"A Ceremony of Farewell" by Simone de Beauvoir Publisher: Shanghai Translation Publishing House

Introduction
A Farewell Portrait of Sartre, the "New Intellectual"
The Final Conversation between Beauvoir and Sartre
Couple life = intellectual dialogue
"This is my first—and perhaps only—book that you won't read before it goes to press. The whole book is written for you, but not about you."
"A Ceremony of Farewell" is a record of the last ten years of Jean-Paul Sartre's life by French thinker Simone de Beauvoir. It uses a plain style to closely depict the daily life of Sartre, one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century, in his later years, the career he fought for until the last moment, and his attitude towards illness and death.
In 1970, Sartre was 65 years old. Although the "May Storm" two years ago had ended, the aftermath was still there. Deeply influenced by the incident, Sartre rethought the role of intellectuals and proposed the concept of "new intellectuals". At the same time, he served as the editor of several newspapers, participated in rallies, held press conferences to support persecuted people, and prepared television documentaries. While participating in various activities tirelessly, he insisted on engaging in literary creation.
But what cannot be ignored is the various diseases that continue to torment him: high blood pressure, decreased vision, brain damage, uremia...
"My health capital is exhausted. I won't live past seventy."
"In fact, I am not dead. I can eat and drink. However, the work has been completed. In this sense, I am dead..."
Sartre was tortured by growing anxiety. He thought about his body, his age, and his death. How does a philosopher face his own pain, illness, and death? How does a lifelong existentialist thinker complete the last journey of his life?
As the woman closest to Sartre and the most important to him, Beauvoir recorded in detail the last ten years of Sartre's life based on the diary she had always kept and various materials collected from friends' notes and oral statements. The countless meticulous details and conversations as if they were there in person rarely show an ordinary yet extraordinary Sartre.
Beauvoir's records are followed by a long conversation between her and Sartre, during which Sartre took the opportunity to review his family, childhood and schooling experiences, and sorted out his thoughts on many topics including literature, philosophy, reading, writing, music, painting, equality, money, time, freedom, life and so on.
"His death tore us apart. If I die, we can't be together. That's how it is. We lived together harmoniously for a long time, and it was beautiful."