Six years before his death in 1980, Sartre opined to Simone Beauvoir that of all his writings, Situations (1947-76) would most likely survive the test of time. The ten-volume work contained "articles related to my philosophy, but written in a very simple style and speaking of things that everybody knows." Unfortunately, few today know what Sartre considered commonplace, and no complete English translation exists of the multivolume work he saw as his most enduring. Turner is doing a remarkable job of remedying that situation. Having just translated Situations III (The Aftermath of War, 2008), he now gives Anglophone readers Situations IV in its entirety, as originally published in 1964. This new translation (Benita Eisler's dates from 1965) is must reading for anyone interested in the artistic and intellectual history of 20th-century France. It embraces an extraordinary range of essays: Sartre's caustic "Reply to Albert Camus," which sealed the two philosophers' famous breakup; homages to Camus, Andre Gide, Paul Nizan, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty; studies of Tintoretto, Alberto Giacometti, and Andre Masson; and personal recollections of favorite Italian cities. These fascinating, timeless meditations resurrect the great minds of a bygone era. Art, philosophy, literature, and travel blend to form a work of immense interest.
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