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A review by mgerboc
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This might be the best book I've read so far this year. I've never really been too interested in memoirs, but this was recommended by a friend whose taste I trust so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did.
There's a lot to digest in The World of Yesterday. First, I'd never really thought about the generation born in Zweig's time (1881), but as he detailed in the very beginning, this was a group of people in Europe who, particularly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were born into the stablest of regimes - the Habsburgs had ruled this part of the world for over 700 years. Stability and security were assumed, and for generations you could generally plot out your life from an early age. But that peace and stability also allowed the young generation to see with some clarity the hypocrisy and contradiction in their society. Religion, sexuality, art - all previously established norms were being questioned and challenged, and it was an invigorating time to be any young person, but especially someone, like Zweig, involved in the arts.
The myriad turns of events starting in the 1910's happen almost too quickly to keep up with. The rise in nationalism, the cynicism and egoism paving the way for the absolute insanity of WWI, the way regular people coped with the humiliation of the Central Powers in the 1920s, Revolution in Russia, and the inexorable march towards the destruction of culture through the rise of the Nazis in Germany. I never thought of how this generation grew up not knowing what a car was, and in a short while was bearing witness to the carpet bombing of much of Europe.
The reflections by Zweig are the real reason to read this book - it a warning to anyone believing in unlimited human progress and civilization overcoming human barbarity. But, despite Zweig's suicide almost immediately after submitting this book's manuscript, there's a very humane optimism at his core. The analysis isn't one of despair but of disappointment, and the book is filled with examples of great people who, despite the horrors of the world around them, strove for human liberty and international fraternity. The World of Yesterday is realist, but not cynical or pessimistic, as it so easily could have been.
And to add to all of this, Zweig apparently met all of the coolest people in Europe living during this epoch - Valéry, Gorky, Strauss, Rolland, Rilke, just to name a VERY few.
If you like basically any subject - history, art, literature, music, memoir, psychology, travel, politics, economics, drama, technology, etc. - there's something you'll find interesting in this book. And above all, Zweig's writing is so personal and honest and beautiful without being the least bit cloying or overly romantic. This was a beautiful read and should be read by more people living through out own turbulent times.
There's a lot to digest in The World of Yesterday. First, I'd never really thought about the generation born in Zweig's time (1881), but as he detailed in the very beginning, this was a group of people in Europe who, particularly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were born into the stablest of regimes - the Habsburgs had ruled this part of the world for over 700 years. Stability and security were assumed, and for generations you could generally plot out your life from an early age. But that peace and stability also allowed the young generation to see with some clarity the hypocrisy and contradiction in their society. Religion, sexuality, art - all previously established norms were being questioned and challenged, and it was an invigorating time to be any young person, but especially someone, like Zweig, involved in the arts.
The myriad turns of events starting in the 1910's happen almost too quickly to keep up with. The rise in nationalism, the cynicism and egoism paving the way for the absolute insanity of WWI, the way regular people coped with the humiliation of the Central Powers in the 1920s, Revolution in Russia, and the inexorable march towards the destruction of culture through the rise of the Nazis in Germany. I never thought of how this generation grew up not knowing what a car was, and in a short while was bearing witness to the carpet bombing of much of Europe.
The reflections by Zweig are the real reason to read this book - it a warning to anyone believing in unlimited human progress and civilization overcoming human barbarity. But, despite Zweig's suicide almost immediately after submitting this book's manuscript, there's a very humane optimism at his core. The analysis isn't one of despair but of disappointment, and the book is filled with examples of great people who, despite the horrors of the world around them, strove for human liberty and international fraternity. The World of Yesterday is realist, but not cynical or pessimistic, as it so easily could have been.
And to add to all of this, Zweig apparently met all of the coolest people in Europe living during this epoch - Valéry, Gorky, Strauss, Rolland, Rilke, just to name a VERY few.
If you like basically any subject - history, art, literature, music, memoir, psychology, travel, politics, economics, drama, technology, etc. - there's something you'll find interesting in this book. And above all, Zweig's writing is so personal and honest and beautiful without being the least bit cloying or overly romantic. This was a beautiful read and should be read by more people living through out own turbulent times.