Love in the Void - (Plough Spiritual Guides: Backpack Classics) by Simone Weil (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Simone Weil, the great mystic and philosopher for our age, shows where anyone can find God.

Why is it that Simone Weil, with her short, troubled life and confounding insights into faith and doubt, continues to speak to today's spiritual seekers? Was it her social radicalism, which led her to renounce privilege? Her ambivalence toward institutional religion? Her combination of philosophical rigor with the ardor of a mystic?

Albert Camus called Simone Weil "the only great spirit of our time." Andréeacute; Gide found her "the most truly spiritual writer of this century." Her intense life and profound writings have influenced people as diverse as T. S. Eliot, Charles De Gaulle, Pope Paul VI, and Adrienne Rich.

The body of work she left-most of it published posthumously--is the fruit of an anguished but ultimately luminous spiritual journey.

After her untimely death at age thirty-four, Simone Weil quickly achieved legendary status among a whole generation of thinkers. Her radical idealism offered a corrective to consumer culture. But more importantly, she pointed the way, especially for those outside institutional religion, to encounter the love of God - in love to neighbor, love of beauty, and even in suffering.

Review Quotes

"The most truly spiritual writer of this century." -Andréeacute; Gide

"An exciting encounter with an extraordinary mind."-Booklist

"Love in the Void is a reminder to neophytes and the experienced alike that Weil's writing is meant to be concrete, accessible, and useful - more than simply ideas to ponder, but an invitation to change our lives. Plough has done an admirable job in assembling a condensed version of Weil's most pertinent writing. This is Weil burned down to her essentials." -Scott Beauchamp

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

"An excellent introduction to Weil's writings and also a valuable guide and stimulus for cultivating a life in which intellectual and spiritual honesty are inseparable, and in which the difficulty of attaining them is seriously confronted. It is ideal for classroom use, for introducing a friend to Weil, or for revisiting her long after an earlier encounter to be reminded why she is such a compelling and challenging interlocutor."-Mark Shiffman, Front Porch Republic

"The only great spirit of our time." -Albert Camus

"This beguiling book is a fine introduction to Weil's work." -Publisher's Weekly