Reviews

Magellan by Stefan Zweig

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hunziker's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

5.0

Thrilling. Zweig's Ferdinand Magellan is complex and tragic. It sent me on a Zweig reading bender.

arquero's review against another edition

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3.0

Not so documentary since the author connects the dots and makes guesses all too often trying to forge a complete narrative. But it's worth it.

uhambe_nami's review against another edition

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4.0

Was die Weisesten vermuteten seit tausenden Jahren, was die Gelehrten träumten, nun ist es durch den Mut eines einzelnen Gewißheit geworden: rund ist die Erde. Denn siehe, ein Mensch hat sie umrundet.

Having enjoyed Zweig's [b:Schachnovelle|59151|Chess Story|Stefan Zweig|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347600220s/59151.jpg|57593] last year, I was glad to find his biography on Fernão de Magalhães - better known as Magellan - and the historic circumnavigation of the globe. The first half of the book - in which Zweig describes Magellan's earlier travels to the East and to Morocco, his choice to turn his back on Portugal, to go and serve the Spanish Crown - takes a bit of persistence to get through but is necessary to understand the historical context, I think.
Zweig writes repeatedly that it was Magellan's dream, his Lebensziel, to circumnavigate the globe. But was it? I went through [b:Antonio Pigafetta's account|12696850|Magellan's Voyage Around the World ...|James Alexander Robertson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347558883s/12696850.jpg|17827532] and found no evidence of it. Magellan wanted to find a passage through the Americas to reach the ocean on the other side, a way to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westwards. But to continue from there in western direction to sail back to Spain? I doubt that that was ever the plan. Still, this is a compelling account of the incredible hardships the sailors went through: the desperate search for the passage through cold and gloomy Tierra del Fuego, the seemingly endless crossing of the Pacific Ocean during which they suffered from scurvy and starvation, Magellan's death just when they had reached their goal, the dangerous route through Portuguese territory - the Indian Ocean and around Africa, and finally, the miserable homecoming of eighteen hungry, weak survivors on a leaking ship. A remarkable true story, and Zweig did an excellent job telling it.

liantje's review against another edition

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5.0

The story of the unjustly forgotten seafarer and explorer Magellan.

An unexpectedly hopeful book about how an idea and sheer persistence can lead to invaluable knowledge in the face of misfortune.

cristinasbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“O que seria de Aquiles sem Homero? Qualquer figura permanecerá na sombra, qualquer proeza se diluirá, como onda vã, no incomensurável mar dos acontecimentos, se o cronista não as fixar no seu relato, se o artista não as recriar e modelar.”

Através deste livro, Stefan Zweig reconstrói a história e a personagem de Fernão Magalhães, homem sisudo e obstinado que, pela primeira vez na história, logra alcançar o oriente através da navegação para ocidente. Este não é, no entanto, apenas um livro sobre uma personagem histórica, e sobre o seu feito. É também um romance sobre o poder da crença humana numa ideia, sobre tenacidade, a superação, a dificuldade e sobre a capacidade científica da humanidade.

“Aquilo que os sábios já suspeitavam havia milhares de anos, aquilo com que os eruditos sonhavam, tornou-se agora uma certeza graças à coragem de um indivíduo: a terra é redonda, e houve um homem que a circum-navegou”