Simone Weil is an outsider's saint. The daughter of an agnostic French family of Jewish descent, Weil was never baptized ("God does not want me in the Church," she wrote), and her conversion to Christianity at the age of 23 took her by surprise. Until then, she had been a solemn, committed leftist intellectual. Now she was moving toward a life of divine encounters whose desolate ecstasy, as described by the journals, letters, and essays excerpted in Waiting for God, bear comparison to St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. As Leslie Fiedler writes in her introduction to Weil's book, "She speaks of the problems of belief in the vocabulary of the unbeliever, of the doctrines of the Church in the words of the unchurched." The book is most notable for Weil's lengthy letter titled "Spiritual Autobiography" and for her "Meditation on the Pater Noster," which is the discursive record of a spiritual process that led to her almost daily attainment of a mystical vision of God. This is not pretty writing; it is an agonized record of amazement. --Michael Joseph Gross


André Gide
"Madameoiselle Weil is the most truly spiritual writer of this century."


Adrienne Rich
"One of the most neglected resources of our century."


T. S. Eliot
"Almost too important to be included in one's list of preferred reading for one year only."


New York Times
"In an age of inspirational books without inspiration, her writing is unmatched for surprising, sometimes shocking, spiritual insight."


The New Yorker
"By now Simone Weil has become a legend and her writings are regarded as a classic document of our period."


Book Description
Emerging from thought-provoking discussions and correspondence Simone Weil had with the Reverend Father Perrin, this classic collection of essays contains her most profound meditations on the relationship of human life to the realm of the transcendant. An enlightening introduction by Leslie Fiedler examines Weil's extraordinary roles as a philosophy teacher turned mystic. "One of the most neglected resources of our century ", Waiting for God will continue to influence spiritual and political thought for centuries to come.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


From the Publisher
"In an age of inspirational books without inspiration, her writing is unmatched for surprising, sometimes shocking, spiritual insight."--New York Times "Almost too important to be included in one's list of preferred reading for one year only."--T. S. Eliot


About the Author
Philosopher, theologian, social critic, and political activist, Simone Weil (1909-43) has become a legend of modern spiritual and political thought, Waiting for God contains Weil's most profound meditations on the relationship of human life to the realm of the transcendent.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Emerging from thought-provoking discussions and correspondence Simone Weil had with the Reverend Father Perrin, this classic collection of essays contains her most profound meditations on the relationship of human life to the realm of the transcendant. An enlightening introduction by Leslie Fiedler examines Weil's extraordinary roles as a philosophy teacher turned mystic. "One of the most neglected resources of our century ", Waiting for God will continue to influence spiritual and political thought for centuries to come.

FROM THE CRITICS

Robert Coles

For many of us who try to figure out how to live our lives—what values and beliefs to uphold, what actions to pursue—her example, her achievements, her frustrations, her intellectual or moral or religious impasses, and her failures, self-described or apparent to us from hindsight, all can serve to focus the mind, enlarge the heart, and stir the soul.

Andre Gide

Madameoiselle Weil is the most truly spiritual writer of this century.

Adrienne Rich

One of the most neglected resources of our century.

New York Times

In an age of inspirational books without inspiration, her writing is unmatched for surprising, sometimes shocking, spiritual insight.

New Yorker