Resenhas - At Home with André and Simone Weil

Rafaela 21/03/2024

Vai a resenha em inglês copiada do Goodreads mesmo, pq traduzir dá um trabalhão...
I took up this book because I've been obsessed with André Weil (yes, I know it's an odd obsession xD). Besides, I really, really liked Sylvie Weil's latest book Selfies, which, despite not being my kind of book, still managed to become one of my favorites and I'll probably re-read it eventually.

This one wasn't as interesting, though, but it was still very much worth it, though :)

What I liked:
- The author is socially and emotionally perceptive enough to offer a lot of compelling insights about her family, and she has a quirky, witty sense of humor that makes the narrative very pleasant to read. In my opinion, the best example of this is the chapter in which Sylvie conjures up a picture of her family (her aunt Simone, her mom Eveline, and her grandparents Selma and Bernard) based on a short letter the four of them wrote to André while he was in prison for draft-dodging.

- Sylvie is very open and honest about the mixed feelings she has for her aunt, Simone's unintentional family legacy and the fact that she's treated like a saint's tibia. This treatment made me sympathize with the author a lot, to the point where I'm impressed that she's not as bitter and resentful as I would've been in her place. Like she said, it's one thing to be related to a singer, a Hollywood actress or a famous scientist... but being a relative of a saint is a whole other issue.
On the other hand, it reinforced an impression I had while reading Selfies: that she tends to be a bit competitive towards other women, which in my opinion also affected her perception of Simone.

- I loved getting to know more about André and Simone's parents, especially Bernard, who are very remarkable people in themselves. It was terribly sad reading about how such a close, loving family became haunted by Simone's ghost to the point of breaking apart and tainting Sylvie's childhood memories. I had no idea that there was such a long, nasty fight over Simone's writings.

What I disliked:
It's not exactly a biography, which I knew beforehand, but I still got bored and impatient when the author spent so many pages rambling about Judaism and the distant relatives of the Weil siblings. Had it been a longer book with a lot more information about them, maybe I wouldn't have mind it so much, but it felt like a long digression that broke the flow of the narrative. Although some of it was interesting and helped me understand more about the Weils, I wish most of it had been left out and replaced by more interesting anecdotes and reflections about them, especially André (but this is a personal, unpopular preference, since I bet that most people who picked up this book were interested in Simone).

Random thoughts:
- Reading Selfies, especially the final chapter, before reading At Home With André and Simone Weil made me see some of the things described in the later with a new light. Both books complement each other well, but I still wish she would write another one (Selfies Volume II?).

- I wouldn't recommend this to someone who is looking for a proper biography. It's more a collection of stories and anecdotes and some reflections the author has made about growing up in the shadow of a saint and a genius.

- I wish there were more things about André. I thought he was more interesting than his sister, even though his work is only understood and appreciated by a small % of people. But as a character, he's fascinating! Sylvie doesn't shy away from exposing her family's less flattering side, but based on what I've read about her father in other places, I think he still came off fairly well (or at least better than in other sources).

- I kind of wondered why Sylvie doesn't mention her half-brother Alain and barely mentions her sister Nicolette.

- This book only reinforces my perception that very few famous scientists seem to have been kind people and good/dedicated family men. Luckily, Sylvie seems like a strong person who knows how to see things with a sense of humor (I know I would've handled it much worse, if I had been in her place). I thought it's admirable and it made me more curious to know more about her too.