philosophy because thinking is something I do for entertainment all the time. I would walk in circles debating myself on world issues instead of having any friends and the fact that I did not discover philosophy sooner is a shame. All kinds of learning pile up into higher achievement and there is no need to stop or to lower oneself for anyone. Goals in between people don't coalign, you can't prove much to other people except yourself. If they don't believe in yours and you have good ones then that person must be significantly different from you even if you are both attached to each other.
There are some sections where hunting and non-vegan food gets mentioned. I love all Simone's books, but I must lower this by a star because I need to raise awareness about veganism and I want all books to be vegan. There are also cowboy movies mentioned, probably not vegan. Lots of intellectuals now I would imagine would go vegan, but back then it was a very niche idea.
I must make the dedication to surround myself with great thinkers, great works and not social media or people who want to be firstmost influencers, that is not for me. I discovered people who would rather not know the truth and who would get thrown off by trying to discuss it. The uncomfort damages them and repels them as if they were evil spirits. This book throws me into a direction in which I can attempt to integrate myself into a new mode of priority seeking. I would be able to make too many compromises when wanting a relationship with someone, but Simone has been through that too and if she stayed with the person who was boring/inconsistent/immoral/suspicious then she wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
As I see my wounds I will try to look at them as a sign of my resistance and as a part of the journey that is life. This was humbling, terrifying, motivating and educational. The descriptions, the psychology and everything the author is able to apply to her own life is astounding. It is a wealth of knowledge for the sake of it. This is the stuff that can change lives.
