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brokesheridan's review against another edition
5.0
This book made me deeply sad. But also had some of the most beautiful ideas and quotes I’ve ever read.
kellymat77's review against another edition
5.0
I ordered this book online as my summer break reading, and ended up reading most of it on a nine-hour Amtrak train from central New York to Boston. I was so engrossed in reading it that I barely remember what the inside of the train looked like.
The Woman Destroyed was originally published in 1967 as La Femme rompue. As the title introduces, it is about women in crisis — dealing with broken marriages, lack of purpose, and old age. The situations De Beauvoir’s characters find themselves in are common, but that everyday quality somehow makes its women more compelling.
The book includes three stories. “The Age of Discretion” is about a woman facing old age and an estranged son, “The Monologue” is about a woman abandoned by her family, and “The Woman Destroyed” is about a woman dealing with her cruel husband’s affair.
The stories are raw depictions of the inner workings of the female mind. I found much of the book intensely relatable, even while disagreeing with or disliking some of the characters. De Beauvoir shines an honest light on aspects of womanhood that go overlooked.
My favorite of the three was the very first story. I liked the protagonist as a character, and although she was controlling, irrational and a terrible mother-in-law, I related to her crisis and the way that she defined the world.
The main struggle of the protagonist is her lost sense of purpose and her tense relationship with her son. Her latest book is a failure and her son has rejected her plans for his life. Both conflicts affect her relationship with her husband.
It is the only story of the book with somewhat of a happy ending — after miscommunications on both sides, the woman and her husband reconcile their issues. I loved the line where they come back together:
“I had recovered the Andre I had never lost and that I never should lose.”
The story discusses aging and loss, and how women can lose their sense of purpose when we get older. For 1967, De Beauvoir’s perspective on female independence and self-worth was very new.
Her characters have interests and opinions beyond the men in their lives, but continue to be devoted wives. With this book, she emphasizes that women are forced to center their lives around men, and demonstrates how that can go terribly wrong.
With the middle story, De Beauvoir pushes the limits of her female characters. The protagonist of this story is crude, unlikable, and spiraling. Honestly, it was refreshing to see a woman pushed to the brink and allowed to be insane, because women in media are allowed to lose it much less than their male counterparts.
The prose in this section was markedly different than the other two stories. It was made up of sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and nonsensical anecdotes. Her style created a rushed, insane atmosphere and really characterized the main character as a woman on the edge.
“I have weapons I’ll use them he’ll come back to me I shan’t go on rotting all alone in this dump with those people on the next floor who trample me underfoot and the ones next door who wake me every morning with their radio … All those fat cows have a man to protect them and kids to wait on them and me nothing”
The last story is the longest and most memorable of the three. It is written as a series of diary entries.
In the story, a woman named Monique discovers that her husband of many years is having an affair, and allows him to continue it in the hopes that it fizzles out. It does not fizzle out, and she ends the book alone and devastated.
I was incredibly frustrated by Monique. I wanted her to leave her husband about 100 different times while reading, but I understood why she didn’t. I felt like I was on the phone with a friend making a bad decision that I couldn’t talk her out of making.
This story really affected me. While reading, I felt like I was Monique, and I closed the book feeling lost and sad. The emotional power of the book, even when translated from its original language, speaks to De Beauvoir’s power as a writer.
I wonder what it would look like if somebody chronicled what goes on in my mind when I’m dealing with something. Would I seem unlikable and cruel, like some of De Beauvoir’s characters, or would I be sympathetic?
Feminist literature like The Woman Destroyed always makes a strong impression on me. There is something remarkable about the universality of womanhood, and how stories from more than 50 years ago can continue to resonate today.
https://open.substack.com/pub/kelly3u2w5/p/book-review-the-woman-destroyed-by?r=1z6ft2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
The Woman Destroyed was originally published in 1967 as La Femme rompue. As the title introduces, it is about women in crisis — dealing with broken marriages, lack of purpose, and old age. The situations De Beauvoir’s characters find themselves in are common, but that everyday quality somehow makes its women more compelling.
The book includes three stories. “The Age of Discretion” is about a woman facing old age and an estranged son, “The Monologue” is about a woman abandoned by her family, and “The Woman Destroyed” is about a woman dealing with her cruel husband’s affair.
The stories are raw depictions of the inner workings of the female mind. I found much of the book intensely relatable, even while disagreeing with or disliking some of the characters. De Beauvoir shines an honest light on aspects of womanhood that go overlooked.
My favorite of the three was the very first story. I liked the protagonist as a character, and although she was controlling, irrational and a terrible mother-in-law, I related to her crisis and the way that she defined the world.
The main struggle of the protagonist is her lost sense of purpose and her tense relationship with her son. Her latest book is a failure and her son has rejected her plans for his life. Both conflicts affect her relationship with her husband.
It is the only story of the book with somewhat of a happy ending — after miscommunications on both sides, the woman and her husband reconcile their issues. I loved the line where they come back together:
“I had recovered the Andre I had never lost and that I never should lose.”
The story discusses aging and loss, and how women can lose their sense of purpose when we get older. For 1967, De Beauvoir’s perspective on female independence and self-worth was very new.
Her characters have interests and opinions beyond the men in their lives, but continue to be devoted wives. With this book, she emphasizes that women are forced to center their lives around men, and demonstrates how that can go terribly wrong.
With the middle story, De Beauvoir pushes the limits of her female characters. The protagonist of this story is crude, unlikable, and spiraling. Honestly, it was refreshing to see a woman pushed to the brink and allowed to be insane, because women in media are allowed to lose it much less than their male counterparts.
The prose in this section was markedly different than the other two stories. It was made up of sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and nonsensical anecdotes. Her style created a rushed, insane atmosphere and really characterized the main character as a woman on the edge.
“I have weapons I’ll use them he’ll come back to me I shan’t go on rotting all alone in this dump with those people on the next floor who trample me underfoot and the ones next door who wake me every morning with their radio … All those fat cows have a man to protect them and kids to wait on them and me nothing”
The last story is the longest and most memorable of the three. It is written as a series of diary entries.
In the story, a woman named Monique discovers that her husband of many years is having an affair, and allows him to continue it in the hopes that it fizzles out. It does not fizzle out, and she ends the book alone and devastated.
I was incredibly frustrated by Monique. I wanted her to leave her husband about 100 different times while reading, but I understood why she didn’t. I felt like I was on the phone with a friend making a bad decision that I couldn’t talk her out of making.
This story really affected me. While reading, I felt like I was Monique, and I closed the book feeling lost and sad. The emotional power of the book, even when translated from its original language, speaks to De Beauvoir’s power as a writer.
I wonder what it would look like if somebody chronicled what goes on in my mind when I’m dealing with something. Would I seem unlikable and cruel, like some of De Beauvoir’s characters, or would I be sympathetic?
Feminist literature like The Woman Destroyed always makes a strong impression on me. There is something remarkable about the universality of womanhood, and how stories from more than 50 years ago can continue to resonate today.
https://open.substack.com/pub/kelly3u2w5/p/book-review-the-woman-destroyed-by?r=1z6ft2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
ruhh's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dustherondale's review against another edition
4.0
Simone de Beauvoir tiene una capacidad brillante para observar la sociedad y el rol de las mujeres en ella. La Mujer Rota es la historia de una mujer pero en realidad la historia de muchas. Cuántos maridos rompieron a sus esposas en pedazos y las mismas luego fueron culpadas cuando no fueron capaces de juntar las piezas? La mujer rota se culpa, se autoconvence (o LA autoconvencen) de que los errores de su marido son su culpa, son naturales, la tonta es ella por haber esperado fidelidad de aquel que se la prometió. Su marido le reprocha que haya cambiado, como si la misma sociedad y el papel de madre no la hayan llevado naturalmente a ello. Cómo si no haya desempeñado el rol que se esperaba de ella, y para colmo ahora se le culpa. Y su marido, que en un principio (cuando le beneficiaba) estaba de acuerdo con todos los sacrificios y desiciones que su esposa tomaba , al envejecer y ver que su esposa ya no es una jovencita de 20 años, al ver qué todo su universo gira al rededor de su familia, empieza a reprocharle las desiciones que tomo y le hecha la culpa exclusivamente a ella por haberse 'dejado estar'. Cómo si la maternidad no fuera un trabajo, como si la vida de EL no fuera significantemente más fácil gracias a ella. Cuántas mujeres fueron, y son, La Mujer Rota? Ojalá ninguna, pero en realidad muchas.
thatflowerjazmin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lun4russell's review against another edition
5.0
No sé si seré yo con algún sesgo de percepción, pero encuentro en toda esta obra un constante enfrentamiento de la 'pérdida' por parte de las protagonistas de los tres relatos. Qué peligroso es dedicarle la vida a cualquier cosa menos a ti mismo. En "La Edad de la Discreción" no podía dejar de pensar lo bien correspondidos que estaban los procesos personales de los personajes, lo bien diseñada y articulada que terminaba de estar en sí misma la pieza. El "Monólogo" me daba una sensación de texto interminable, tan abrumador que me hacía sentir tan mareada como seguramente la protagonista lo estaba, habiéndose dejado llevar por sus desvaríos. En última instancia, la historia de Monique resulta cautivante; aprecias en su diario y con el supuesto pasar de los días la incertidumbre y confusión a la que se enfrenta: le puedes comprar cada uno de sus razonamientos porque sabes tanto como ella. Con todo, es una obra sumamente disfrutable.
penumbralsoul's review against another edition
2.0
Pissed me off and not in a good way. It was easy to read but nothing eye-opening
pekeyzoo's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, probably would never have picked this one up if it weren’t for bookclub, but I really enjoyed it! I could have done without the 2nd short story, but the first and third one were excellent!
benedettal's review against another edition
4.0
This book is so hard to read for its themes, but so beautiful. de Beauvoir fictionalises her philosophy, her outrage at the female experience in society, especially for older women. She is brutal towards her characters to represent just how cruel life is to women everywhere, and this book reads like a prolonged scream.
The book is made up of three different stories. The first one, the woman destroyed proper, talks about an affair from the pov of the scorned wife. She is objectively a rather weak woman, who gets easily pushed around and sees staying with her husband as her ultimate goal, no matter how humiliating. But through the narrative, the author clearly highlights how absurd it is for her to take the blame for everything, how her weakness is the result of the society around her. I appreciated the two sides of the story, her failure to be supportive etc, it all made it so real. It was so heartbreaking. Monique descends into mental illness very rapidly, as we see her making excuses for herself or pretending like she can stay calm and hold her ground in the face of her husband’s recklessness. The way she alienates herself from her friends due to her obsession, the lack of support from her daughters, her husband’s duplicity toward her. And what’s even more powerful is that she’s not better by the end. She’s significantly worse. It’s so rage inducing but like in a good way.
The second story is about a mother-son relationship. I can’t relate but it was equally as thought provoking and heartbreaking. It must be hard to reconcile the way you raised a son with what he chooses to become once he gets to that point. The second theme is accepting old age, the declining quality of one’s life work, especially in academia, and it’s deeply touching. I don’t know how autobiographical it is but it really felt like it came from a real place for de Beauvoir.
The final part, the monologue, is just the unfiltered rambling of a woman whose husband is cheating on her (I think? It’s been a few days). It’s just female rage on steroids with all the awkwardly translated swear words and obscenities you can imagine. It was probably very modern when it came out, a realistic and super ragey stream of consciousness which very much calls back to the title. I appreciated it for what it was.
Overall, a very interesting piece of work, a great author.
The book is made up of three different stories. The first one, the woman destroyed proper, talks about an affair from the pov of the scorned wife. She is objectively a rather weak woman, who gets easily pushed around and sees staying with her husband as her ultimate goal, no matter how humiliating. But through the narrative, the author clearly highlights how absurd it is for her to take the blame for everything, how her weakness is the result of the society around her. I appreciated the two sides of the story, her failure to be supportive etc, it all made it so real. It was so heartbreaking. Monique descends into mental illness very rapidly, as we see her making excuses for herself or pretending like she can stay calm and hold her ground in the face of her husband’s recklessness. The way she alienates herself from her friends due to her obsession, the lack of support from her daughters, her husband’s duplicity toward her. And what’s even more powerful is that she’s not better by the end. She’s significantly worse. It’s so rage inducing but like in a good way.
The second story is about a mother-son relationship. I can’t relate but it was equally as thought provoking and heartbreaking. It must be hard to reconcile the way you raised a son with what he chooses to become once he gets to that point. The second theme is accepting old age, the declining quality of one’s life work, especially in academia, and it’s deeply touching. I don’t know how autobiographical it is but it really felt like it came from a real place for de Beauvoir.
The final part, the monologue, is just the unfiltered rambling of a woman whose husband is cheating on her (I think? It’s been a few days). It’s just female rage on steroids with all the awkwardly translated swear words and obscenities you can imagine. It was probably very modern when it came out, a realistic and super ragey stream of consciousness which very much calls back to the title. I appreciated it for what it was.
Overall, a very interesting piece of work, a great author.