Overview

Translated from the French by Benjamin Ivry, Simone Weil was one of the twentieth century's most original philosopher-critics, and as a result her legacy has been claimed by many. This memoir by Weil's niece is strong-willed and incisive and as close as we are likely to get to the real Simone Weil. Born into a freethinking Jewish family, Weil contributed many articles to Socialist and Communist journals and was active in the Spanish Civil War until her health failed.  In 1940 she became strongly attracted to Roman Catholicism and the Passion of Christ. Most of her works, published posthumously, continue to inform debates in ethics, philosophy, and spirituality surrounding questions of sacrifice, asceticism, and the virtues of manual labor. Massively influential, Weil's writings were widely praised by such readers as Albert Camus, T. S. Eliot, Simone de Beauvoir, Pope John XXIII, Czeslaw Milosz, and Susan Sontag. Sylvie Weil recovers the deeply Jewish nature of Simone's thinking and details how her preoccupations with charity and justice were fully in the tradition of tzedakah, the Jewish religious obligation toward these actions.Using previously unpublished family correspondence and conversations, Sylvie Weil offers a more authentically personal portrait of her aunt than previous biographers have provided. At Home with AndrÉ and Simone Weil illuminates Simone's relationship to her family, especially to her brother, the great Princeton mathematician AndrÉ Weil. A clear-eyed and uncompromising memoir of her family, At Home with AndrÉ and Simone Weil is a fresh look at the noted French philosopher,mystic, and social activist.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sylvie Weil ,  Benjamin Ivry
Publisher:   Northwestern University Press
Imprint:   Northwestern University Press
Weight:   0.253kg
ISBN:  

9780810142626

ISBN 10:   0810142627
Pages:   192
Publication Date:   30 April 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Prologue Plato or Diophantus Phone Call The Tunnel A Normal Little Girl The Saint's Tibia Living with Her Where to Find the Sugar Bowl Who Are We Congratulating Here? To Baptize Me or Not to Baptize Me? The Nuns Gelfilte Fish A Beauty of Euclid A Genuine Relic? Choo-Choo Do You Want to Come with Me? A Two-Headed Genius Family Portrait Sterling Ancestors: From the Galician Side Sterling Ancestors: From the Alsatian Side The Wages of Sin A Family Unglued The Metamorphoses of a Kuckucksei These Ruined Faces The Garde-Meuble Jerusalem A Navy Blue Beret Indestructible? Japonaiserie Pulling the Wool over Her Eyes Tzedakah The Old Horse Visitation Rights Revelation Roots The Mirror's Eyes Pale Petals Epilogue

Reviews

The missing link in the story of Andre and Simone Weil is Sylvie Weil, daughter of the great mathematician, niece of the legendary philosopher. In her memoirs, which are much more than that, the 'saints' are humanized, while the 'merely' personal is transformed into something rich and strange. One enters Sylvie's world to find Andre and Simone, and discovers there a hidden treasure: Sylvie herself. No student of Andre or Simone Weil can afford not to enter this captivating universe. --Palle Yourgrau, author of A World Without Time The Forgotten Legacy of Goedel and Einstein At Home with Andre and Simone Weil is an elegant and witty memoir-cum-reflection. --The Spectator Sylvie Weil's memoir is simply one of the best books I've read in the past decade. At turns poignant, poetic, and deeply personal, Chez les Weil is a movingly honest exploration of her own identity and the exceptional influences that helped shape it, particularly her father, Andre, and his sister, Simone, her grandparents and ancestors, and the Holocaust. --Paul LeClerc, president, The New York Public Library A magnificent narrative which brings back to life the brother and sister, born three years apart yet very like twins, both superlatively gifted. --Le Monde

With this book, Sylvie Weil has opened a window and allowed the fresh air of her unique perspective and her considerable talent to dust off and provide new insight into these two giants, and into the peculiar challenges of being the offspring of intellectual lions. With humor and style, Weil deftly leads us through the social intricacies of Jewish history, family history, mathematics, philosophy, war, and a peculiar sort of redemption. Leaning on Sylvie Weil's capable arm, we are escorted through the back roads of a complex family landscape. This is a first-class tour. --Karen Hesse, author of The Cats in Krasinski Square Sylvie Weil's memoir is simply one of the best books I've read in the past decade. At turns poignant, poetic, and deeply personal, Chez les Weil is a movingly honest exploration of her own identity and the exceptional influences that helped shape it, particularly her father, Andre, and his sister, Simone, her grandparents and ancestors, and the Holocaust. --Paul LeClerc, president, The New York Public Library A magnificent narrative which brings back to life the brother and sister, born three years apart yet very like twins, both superlatively gifted. --Le Monde The missing link in the story of Andre and Simone Weil is Sylvie Weil, daughter of the great mathematician, niece of the legendary philosopher. In her memoirs, which are much more than that, the 'saints' are humanized, while the 'merely' personal is transformed into something rich and strange. One enters Sylvie's world to find Andre and Simone, and discovers there a hidden treasure: Sylvie herself. No student of Andre or Simone Weil can afford not to enter this captivating universe. --Palle Yourgrau, author of A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Goedel and Einstein At Home with Andre and Simone Weil is an elegant and witty memoir-cum-reflection. --The Spectator

A magnificent narrative which brings back to life the brother and sister, born three years apart yet very like twins, both superlatively gifted. - Le Monde Sylvie Weil's memoir is simply one of the best books I've read in the past decade. At turns poignant, poetic, and deeply personal, Chez les Weil is a movingly honest exploration of her own identity and the exceptional influences that helped shape it, particularly her father, AndrE, and his sister, Simone, her grandparents and ancestors, and the Holocaust. - Paul LeClerc, president, The New York Public Library The missing link in the story of AndrE and Simone Weil is Sylvie Weil, daughter of the great mathematician, niece of the legendary philosopher. In her memoirs, which are much more than that, the 'saints' are humanized, while the 'merely' personal is transformed into something rich and strange. One enters Sylvie's world to find AndrE and Simone, and discovers there a hidden treasure: Sylvie herself. No student of AndrE or Simone Weil can afford not to enter this captivating universe. - Palle Yourgrau, author of A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of GOEdel and Einstein At Home with AndrE and Simone Weil is an elegant and witty memoir-cum-reflection. - The Spectator

Author Information

Sylvie Weil is the niece of Simone Weil and the daughter of AndrÉ Weil. She earned her degrees in classics and French literature at the Sorbonne. She was a professor of French literature, and is the author of several award-winning works of fiction for adults and for young adults. Her novels have been published in the United States: My Guardian Angel (2007) and Elvina's Mirror (2009).  Benjamin Ivry's previous books include biographies of Arthur Rimbaud, Maurice Ravel, and Francis Poulenc. He has translated French authors such as AndrÉ Gide, Jules Verne, Balthus, and Witold Gombrowicz.

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