Book World Live

Hazel Rowley, "Tete-a-Tete: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre"

Hazel Rowley is the author of "Tete-a-Tete: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre" a new work chronicling the complicated relationship of two of the 20th century's most famous intellectuals. Her book was reviewed in the Oct. 16 issue of Book World .

Rowley was online Tuesday, Oct. 18 to talk about the work and private-public lives of de Beauvoir and Sartre.

Join Book World Live each Tuesday for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday's Book World section.

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Hazel Rowley: Hello chat group! This is Hazel Rowley. Nice to be with you. All I want to say to start with is that this book made me think about my life, as I hope it will make you think about yours. I was delighted that Michael Dirda made that point in his review. I intended the book both for readers who know nothing about Sartre and Beauvoir, and for readers who know a lot. I loved it when a Sartre scholar told me with astonishment that it is full of new material, and he was so moved by some of it that he had tears in his eyes. And I loved it when my anti-intellectual doctor brother, who almost never reads books, actually picked this one up, and told me he was was utterly absorbed and found the last chapter immeasurably sad. So there you are. Let's hope you read it!

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Madison, Wisc.: In considering the lives of philosophers, the question frequently arises as to whether their foibles have some organic connection to their philosophy, or whether on the other hand their private actions cannot be attributed in any way to their philosophy. (Heidegger's Nazism is a key example.)

Did Sartre's and Beauvoir's love lives arise in any way from their existential outlook, and if so, how?

Hazel Rowley: Good question, but I don't think their foibles arouse from their philosophy. Rather, they went against it. As Existentialists, they believed in freedom; they believed that we are free to shape our own lives, make our own choices, and that we should not blindly go along with the dictates of society. They believed that since there is no God, we alone are responsible for what we do. The lies they told their lovers did not really agree with their philosophy at all. On the other hand, there are many ways in which their behavior was exemplary, so I don't think we should focus on the foibles alone.

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Princeton, N.J.: I recall years ago a feminist discussion, either than Jean was either violent or perhaps simply enjoyed a good spanking, and that Simone was either a betrayer of feminism or a victim or a willing participant of mutual pleasure. Do you have any perspective on what this debate was all about?

Hazel Rowley: Jean-Paul Sartre was not at all violent. The women's movement sometimes criticized Beauvoir for looking up to Sartre so much. And since their deaths, they have both been criticized for the way they sometimes lied to their other lovers. Perhaps they are the controversies you are thinking of.

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Bethesda, Md: Did any of Sartre's or Beauvoir's friends or acquaintances object to psychological damage they were doing to others, to Bianca Bienenfeld or E Rey, for example? Did the two philosophers ever encounter resistance to the dynamics of la petite famille?

Hazel Rowley: Bost made it clear to Beauvoir that he wasn't impressed off with the lies she and Sartre told Olga and Wanda Kosakiewicz. But that was the only WRITTEN record I could find of a reprimand. I guess they said things in fire-side chats, you know.

Most of the friends didn't know the extent of the lies until the correspondence with Sartre and Beauvoir was published, after their deaths.

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Alexandria, Va.: Was de Beauvoir a mother figure to Sartre?

Hazel Rowley: In some ways, Beauvoir was perhaps a mother figure to Sartre. His father died when he was a baby, and he adored his mother. She was very proud of him and indulgent with him, and the same pattern was established later with Beauvoir. But she was also his best friend, his confidant, his brilliant editor and conversational partner, and so on. They never lied to each other..

That's not really a mother-son bond..

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College Park, Md.: To what extent were S and B representatives of their class, upper middle class, elite education etc?

Hazel Rowley: Well, they were hugely well educated. And could argue everyone else under the table. For years, they saw the world through that kind of sheltered filter that upper middle class people traditionally do.. And then came the war. (W.W. II) And they woke up. After that, they ran the most exciting avant-garde leftwing journal in Europe: Les Temps Modernes. They believed that intellectuals should be "committed." Take a stand.

They gave all their money away. Sartre never owned a home, a car, or any of those things. Beauvoir finally bought a modest apartment..

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Greenbelt, Md.: Could you explain the relationship between B. and Sylvie le Bon? I don't grasp this from your book. Thanks very much

Hazel Rowley: I leave it ambiguous. If you've read my book then you know as much as I do. Because of the age difference - and Beauvoir was painfully conscious of ageing - I don't think it was about wild sex. But they were intimate friends. I'm sure at time there was a physical aspect. I believe Sylvie was in love with Beauvoir. I know that Beauvoir loved her tenderly.

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Arlington, Va.: Given their habitual living in the state of "bad faith", has either Sartre or De Beauvoir ever mentioned anyone in their lifetime as living the "authentic life" consistent with the existential norm (such as outlined in Being and Nothingness)? If so, how? Thank you.

Hazel Rowley: I don't think they habitually lived in bad faith. This seems to me unfair. Apart from some lying to their lovers, and I don't try to cover this up or justify it, they led lives that were in many ways heroic. They were the most outspoken intellectuals of their time. Beauvoir was a pioneer for women. Sartre spoke out time and again against colonialism and racism. He condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. He stood up for immigrant workers in France. For students in the 1968 revolution. Etc..

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Paris: What became of Bost? Did he do any serious writing at all?

Hazel Rowley: Bost wrote a good (short) book about his experiences in W.W. II. And after that, he was a journalist at the Nouvel Observateur, who occasionally wrote film scripts, but nothing major. He remained close to Beauvoir and Sartre all his life. They were disappointed that he did not fulfil his talent more.

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Hyattsville, Md.: Are there Web sites or books where we can seem more photos of la famille de Sartre? I would especially like to see photos of Wanda and Olga as they progress in life. Is this possible?

Hazel Rowley: I have a photo of Wanda and of Olga in my book. But only one of each, when they were young. As I say in the book, Olga lost her beauty. I have seen a photo of Wanda in her 50s, and she still looked very beautiful. Why the interest in them, particularly?

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Minneapolis, Minn.: Why do you think the relationship with Nelson Algren went so badly?

Hazel Rowley: Complicated, that one. He wanted to have her to himself, and she also had a life in France, with Sartre. He was quite macho and very insecure. They nevertheless had a tender correspondence which lasted until her memoirs came out in English in 1964. Then he was FURIOUS!

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Orlando, Fla.: I have always wondered how good Sartre's German was as a young man. By the time he writes Being and Nothing, he has a good grasp of Sein und Zeit. Did he read German well? Did he study the language extensively in order to read Heidegger?

Hazel Rowley: He read German. He did not speak it well. But I agree, interesting, that. Your German has to be pretty good to read Sein und Zeit.

His grandfather, from an Alsatian family (Schweitzer) taught German. Sartre learned it at school.

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Hyattsville, Md.: HR:Hazel Rowley: I have a photo of Wanda and of Olga in my book. But only one of each, when they were young. As I say in the book, Olga lost her beauty. I have seen a photo of Wanda in her 50s, and she still looked very beautiful. Why the interest in them, particularly?

I am trying to get a better feel for the milieu; specifically, I am wondering what held together the friendship between the sisters and S/B for such a long time. Both of them seem to spark such a strong and complex reaction in S and B.

Hazel Rowley: Yes, I agree.

Well, I think my book explains that to some extent.

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Munich, Germany: How deeply do the writings of Sartre and Beauvoir pervade modern French society. Are they merely symbols of French culture or are there real and unmistakable influences that are detectable in everyday French life?

Do you think that Sartre and Beauvoir left their mark on American society and culture as well?

Hazel Rowley: I think Sartre and Beauvoir left a deep deep mark on 20th century French society. In the last 30 years, Existentialism has been out of fashion, and they have been routinely neglected and belittled.

I would say that Beauvoir's impact on women is gigantic, and still to this day.

In the USA as well. And in Germany..

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Orlando, Fla.: HR: But I agree, interesting, that. Your German has to be pretty good to read Sein und Zeit.

Yes. Sartre's use of the book (SZ) is sophisticated. No one with "some" German or having done a quick study could have assimilated and used this book. I suspect that Sartre had some help here...

Hazel Rowley: That could well be. He had a lot of time on his hands in his German prison camp. And some of the Catholic priests he was friendly with would have read German, I bet, and helped him.

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Philadelphia, Pa..: Were they supportive of each other's works, and were there ever any major issues on which they disagreed?

Hazel Rowley: They were wholly supportive of each other's writing. In terms of their work, it is the most generous relationship I have ever heard of.

Arguments? Not really. Beauvoir was worried about Sartre's closeness to the communist party in the early 1950s. She was afraid it would take away from his independence as an intellectual. But he himself distanced himself from the party in 1956.

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Orlando, Fla.: HR: But I agree, interesting, that. Your German has to be pretty good to read Sein und Zeit.

Yes. Sartre's use of the book (SZ) is sophisticated. No one with "some" German or having done a quick study could have assimilated and used this book. I suspect that Sartre had some help here...

Hazel Rowley: That could well be. He had a lot of time on his hands in his German prison camp. And some of the Catholic priests he was friendly with would have read German, I bet, and helped him

In your book, you mentioned that one of the German officers lent him SZ. One of the priests could indeed have helped him. Or one of the educated French people in the camp near Trier

Hazel Rowley: Right. Yes. But no one (none of his biographers) seems to know any more about this. It's interesting.

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washingtonpost.com: Thanks to Hazel Rowley and to all who participated.

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