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schgro's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
What Zweig lacks in detail he makes up for in empathy, which, as a fiction writer and humanist, is probably more important. He describes and counters the rise of nationalism in his own time with utter heartbreak, and it is with the same heartbreak we can recognise our own lived experience of it now. 'I believe we all feel everywhere today that electric crackle caused by the collision of antagonisms' (p109).
In his view, nationalism has more immediate appeal because it is visibly lodged in material things which give rise to exultant mass behaviour. He argues that the cosmopolitan cause must likewise strive to stir with rhetoric and action, since 'patient reflection' never brought about change. Nationalism and cosmopolitanism share the same drive towards unification, a drive which has sometimes surpassed national borders by finding a common language--scholarly Latin, the Roman Catholic church, music, and (already 100 years ago) 'the wholly impersonal...spirit of the technological century' (p107).
Zweig returns to his school history books and finds he was primed for war with texts telling a history of battles. He imagines a complementary cultural history that would reveal that our positive achievements were the result of collaboration and not competition.
The theme of opposing forces runs through the essays, most memorably: 'In a work of drama or a novel, it is never enough when the poet introduces only one major figure: a complete work of art must, if it is to excite interest, employ an opposing figure, for each needs the power to develop fully and reveal his true dimensions, which comes from a creative tension' (p67). Aesthetically, the tension we experience in the world might in this sense give us hope.
Zweig's observations on Vienna might be wishfully rosy, but it's hard not to be rosy about Vindobona, a cosmopolitan bastion since its Roman inception.
In his view, nationalism has more immediate appeal because it is visibly lodged in material things which give rise to exultant mass behaviour. He argues that the cosmopolitan cause must likewise strive to stir with rhetoric and action, since 'patient reflection' never brought about change. Nationalism and cosmopolitanism share the same drive towards unification, a drive which has sometimes surpassed national borders by finding a common language--scholarly Latin, the Roman Catholic church, music, and (already 100 years ago) 'the wholly impersonal...spirit of the technological century' (p107).
Zweig returns to his school history books and finds he was primed for war with texts telling a history of battles. He imagines a complementary cultural history that would reveal that our positive achievements were the result of collaboration and not competition.
The theme of opposing forces runs through the essays, most memorably: 'In a work of drama or a novel, it is never enough when the poet introduces only one major figure: a complete work of art must, if it is to excite interest, employ an opposing figure, for each needs the power to develop fully and reveal his true dimensions, which comes from a creative tension' (p67). Aesthetically, the tension we experience in the world might in this sense give us hope.
Zweig's observations on Vienna might be wishfully rosy, but it's hard not to be rosy about Vindobona, a cosmopolitan bastion since its Roman inception.
angryglitterwitch's review against another edition
3.0
Of its time but also painfully relevant. Wildly Eurocentric but the prose is beautiful bc it's Zweig.
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"There is less sleep in the world today; longer are the nights and longer the days."
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"There is less sleep in the world today; longer are the nights and longer the days."
bleary's review against another edition
3.0
I had high hopes for this one. Zweig's personal story, ending in exile and suicide, adds a sense of gravity to a series of essays written across the span of the 30s, in which the dream of a united Europe slowly dissolves into war and chaos. It's certainly the right time for a book like this.
Unfortunately, there's no escaping one crucial fact about Zweig: he's a mediocrity. Maybe that's unfair and maybe his work seemed more innovative in the mid-30s but I doubt it, and reading Zweig feels at times like being trapped in a corner at a party by a pompous postgrad.
It's an interesting snapshot of where European intellectuals were at during the interbellum, but more of a curiosity than a definitive guide.
Unfortunately, there's no escaping one crucial fact about Zweig: he's a mediocrity. Maybe that's unfair and maybe his work seemed more innovative in the mid-30s but I doubt it, and reading Zweig feels at times like being trapped in a corner at a party by a pompous postgrad.
It's an interesting snapshot of where European intellectuals were at during the interbellum, but more of a curiosity than a definitive guide.
vsbedford's review against another edition
4.0
Not exactly a wail of prescient anguish against the convulsions of pre- WWII Europe, Zweig is far to Old World, but rather a studied, intellectual, and rather distant lament for his Europe. He is not going to give the reader the firebrand anger that one may hope for, but it is an insightful look into the middle class in troubled times. Given his flight to Latin America and subsequent suicide, these essays read like a modest prayer against the inevitable. Well worth your time.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
daaan's review against another edition
3.0
As a window into a lost time, it's fascinating. As a coherent view of humanity, it's lacking. Idealistic and naive, I can't fault his motives but cannot agree with his assessment of human nature.
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