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Biographies

I'm reading a biography of Simone Weil. I'm still waiting to get to her religious conversion/experience, which is what I'm primarily intrigued by. Her thoughts on manual labour and the value of the proletariat are not quite in my sphere of pressing concerns.

But as I read a 300 page summary of 34 years of life, I can't help but wonder what they're missing. I mean, you can't possibly cover everything. And a biographer can't possibly know everything. So what are the details left unmentioned?

And if someone wrote a biography of my life - a stretch to be sure - what would make the cut? What would be considered too insignificant to mention? Would they be right?

Comments

MLW said…
Hmmm .... very interesting thoughts. Makes me consider/evaluate what I am spending my time on. Things worth remembering and passing on or trivial meaningless things?
10:17 PM
Beth said…
i was wondering more along the lines of: if someone else were to evaluate/decide what were important or life=changing moments for me, would they be right? would they know which little moments were really big moments, or would they jump the most personally poignant moments because they were "trivial and meaningless" in their own eyes?
6:45 PM
Jelena said…
Beth, I admire your brain.

And, I would like to think that I know a good brain when I see one.
1:57 PM
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