“Art is no longer enough, alas, to fill a man’s life.” Chapter 1: Introduction to Jed Martin The novel opens with the introduction of Jed Martin, a reclusive […]
French literature
Platform
“The world is a marketplace; it always has been.” The novel follows Michel Renault, a disillusioned French civil servant in his forties, who drifts through life with little […]
French literature
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
“We think we are passing time, but time is passing us.” Part One: The Elegance of the Hedgehog The novel alternates between the perspectives of two protagonists: Renée […]
French literature
Bonjour Tristesse
“This strange new feeling of mine, obsessing me by its sweet languor, is such that I am reluctant to name it. Could it be sadness?” Chapter 1 Cécile, […]
French literature
Moderato Cantabile
“She was there, in the café, waiting for him, as she had been every day for the past week.” Chapter 1 The novel opens with Anne Desbaresdes, a […]
French literature
The Immoralist
“I was now seeking in all things the occasion for a self-betrayal.” Chapter 1 Michel, the protagonist, recounts his life story to three friends who have come to […]
French literature
She Came to Stay
“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. […]
French literature
The Mandarins
The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir is a sweeping post-war novel that delves into the lives of French intellectuals grappling with political disillusionment, personal relationships, and existential dilemmas […]
French literature
The Second Sex
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Volume 1: Facts and Myths The first volume of The Second Sex examines the historical, biological, and social construction […]
French literature
Being and Nothingness
“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” Introduction Being and Nothingness is Jean-Paul Sartre’s seminal work […]