Scan barcode
A review by ivostarr
All Men Are Mortal by Simone de Beauvoir
4.0
I hadn't read any of Beauvoir's fiction in quite some time, but it is funny that this novel called up some of the same feelings I had about the earlier novels I read. It is obvious that she loved to research, because this really shines through as she takes the reader all over the world via her character, Fosca, in All Men Are Mortal. She pays great attention to detail and aims to craft an environment rich with politics, emotion, and exploration of some of the tenets of existentialism. What I don't feel I get from Beauvoir is a writing style that I can really fall in love with. Then again, I'm reading her books in English, so it may not be her at all.
Beauvoir reveals the bulk of the story in flashbacks as Fosca, an immortal man, tells the story of his life to Regina. Now, Regina is fascinating, because she is not initially set up as an extremely likable character. In fact, the way Beauvoir wrote Regina somewhat reminded me of some of Colette's female characters--interesting, beautiful, complicated, awful, vain, etc. You don't love her, but you want to know more.
But, you actually don't get much of Regina. Once the story really gets going, it is all about Fosca's tale, which becomes an exercise for Beauvoir to explore aspects of existentialism through her main character.
Beauvoir reveals the bulk of the story in flashbacks as Fosca, an immortal man, tells the story of his life to Regina. Now, Regina is fascinating, because she is not initially set up as an extremely likable character. In fact, the way Beauvoir wrote Regina somewhat reminded me of some of Colette's female characters--interesting, beautiful, complicated, awful, vain, etc. You don't love her, but you want to know more.
But, you actually don't get much of Regina. Once the story really gets going, it is all about Fosca's tale, which becomes an exercise for Beauvoir to explore aspects of existentialism through her main character.