The Mandarins

The Mandarins
Simone de Beauvoir

A Harper Perennial Modern Classics reissue of this unflinching examination of post-war French intellectual life, and an amazing chronicle of love, philosophy and politics from one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century.An epic romance, a philosophical argument and an honest and searing portrayal of what it means to be a woman, this is Simone de Beauvoir’s most famous and profound novel. De Beauvoir sketches the volatile intellectual and political climate of post-war France with amazing deftness and insight, peopling her story with fictionalisations of the most important figures of the era, such as Camus, Sartre and Nelson Algren. Her novel examines the painful split between public and private life that characterised the female experience in the mid-20th century, and addresses the most difficult questions of gender and choice.It is an astonishing work of intellectual athleticism, yet also a moving romance, a love story of passion and depth. Long out of print, this masterpiece is now reissued as part of the Harper Perennial Modern Classics series so that a whole new generation can discover de Beauvoir’s magic.

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

The Mandarins

Translated by Leonard M. Friedman

With an introduction by Doris Lessing

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_c00472be-881c-5b9c-b541-b999973a39ac)

Harper Perennial

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

http://www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition published in 2005

Harper Perennial

Previously published in paperback by Flamingo 1993 (as a Flamingo Modern Classic) and 1984 (reprinted five times)

First published in France in 1954 by Librairie Gallimard

under the title Les Mandarins First English translation published in Great Britain by Collins 1957

Copyright © Librairie Gallimard 1954

English translation copyright © Collins 1957

Introduction copyright © Doris Lessing 1993

PS section copyright © Jon Butler 2005 except ‘Equals Not Sequels’ by Kathy Lette

© Kathy Lette 2005

PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Ebook Edition © MAY 2018 ISBN 9780007405589

Version: 2018-05-16

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DEDICATION (#ulink_0d45eb04-4a45-50f8-b264-7b43fb8718e3)

To Nelson Algren

CONTENTS

Title Page (#u578df9aa-6ba0-59ab-bf02-c73e47f4beba)

Copyright (#u67e63b26-7b4c-53ec-9fdb-044f73b77583)

Dedication (#u3751c132-a7fc-5c83-b573-7cdacb3e1c87)

Introduction (#u56dd54ee-419e-5570-8f94-5178678da272)

Chapter One (#u5d1ec673-ba53-5a3f-9002-36333c2640d0)

Chapter Two (#ub801d923-2208-5154-9ddb-cb41a0dd8206)

Chapter Three (#u324cca4b-2d05-53e5-a2d7-dfa287856128)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

P. S. Ideas, Interviews & Features … (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Biography (#litres_trial_promo)

Did You Know? (#litres_trial_promo)