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elenavillan 's review for:
La impaciencia del corazón
by Stefan Zweig
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a singularly claustrophobic, exhausting book. It's fantastically written, as I expected from the author, but reading it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Being inside the narrator's hyperactive head for 464 pages was definitely a challenge, and I think he might be the most infuriatingly selfish, spineless main character I've ever encountered. In every single situation he managed to make the worst possible decision and he kept making literally everything about himself, to the point that I wanted to step inside the book just to give him a slap.
The way he viewed Edith from beginning to end was simply disgusting. Beware of Pity is meant to be an examination of the disastrous consequences that pity can have on people when it doesn't come from a place of actual empathy and kindness, and yet what stood out to me the most was how it allowed Hofmiller to completely dehumanize the people he supposedly wanted to help. He never saw Edith as a real person, but as some sort of suffering puppy living half a life, incapable of feeling fully human emotions. It's horrifying how behavior like this can be just as damaging as full-on bigotry and hatred; we tend to see dehumanization as something that is born out of cruelty, but this is a great example of how it can also be done by people who imagine themselves to be kind and compassionate.
I struggled to decide on a star rating for this book, because I'm not sure I can say that I loved it, but it's certainly very, very good, and it gives you a lot to think about. It's not the kind of story that I'll forget anytime soon, even if I doubt I'll ever reread it. The only real flaw I can think of is that it's a bit too long—the book could've been 100 pages shorter and all of its themes would've been explored just as effectively. Other than that, I have no complaints, although, as I said, I didn't exactly have a great time with it.
The way he viewed Edith from beginning to end was simply disgusting. Beware of Pity is meant to be an examination of the disastrous consequences that pity can have on people when it doesn't come from a place of actual empathy and kindness, and yet what stood out to me the most was how it allowed Hofmiller to completely dehumanize the people he supposedly wanted to help. He never saw Edith as a real person, but as some sort of suffering puppy living half a life, incapable of feeling fully human emotions. It's horrifying how behavior like this can be just as damaging as full-on bigotry and hatred; we tend to see dehumanization as something that is born out of cruelty, but this is a great example of how it can also be done by people who imagine themselves to be kind and compassionate.
I struggled to decide on a star rating for this book, because I'm not sure I can say that I loved it, but it's certainly very, very good, and it gives you a lot to think about. It's not the kind of story that I'll forget anytime soon, even if I doubt I'll ever reread it. The only real flaw I can think of is that it's a bit too long—the book could've been 100 pages shorter and all of its themes would've been explored just as effectively. Other than that, I have no complaints, although, as I said, I didn't exactly have a great time with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Minor: War