Simone Weil: Utopian Pessimist - Hardcover

Simone Weil's short life was as extraordinary as her writings. Born in 1909, she was a brilliant philosophy student in the Paris of the 1920s and colleague of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. She fought on the anarchist side in the Spanish Civil War and died, at the age of only thirty-four, while serving with de Gaulle and the Free French in London. This life of intense activity was united with a profoundly religious outlook on life. Many consider her the best spiritual writer of our century and a true saint for modern times. Simone Weil published almost nothing during her lifetime. The publication of her complete works is only now beginning in France. They reveal a mind of amazing lucidity and depth. This biography draws on hitherto unpublished material to explain her thought in the context of her life. Its comprehensive coverage at last makes available to the public the most intriguing personality of our age.

Simone Weil is considered by many to be the best spiritual writer of our century and a true saint of modern times. Her short life was as extraordinary as her writings and David McLellan's biography draws on unpublished material to examine her thought in the context of her remarkable life. A philosophy student and colleague of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in 1920s Paris, Simone Weil fought with the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War and died, when only 34, while serving with de Gaulle and the Free French in London. Her short life was one of great intensity. The author has also written "Karl Marx: Early Texts", "The Young Helegians and Karl Marx", "Marx before Marxism", "Marx's Grundrisse", "the Thought of Karl Marx", "Karl Marx: His Life and Thought", "Ideology", "Marx" and "Engels".