{"product_id":"war-and-the-iliad-simone-weil-and-rachel-bespaloff","title":"War and the Iliad [Simone Weil and Rachel Bespaloff]","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[War] [Epic] [Analysis]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWar and the Iliad\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSimone Weil and Rachel Bespaloff\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNew York Review of Books, NY. 2005. Later paperback printing. A few minor dings to the corners, and some rubbing to the rear. An excellent copy.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e From the publisher:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eWar and the Iliad\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a perfect introduction to the range of Homer's art as well as a provocative and rewarding demonstration of the links between literature, philosophy, and questions of life and death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimone Weil's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Iliad, or the Poem of Force\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is one of her most celebrated works--an inspired analysis of Homer's epic that presents a nightmare vision of combat as a machine in which all humanity is lost. First published on the eve of war in 1939, the essay has often been read as a pacifist manifesto. Rachel Bespaloff was a French contemporary of Weil's whose work similarly explored the complex relations between literature, religion, and philosophy. She composed her own distinctive discussion of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eIliad\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in the midst of World War II--calling it \"her method of facing the war\"--and, as Christopher Benfey argues in his introduction, the essay was very probably written in response to Weil. Bespaloff's account of the Iliad brings out Homer's novelistic approach to character and the existential drama of his characters' choices; it is marked, too, by a tragic awareness of how the Iliad speaks to times and places where there is no hope apart from war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis edition brings together these two influential essays for the first time, accompanied by Benfey's scholarly introduction and an afterword by the great Austrian novelist Hermann Broch.\u003c\/span\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaybe it's just my age, but analysis like this has been really hitting the spot for me lately. The Big Questions get asked here, and we get some intimations of answers. Don't skip the afterword by the brilliant Hermann Broch, whose novel, The Death of Virgil, receives my highest recommendation. A no brainer!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alarum Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49310719803700,"sku":null,"price":9.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0776\/4895\/3652\/files\/PXL_20261004_163227975.jpg?v=1791155009","url":"https:\/\/alarumbooks.com\/products\/war-and-the-iliad-simone-weil-and-rachel-bespaloff","provider":"Alarum Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}