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Pietà
"George Klein's voice is pensive, poetic, simple in a deep way. It is, ultimately, the warm voice of a man who is forever intrigued by life, who loves to decipher what he sees but who equally loves the undecipherable."
-- Amos Oz As Albert Camus's famous dictum has it, the only truly important philosophical question is suicide, or whether life is worth living. Now, in Pietà , his latest collection of essays, George Klein -- distinguished biologist, writer, Holocaust survivor, and humanist -- faces this question head-on, in a series of meditations on subjects ranging from the misuses of science to the vital importance of art, music, and literature to surviving catastrophes like the Holocaust and AIDS. "Pietà " is a passionate book of scientific and personal ethics, inspired by tragic events that resonate in the consciousness of each of us.
-- Amos Oz As Albert Camus's famous dictum has it, the only truly important philosophical question is suicide, or whether life is worth living. Now, in Pietà , his latest collection of essays, George Klein -- distinguished biologist, writer, Holocaust survivor, and humanist -- faces this question head-on, in a series of meditations on subjects ranging from the misuses of science to the vital importance of art, music, and literature to surviving catastrophes like the Holocaust and AIDS. "Pietà " is a passionate book of scientific and personal ethics, inspired by tragic events that resonate in the consciousness of each of us.
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First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
George Klein
10 books3 followersGeorge Klein, Georg Klein or Klein György (July 28, 1925) was a Hungarian-Swedish biologist who specialized in cancer research. Klein had also authored a dozen of non-scientific or wide ranging books, of which several are collections of essays.
Klein started a tumor biology center at Karolinska Institute and made a connection there between the Epstein-Barr virus and lymphomas and other cancers. He was awarded the $100,000 prize by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for pioneering work on cancer and the human immunity system.
Apart from his scientific work, he had written popular books of which three have been translated to English: The Atheist and the Holy City (1990) (Swedish: Ateisten och den heliga staden), Pietà (1992), a collection of essays on whether life is worth living, and Live Now (1997).
Since settling in Sweden in 1947, Klein has spelled his surname Georg in Swedish and George in English.
Klein started a tumor biology center at Karolinska Institute and made a connection there between the Epstein-Barr virus and lymphomas and other cancers. He was awarded the $100,000 prize by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for pioneering work on cancer and the human immunity system.
Apart from his scientific work, he had written popular books of which three have been translated to English: The Atheist and the Holy City (1990) (Swedish: Ateisten och den heliga staden), Pietà (1992), a collection of essays on whether life is worth living, and Live Now (1997).
Since settling in Sweden in 1947, Klein has spelled his surname Georg in Swedish and George in English.
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July 23, 2013
George Klein's follow-up to Pieta is, like the earlier book, a collection of essays that are reflections on the life experience of a scientist and doctor with a profound connection to art and spirit. There is a great essay about the poet Attila Jozsef, as well as reminiscences about famous colleagues and about friendships that ended in tragedy, all deeply influenced by the author's experiences as a sensitive youth of Jewish family, growing up in prewar Hungary. Again, an atheist shows that he has a deep understanding of what real spirituality is--"the criticism of life."
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