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Gravity and Grace (Routledge Classics)

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Gravity and Grace was the first ever publication by the remarkable thinker and activist, Simone Weil. In it Gustave Thibon, the farmer to whom she had entrusted her notebooks before her untimely death, compiled in one remarkable volume a compendium of her writings that have become a source of spiritual guidance and wisdom for countless individuals. On the fiftieth anniversary of the first English edition - by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1952 - this Routledge Classics edition offers English readers the complete text of this landmark work for the first time ever, by incorporating a specially commissioned translation of the controversial chapter on Israel. Also previously untranslated is Gustave Thibon's postscript of 1990, which reminds us how privileged we are to be able to read a work which offers each reader such 'light for the spirit and nourishment for the soul'. This is a book that no one with a serious interest in the spiritual life can afford to be without.

Review

'Time and again she pierces the veil of complacency and brings the reader face to face with the deepest levels of existence.' - Church Times

'At the twilight of a century whose accelerated history has led to the rise and fall of so many idols, this book increasingly appears like a message from eternity.' - Gustave Thibon

'One of the most profound religious thinkers of modern times.' - The Twentieth Century, 1961

'We must simply expose ourselves to the personality of a woman of genius, of a kind of genius akin to that of the saints.' - T. S. Eliot

'The light Simone shines makes everything seem, at once, reasurringly recognizable and so luminous as to be heavenly.' - Malcom Muggeridge

'In France she is ranked with Pascal by some, condemned as a dangerous heretic by others, and recognized as a genius by all.' - New York Times Book Review

'The best spiritual writer of this century ... she said it was her vocation to stand at the intersection of Christians and non-Christians. She thus becomes the patron saint of all "outsiders".' - André Gide

From the Back Cover

On the fiftieth anniversary of the first English edition, this Routledge Classics edition offers the English reader the complete text of this landmark work for the first time ever.

Review:

4.5 out of 5

89.09% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Resonates

N. · 7 March 2020

Weil describes the deepest places of human thought and experience

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely love it.

J.M. · 3 June 2016

Been waiting for the time and quiet to read this for ages. Absolutely love it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

A. · 20 December 2017

thank you

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading - if youre a saint!

F. · 4 March 2010

This is a collection of Simone's notes which she left with her friend Gustave Thibon, who decided to publish them, despite that not being the authors intention. There's some insightful philosophical and psyhchological speculation here, though just about everything that might be of practical use to the non saint is also available in the Penugine Anthology of Weil's work.The principal theme of the collection is an updated version of the guidance provided by St John of the Cross on how one can reach full union with God in this life. Now that is a narrow path at the best of times- Simone makes it sound much harder than St John does in his introductory guide 'the ascent of mount Carmel'', which I guess is a reflection of it being much harder to be a saint in the modern world compared to St John's time.The so called "negative path" to God involves the destruction of ones self from within. While one shouldn't deliberately seek affliction, if one is pursuing pure good without compromising with the world then afflication inevitably comes, which one should accept while refusing any form of compensation, especially imaginative ones such as the idea that you're suffering for a reason. Then, after some time, God manifests in the space opened up by the psychic wound.I found it all a bit shocking and half wish I hadnt read the book. I guess it will be valuable for very spiritual and self sacrificing people, especially if they're past the age when they have the kind of practical responsibilities which are incompatible with being a saint.

2.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to read

Z. · 13 December 2022

This review is not about the content itself, which is beyond criticism. This edition, however, does not leave enough margins for the binding so it is quite challenging to read the portions of each line that bend inward toward the spine. I'm hoping it loosens up over time and can lay more flat, but I would find another edition if I were you.

3.0 out of 5 stars The good is scattered among the nonsense

S.M. · 13 April 2016

Simone Weil is a writer whose name I have heard a few times, but never really knew anything about her. Part-way between a philosopher and a mystic, she is an intriguing prospect. Jewish by birth, but choosing to be a christian, with activism amongst some on the radical left, this melting pot of cultures and thought seemed almost bound to result in fresh expressions of thought, of belief and highlighting aspects of life in ways alien to many, offputting to some and captivating to others.It needs to be noted, as is made clear in the extensive introduction by her friend and confidante, Gustave Thibon, that this is not a book she set out to write. Rather, it was put together by Thibon from notes that she left him before she died. This is then the collection of those notes, ordered by approximate them.The introduction gives an insightful background into Weil’s personality and her politics. It is very valuable, though does drag on a bit. He states that Weil wasn’t a catholic, though when I mentioned to a friend that I was reading this work, my friend was adamant that she was; just one who refused to take the sacraments. In a few references, her take is rather ambiguous and I would conclude that she certainly wasn’t catholic but neither did she fit into any recognisable stream of christianity. If anything, she might be regarded as a supreme non-conformist!The idea behind the title begins with gravity. What Weil does is to adopt a well-known concept from physics (natural philosophy) and turn into a metaphysical analogy, even if it is more akin to entropy what she describes. The idea is that “nature” tends to descend, to fall to a lowest state. This is what she calls gravity. In this sense, low is regarded as being degenerate. My thought was that she was driving at the state of sin, though I don’t think this was mentioned quite so explicitly. The opposite of this is grace, which is something that defies this descent into entropy, a kind of anti-gravity.The aphoristic nature of the book does make it somewhat to review, as there is no central idea being put forward and one paragraph may be nearly wholly unrelated to the one that either precedes or follows it. Some of the aphorisms are relatively straightforward and uncontroversial; others are verging on the incomprehensible. Unfortunately, this latter tendency increased as the book went on and I found it harder to take her seriously. At times, it was like looking down a bad Twitter feed where someone, puffed up with self-confidence, is pumping out material they think it deep, but which is just nonsense.It made me think of a term used by the atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett: deepity. There are some incredibly mundane and nonsensical things said here, but which have a thin veneer of thought on them. If one wants to believe that Weil says something profound, then you can fool yourself into thinking that she does, when in fact there are times when there is simply no substance to her writing. In contradistinction to Dennett, however, I would be willing to give Weil the benefit of some doubt and say that she was merely a poor communicator. But then, as this is a book review, it means I can’t recommend the book. There are good things said here, but they are too few and far between.It’s not a book that will linger long with me and I won’t be rushing to read any more of her work.

Heretical Theologian; Brilliant, Insightful, Unique

A. · 30 April 2018

I bought this book many months ago and read portions of it without actually thinking critically of her views. It was only when I embarked on a water fast that I used this book as a daily meditation. I admire Simone Weil's unique intelligence, insight, and sensitivity to many of the fundamental topics of affliction, love, politics, etc. With acquired knowledge of physics, politics, history, philosophy and literature, Weil delivers poetic descriptions of topical subjects, although elusive at times there are sections that glow with profundity. I agree with Albert Camus that Simone Weil was one of the most luminous intelligence of the 20th century.

Deep book

S.T. · 23 December 2018

Deep insights

One of the great thinkers of our time

M.M. · 13 September 2015

Profoundly inspiring and thought provoking. One of the great thinkers of our time.

Weil was in her own world...one that few inhabit.

P. · 2 January 2019

She is talking about spiritual issues in a very novel language. It is like everyone that ever wrote about Christian spirituality wrote about it in terms of adherence to theology and she is writing about it like someone who found her way into it directly and organically, without the confusions of language. Then, having had this direct experience, she wrote about that instead of reacting to theology. As such, even though I am a post-christian, it is still fascinating and will become of great value as its meanings emerge in their own time.Oh, and beautiful book, by the way.

The Red Virgin Speaks

C.L. · 13 November 2014

I went through a philosophy heavy rhetoric program at UC Berkeley and never once heard Simone Weil's name. I discovered her through Stanford's Entitled Opinions podcast (which is excellent). I'm glad I did.This seems to be the book most people recommend to start with. It's pretty quick and shouldn't be too hard a read for most folks. I'd probably describe the style as aphoristic. You can pick different chapters to skip about in without losing much of an argument's thread. That said, you should totally read the whole thing.Weil's thought is complex, mystical, and challenging. This is a book that should probably be read a couple of times before any strong opinions are formed, so I'll just say this: I found her ideas to be very compelling, but I bristled a bit at her veneration of suffering.I can't wait to read more of her work.

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Gravity and Grace (Routledge Classics)

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