Author: Simone Weil
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674298330
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
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.
The Weil Conjectures
Author: Karen Olsson
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374719632
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 167
Book Description
A New York Times Editors' Pick and Paris Review Staff Pick "A wonderful book." --Patti Smith "I was riveted. Olsson is evocative on curiosity as an appetite of the mind, on the pleasure of glutting oneself on knowledge." --Parul Sehgal, The New York Times An eloquent blend of memoir and biography exploring the Weil siblings, math, and creative inspiration Karen Olsson’s stirring and unusual third book, The Weil Conjectures, tells the story of the brilliant Weil siblings—Simone, a philosopher, mystic, and social activist, and André, an influential mathematician—while also recalling the years Olsson spent studying math. As she delves into the lives of these two singular French thinkers, she grapples with their intellectual obsessions and rekindles one of her own. For Olsson, as a math major in college and a writer now, it’s the odd detours that lead to discovery, to moments of insight. Thus The Weil Conjectures—an elegant blend of biography and memoir and a meditation on the creative life. Personal, revealing, and approachable, The Weil Conjectures eloquently explores math as it relates to intellectual history, and shows how sometimes the most inexplicable pursuits turn out to be the most rewarding.
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374719632
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 167
Book Description
A New York Times Editors' Pick and Paris Review Staff Pick "A wonderful book." --Patti Smith "I was riveted. Olsson is evocative on curiosity as an appetite of the mind, on the pleasure of glutting oneself on knowledge." --Parul Sehgal, The New York Times An eloquent blend of memoir and biography exploring the Weil siblings, math, and creative inspiration Karen Olsson’s stirring and unusual third book, The Weil Conjectures, tells the story of the brilliant Weil siblings—Simone, a philosopher, mystic, and social activist, and André, an influential mathematician—while also recalling the years Olsson spent studying math. As she delves into the lives of these two singular French thinkers, she grapples with their intellectual obsessions and rekindles one of her own. For Olsson, as a math major in college and a writer now, it’s the odd detours that lead to discovery, to moments of insight. Thus The Weil Conjectures—an elegant blend of biography and memoir and a meditation on the creative life. Personal, revealing, and approachable, The Weil Conjectures eloquently explores math as it relates to intellectual history, and shows how sometimes the most inexplicable pursuits turn out to be the most rewarding.
A Life in Letters
Author: Simone Weil
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674298330
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674298330
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
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.
At Home with André and Simone Weil
Author: Sylvie Weil
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810127040
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
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 Andr and Simone Weil illuminates Simone's relationship to her family, especially to her brother, the great Princeton mathematician Andr Weil. A clear-eyed and uncompromising memoir of her family, At Home with Andr and Simone Weil is a fresh look at the noted French philosopher, mystic, and social activist.
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810127040
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
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 Andr and Simone Weil illuminates Simone's relationship to her family, especially to her brother, the great Princeton mathematician Andr Weil. A clear-eyed and uncompromising memoir of her family, At Home with Andr and Simone Weil is a fresh look at the noted French philosopher, mystic, and social activist.
André Gide
Author: Alan Sheridan
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674035270
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
Sheridan presents a literary biography of one of the most important writers of the 20th century--an intimate portrait of the reluctantly public man, whose work was deeply and inextricably entangled with his life. 35 halftones.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674035270
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
Sheridan presents a literary biography of one of the most important writers of the 20th century--an intimate portrait of the reluctantly public man, whose work was deeply and inextricably entangled with his life. 35 halftones.
The Life of John André
Author: D. A. B. Ronald
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612005225
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
This biography of Britain’s spy chief during the Revolutionary War sheds new light on his conspiracy with Benedict Arnold—and his mysterious capture. John André was head of the British Army’s Secret Service in North America as the Revolutionary War entered its most decisive phase. In 1780, he masterminded the defection of the high-ranking American general Benedict Arnold. As the commander of West Point, Arnold agreed to turn the strategically vital fort over to the British. André and Arnold also conspired to kidnap George Washington. The secret negotiations between Arnold and André were protracted and fraught with danger. Arnold’s wife Peggy acted as go-between until September 21st, 1780, when the two men met face to face in no-man’s-land. But then André was captured forty-eight hours later, having broken every condition set by his commanding officer: he was within American lines, wearing civilian clothes, and carrying maps of West Point in his boots. When he announced himself as a spy, the Americans had no recourse. Tried by a military tribunal, he was convicted and hanged. André’s motives for his apparent sacrifice have baffled historians for generations. This biography provides a provocative answer to this mystery—explaining not only why he acted as he did, but how he wished others to see his actions.
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612005225
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
This biography of Britain’s spy chief during the Revolutionary War sheds new light on his conspiracy with Benedict Arnold—and his mysterious capture. John André was head of the British Army’s Secret Service in North America as the Revolutionary War entered its most decisive phase. In 1780, he masterminded the defection of the high-ranking American general Benedict Arnold. As the commander of West Point, Arnold agreed to turn the strategically vital fort over to the British. André and Arnold also conspired to kidnap George Washington. The secret negotiations between Arnold and André were protracted and fraught with danger. Arnold’s wife Peggy acted as go-between until September 21st, 1780, when the two men met face to face in no-man’s-land. But then André was captured forty-eight hours later, having broken every condition set by his commanding officer: he was within American lines, wearing civilian clothes, and carrying maps of West Point in his boots. When he announced himself as a spy, the Americans had no recourse. Tried by a military tribunal, he was convicted and hanged. André’s motives for his apparent sacrifice have baffled historians for generations. This biography provides a provocative answer to this mystery—explaining not only why he acted as he did, but how he wished others to see his actions.
Encyclopedia of Life Writing
Author: Margaretta Jolly
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136787445
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 1141
Book Description
First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136787445
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 1141
Book Description
First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Life and Career of Major John André
Author: Winthrop Sargent
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 618
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 618
Book Description
The Two Spies: Nathan Hale and John André
Author: Benson John Lossing
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 202
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 202
Book Description
The Worlds of André Maurois
Author: Jack Kolbert
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9780941664165
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The centennial of Andre Maurois's birth in 1885 has made this a most appropriate moment to produce a comprehensive work assessing his role as one of the leading literary figures in the Western world. Jack Kolbert's The Worlds of Andre Maurois draws heavily from his close personal association with Maurois as well as from painstaking analyses of each of Maurois' published works and of many of his unpublished and private papers. Maurois had the virtue of serving as a supreme communicator - a writer who could transform the most complex subject matter into readable, tidily organized, and above all lucid works of prose narrative. Unchallenged as the foremost biographer of 20th century literary figures, he also produced well-written and accurate histories of the three nations he knew best: France, England and the United States. For decades his novels and short stories enjoyed worldwide popularity. Climats may well be regarded as a novelistic classic and his science fiction continues to attract many readers. With a warm spirit of appreciation Jack Kolbert's monograph covers all of the major aspects of this fascinating literary figure: his human characteristics, his presence in French and international society, the persons who peopled his private and public worlds, his great biographies, novels, short stories, histories, essays, and articles of criticism. Kolbert's study on Maurois is probably the most comprehensive work on this subject to date.
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9780941664165
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The centennial of Andre Maurois's birth in 1885 has made this a most appropriate moment to produce a comprehensive work assessing his role as one of the leading literary figures in the Western world. Jack Kolbert's The Worlds of Andre Maurois draws heavily from his close personal association with Maurois as well as from painstaking analyses of each of Maurois' published works and of many of his unpublished and private papers. Maurois had the virtue of serving as a supreme communicator - a writer who could transform the most complex subject matter into readable, tidily organized, and above all lucid works of prose narrative. Unchallenged as the foremost biographer of 20th century literary figures, he also produced well-written and accurate histories of the three nations he knew best: France, England and the United States. For decades his novels and short stories enjoyed worldwide popularity. Climats may well be regarded as a novelistic classic and his science fiction continues to attract many readers. With a warm spirit of appreciation Jack Kolbert's monograph covers all of the major aspects of this fascinating literary figure: his human characteristics, his presence in French and international society, the persons who peopled his private and public worlds, his great biographies, novels, short stories, histories, essays, and articles of criticism. Kolbert's study on Maurois is probably the most comprehensive work on this subject to date.
The Two Spies: Nathan Hale and John André
Author: Benson John Lossing
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
The book chronicles the life and death of Nathan Hale and John André. Hale was an American Patriot, soldier, and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and executed. André was a major in the British Army and head of its Secret Service in America during the American Revolutionary War. He was hanged as a spy by the Continental Army for assisting Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York, to the British.
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
The book chronicles the life and death of Nathan Hale and John André. Hale was an American Patriot, soldier, and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and executed. André was a major in the British Army and head of its Secret Service in America during the American Revolutionary War. He was hanged as a spy by the Continental Army for assisting Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York, to the British.