Overview

The inspiring letters of philosopher, mystic, and freedom fighter Simone Weil to her family, presented for the first time in English. Now in the pantheon of great thinkers, Simone Weil (1909–1943) lived largely in the shadows, searching for her spiritual home while bearing witness to the violence that devastated Europe twice in her brief lifetime. The letters she wrote to her parents and brother from childhood onward chart her intellectual range as well as her itinerancy and ever-shifting preoccupations, revealing the singular personality at the heart of her brilliant essays. The first complete collection of Weil's missives to her family, A Life in Letters offers new insight into her personal relationships and experiences. The letters abound with vivid illustrations of a life marked by wisdom as much as seeking. The daughter of a bourgeois Parisian Jewish family, Weil was a troublemaking idealist who preferred the company of miners and Russian exiles to that of her peers. An extraordinary scholar of history and politics, she ultimately found a home in Christian mysticism. Weil paired teaching with poetry and even dabbled in mathematics, as evidenced by her correspondence with her brother, André, who won the Kyoto Prize in 1994 for the famed Weil Conjectures. A Life in Letters depicts Simone Weil's thought taking shape amid political turmoil, as she describes her participation in the Spanish struggle against fascism and in the transatlantic resistance to the Nazis. An introduction and notes by Robert Chenavier contextualize the letters historically and intellectually, relating Weil's letters to her general body of writing. This book is an ideal entryway into Weil's philosophical insights, one for both neophytes and acolytes to treasure.

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9780674292376

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Reviews

Appearing for the first time in English, the letters Weil writes to her parents show a different facet of her life and character than we have previously been able to see. They introduce readers to new dimensions of her singularly important philosophy. The introduction by Robert Chenavier is most helpful and informative. Both engrossing and illuminating, this book will appeal not just to Weil's devotees, but also to historians, art critics, literary scholars, and philosophers. -- Françoise Meltzer, The University of Chicago

This book confirms that Simone Weil was saintly—all the way to the tips of her fingernails. Her letters allow us to take a peek at the interaction between her intellectual life and her private life. -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of <i>The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable</i> Simone Weil’s radical empathy illuminates every page of A Life in Letters. Alternating between the quotidian and the quotable, this extraordinary collection allows us to eavesdrop on Weil’s innermost thoughts, opening a window into the heart and mind of a philosopher whose iconoclastic insights are more relevant than ever. -- Eric Weiner, author of <i>The Socrates Express</i> These letters are a gift for those who love the writings of Simone Weil but wish to learn more of the wild complexities of her life, and their impact on those dear to her. -- Janet Soskice, author of <i>The Sisters of Sinai</i> Simone Weil is something of an otherworldly figure, at once distant and fascinating, like God, the ultimate nature of reality, and death itself. These letters bring Weil closer to us, even as they make her personality look even more complex. We learn a great deal about Weil from these letters, and yet somehow that only enhances her mystery. Read this book. -- Costica Bradatan, author of <i>In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility</i> These beautifully translated letters, more casual than her essays and journals, weave together the mundane and the extraordinary. They reveal a woman who continued to grapple with ancient Greek math and to teach herself Babylonian even as she and her family were imperiled by World War II. Her exemplary life and writings inspire us to live more rigorously, and we’re fortunate that these letters are at last available in English. -- Karen Olsson, author of <i>The Weil Conjectures</i> Appearing for the first time in English, the letters Weil writes to her parents show a different facet of her life and character than we have previously been able to see. They introduce readers to new dimensions of her singularly important philosophy. The introduction by Robert Chenavier is most helpful and informative. Both engrossing and illuminating, this book will appeal not just to Weil's devotees, but also to historians, art critics, literary scholars, and philosophers. -- Françoise Meltzer, author of <i>Dark Lens: Imaging Germany, 1945</i>

Appearing for the first time in English, the letters Weil writes to her parents show a different facet of her life and character than we have previously been able to see. They introduce readers to new dimensions of her singularly important philosophy. The introduction by Robert Chenavier is most helpful and informative. Both engrossing and illuminating, this book will appeal not just to Weil's devotees, but also to historians, art critics, literary scholars, and philosophers. -- Françoise Meltzer, The University of Chicago These letters are a gift for those who love the writings of Simone Weil but wish to learn more of the wild complexities of her life, and their impact on those dear to her. -- Janet Soskice, author of <i>The Sisters of Sinai</i>

Simone Weil is something of an otherworldly figure, at once distant and fascinating, like God, the ultimate nature of reality, and death itself. These letters bring Weil closer to us, even as they make her personality look even more complex. We learn a great deal about Weil from these letters, and yet somehow that only enhances her mystery. Read this book. -- Costica Bradatan, author of <i>In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility</i> These letters are a gift for those who love the writings of Simone Weil but wish to learn more of the wild complexities of her life, and their impact on those dear to her. -- Janet Soskice, author of <i>The Sisters of Sinai</i> Appearing for the first time in English, the letters Weil writes to her parents show a different facet of her life and character than we have previously been able to see. They introduce readers to new dimensions of her singularly important philosophy. The introduction by Robert Chenavier is most helpful and informative. Both engrossing and illuminating, this book will appeal not just to Weil's devotees, but also to historians, art critics, literary scholars, and philosophers. -- Françoise Meltzer, The University of Chicago Simone Weil’s radical empathy illuminates every page of A Life in Letters. Alternating between the quotidian and the quotable, this extraordinary collection allows us to eavesdrop on Weil’s innermost thoughts, opening a window into the heart and mind of a philosopher whose iconoclastic insights are more relevant than ever. -- Eric Weiner, author of <i>The Socrates Express</i>

Author Information

Simone Weil (1909–1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist, widely considered one of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century. Robert Chenavier is President of the Association for the Study of Simone Weil’s Thought and the author of four books, most recently Simone Weil, une Juive antisémite? André A. Devaux (1921–2017) was Professor of Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris IV).

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