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| Plot Summary of The War Diaries |
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"The title of this book is a little misleading, for the entries date from 1939-40, before the war in France really heated up. Sartre saw no action during this period (he was in his early 30s), but he WAS in military service on the front during the "phony war." Mostly, he had a lot of time to think and write. He worked on some of the foundations for _Being and Nothingness_ and existential theory in general, so there's some of that here, but this is a surprisingly HUMAN document. Sartre writes of his insecurities ("In relation to Gauguin, Van Gogh and Rimbaud, I have a distinct inferiority complex because they managed to destroy themselves"; "It's true, I'm not authentic ... I am nothing but pride and lucidity"); his love of women and burning desire for beauty -- to be IN something beautiful; total failure at friendships with men, save for what he termed women-men ("an extremely rare species, standing out from the rest thanks to their physical charm or sometimes beauty, and to a host of inner riches which the common run of men know nothing of ... I'm a woman-man myself, I think, for all my ugliness"). Sometimes he is intellectually flip ("I would condemn someone definitively for a linguistic mannerism, but not because I'd seen him murder his mother"), and sometimes simple and sincere ("A day begun with a breakfast is a lucky day"). Above all, he broods on the nature of freedom and authenticity. A much more accessible work than much of his fiction or polished essays."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The War Diaries |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession:
- writer
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside)
- French
Job/profession/poverty story
Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender
Yes
Pal/friendship story
Yes
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- French
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 (a little)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
Small town?
Yes
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- love/sex
- decency
- war
- dying
- religion
Writer's slant towards subject:
- favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Autobiography?
Yes
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 0-25% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 51-75% of book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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