The Subversive Simone Weil

“Robert Zaretsky’s The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas elegantly captures its subject’s brief life and expansive thought in a schema that pays eloquent tribute to the continuing relevance of both.” -- Rachel Hadas * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year 2021 *

“[Zaretsky] is an admirably fluent and humble guide, who elucidates her writings; yet he doesn’t shy away from confessing that, at times, he’s baffled by her. Often she will make a claim that “compels as powerfully as it repels”, he notes. He grapples with Weil as she demands to be grappled with, not as a purely abstract thinker but as a singular voice demanding that we think and act with integrity.”

* Times Literary Supplement *
"After an introduction that contextualizes Weil’s short, unusual life, Zaretsky dedicates chapters—each written in an elegant, accessible prose—to five essential columns that brace her philosophy: affliction, attention, resistance, rootedness, and goodness." * Los Angeles Review of Books *
"This biography of an exceptional 20th-century thinker traces her inspirational experiences and philosophy. Zaretsky unveils Weil’s depth and seeming contradictions (rationalism and mysticism, revolution and belief) to explain her lasting appeal to readers." * The Bookseller *
“Zaretsky guides us through Weil’s complexities with impressive lucidity, keeping it lively and accessible, which is no small feat.” * The Baffler *
“In clear, accessible prose, Zaretsky gives some coherence to Weil’s largely fragmentary oeuvre. What emerges is a portrait of a politically unclassifiable thinker who in her life and writings committed herself to be open to the unbearable reality around her.” * Prospect *
"This memorable survey delivers a rich portrait of the intellectual currents that shaped a one-of-a-kind thinker. Those curious about Weil’s work will find this to be a welcome place to start." * Publishers Weekly *

“It is hard to see how a figure so marvelously intemperate could ever be bridled to the satisfaction of the Anglo-American mainstream. Still, the intellectual historian Robert Zaretsky has made an impressive attempt to win over skeptics in his new book, The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas. Somewhere between biography and philosophical overview, Zaretsky’s study sorts Weil’s views into five central categories. Each of the corresponding chapters integrates discussion of her personal eccentricities with analyses, rehabilitations, and critiques of her thought. . . . Weil may be subversive, but The Subversive Simone Weil is balanced and accessible.”

  * Hedgehog Review *
“Simone Weil was merciless (not least on herself), sometimes alarming, always compelling, and unavoidably significant.  This is a beautifully sharp and thoughtful account of her life and work—a fascinating read.” -- Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Others
"Zaretsky's work is unfailingly eloquent, fascinating, and relevant. In treating both her life and her writings, The Subversive Simone Weil displays a subject who, by going too far toward goodness, reminds so many of us that we have not gone far enough. In Zaretsky's hands, her courage stands as a complicated but necessary lesson for us all."
  -- Todd May, author of A Decent Life: Morality for the Rest of Us
“Reading Zaretsky’s absorbing and tender intellectual portrait of Simone Weil, I was reminded on every page of her astonishing relevance to our own times. With her demanding vision of the life well lived, in her extreme judgments and through her punishing empathy, Weil emerges here as a figurehead for the intellectual and ethical challenges of the current moment. As he has done so beautifully in his books on Camus, Zaretsky has opened Weil’s life and work to our understanding. For readers familiar with Weil’s, The Subversive Simone Weil is a valuable synthesis; for those coming to her for the first time, an inspiring primer.” -- Alice Kaplan, author of Looking for “The Stranger”: Albert Camus and the Life of a Literary Classic
"An unconventional introduction to the thought of Simone Weil: it is not a biography nor is it a straightforward exposition of her writings. Zaretsky is clearly enchanted by Weil’s philosophy and presents her ideas with clarity. But he also sees her faults, her impracticalities, and her contradictions. . . .Readers will come away with a basic understanding of Weil’s world view but not without wrestling with her ideas and their complications. Recommended." * Choice *