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| Author | George Klein |
|---|---|
| Translator | Theodore and Ingrid Friedmann (English translators) |
| Cover artist | Jean Wilcox |
| Language | Swedish |
| Subject | Philosophy, poetry, biography |
| Genre | Essays |
| Publisher | Albert Bonniers Förlag AB, Stockholm |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Publication place | Sweden |
Published in English | MIT Press, 1992 |
| Pages | 297 (MIT Press paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-262-11161-6 |
| Preceded by | The Atheist and the Holy City |
| Followed by | Live Now |
Pietà is a collection of essays by the Hungarian-Swedish biologistGeorge Klein first published in Sweden in 1989. It includes nine essays by Klein, several touching broadly on the theme of whether life is worth living. The introduction opens with a quote fromAlbert Camus inThe Myth of Sisyphus (1942): "There is but one truly philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."[1]
After the introduction, the first essay, "Pista," is about the suicide of a cousin and childhood friend in Hungary. It is followed by essays on the poetAttila József; the power of poetry and literature, with discussions onRainer Maria Rilke,Friedrich Nietzsche,Thomas Mann, andEdgar Allan Poe; the role of German scientists during theHolocaust; an interview withRudolf Vrba (the Auschwitz escapee); essays on AIDS and biological individuality; and reflections on Klein's own experience of the Holocaust in Budapest.[2]
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