The Girls / Pity for Women

Les jeunes filles #1-2

by Henry de Montherlant

English (translation)
Original French

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Henry de Montherlant (1895-1972) fut romancier, dramaturge, essayiste et poète. Il était membre de l’Académie française et peut être considéré comme un des plus grands écrivains du XXe siècle, à l’égal d’un Proust ou d’un Céline.

Reviews

[Michael A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read, if just to see how little has really changed between the sexes, since this was first written in the 30s!
Wish a more contemporary version is written using a famous male author being stalked by his female followers.
No doubt female readers will raise somewhat valid objections to his portrayals of the women as outdated (no wonder the 60s reprint was deemed controversial).
However, if they can suspend their feminist outrage for just a few pages, they will recognise the word play used by the women strangely familiar - despite these modern times. How the powerful arguments are robustly parried by the male is worth the entrance fee!
His most lethal weapon is to simply ignore, and what a woman hates most of all is to feel ignored. A lesson for all men, even today!