Abstract

Alice Meynell's genuine interest in the smallest things - which seems tied up with Simone Weil's superb doctrine of attention - serves in this article as a link between several aspects of her personality and writing. Despite a long-established feeling of familiarity, nothing is uncritically taken for granted in Meynell's collections of essays. On the contrary, it is evident that herwillingness to listen profoundly and perseveringly has the power to transform, page after page, something common into something special.