Today marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Simone de Beauvoir. “At 15,” Wikipedia tells us, “Simone de Beauvoir had already decided she would be a famous writer.” Apparently this is a legitimate aspiration for the French, following perhaps the example of Victor Hugo’s “I will be Chateaubriand or I will be nothing.”
Fans of de Beauvoir might enjoy the quiz at the Guardian. My score: 8 out of 10.
BTW, don’t click the photo until you’ve been quizzed (if you intend to be); the Wikipedia entry has the answers to some of the questions.
I got five out of ten. But I don't know anything about her, never heard of her, and it was pure guessing. I guess I get an F, although statistically, I shouldn't have been able to do that well. I haven't looked it up, but she must have been a feminist.
Posted by: Buck on January 9, 2008 8:24 AMA good test-taker can always do okay, and there was certainly a lot of room for guessing to work, given the questions...
Posted by: Chuck Dupree on January 9, 2008 8:27 AMI will be New York steak or I will be nothing. Chateaubriand has gristle.
Posted by: Martha Bridegam on January 9, 2008 2:22 PM