A Disgraceful Affair
by Bianca Lamblin
22 Members (2.00)
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Description
Bianca Bienenfeld was a seventeen-year-old lycee student when she was seduced both intellectually and sexually by her philosophy professor, Simone de Beauvoir, in 1938. The following year de Beauvoir passed Bianca on to her "essential partner," Jean-Paul Sartre. The three formed a menage a trois until 1940, when Bianca was suddenly abandoned by her dual mentors and lovers. Their lack of concern for Bianca's fate as a Jew in occupied France made the abrupt break even more shattering for her. show more She began to suffer periodic bouts of severe depression linked not only to the Nazi horrors, but to the betrayal by de Beauvoir and Sartre. After World War II, Bianca Bienenfeld (now married to Bernard Lamblin) resumed a platonic friendship with de Beauvoir that lasted more than forty years, but the pain of the old, perturbing affair flooded back when, in 1990, she read de Beauvoir's posthumously published Letters to Sartre and War Journal. The intimate content of these books referred directly to Bianca in a tone of ridicule and contempt, and she finally discovered the full extent of de Beauvoir's deception. Now Bianca explodes with the true story behind her earlier relationship with the high priests of existentialism. Published here in English for the first time, her memoir reveals what it was like to be a third party in the "contingent" affairs of de Beauvoir and Sartre. Bianca's compelling narrative is not written out of revenge or retaliation. Rather, it is an eloquent, candid account of how de Beauvoir and Sartre influenced the shape of her life and how she survived a disgraceful affair that, when broken, almost broke her. Bianca's unique perspective on de Beauvoir and Sartre is the central focus of the book, but not the sole one. She writes about her love for her husband Bernard, who helped her recover. She also describes life during the dark times of German occupation, and recounts witnessing the battle of Vercors during the French Resistance. Her well-crafted and poignant memoir will appeal to scholars and general readers alike. show lessTags
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JuliaMaria Der Titel der Memoiren von Bianca Lamblin ist diesem ersten Band der Memoiren von Simone de Beauvoir entlehnt. Man muss die Memoiren von Lamblin nicht unbedingt lesen, aber es gibt einen Eindruck der Beziehung von Simone de Beauvoir und Jean-Paul Sartre.
Cecrow Simone's self-censored memoir of her teaching years.
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Author Information
1 Work 22 Members
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Disgraceful Affair
- Original title
- Mémoires d'une Jeune Fille Dérangée
- People/Characters
- Simone de Beauvoir; Jean-Paul Sartre
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Literature Studies and Criticism, Biography & Memoir, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 848.91409 — Literature & rhetoric French Literature French miscellaneous writings 1900- 1900-1999 1945-1999 Individual authors
- LCC
- PQ2603 .E362 .Z76513 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures French literature Modern literature 1900-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 22
- Popularity
- 1,193,308
- Rating
- (2.00)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
