The World of Yesterday Memoirs of a European (Audible Audio Edition) Stefan Zweig David Horovitch Anthea Bell translator Ukemi Audiobooks Books
Download As PDF : The World of Yesterday Memoirs of a European (Audible Audio Edition) Stefan Zweig David Horovitch Anthea Bell translator Ukemi Audiobooks Books
Stefan Zweig's memoir, The World of Yesterday, recalls the golden age of prewar Europe - its seeming permanence, its promise and its devastating fall with the onset of two world wars. Zweig's passionate, evocative prose paints a stunning portrait of an era that danced brilliantly on the brink of extinction. It is an unusually humane account of Europe from the closing years of the 19th century through to World War II, seen through the eyes of one of the most famous writers of his era. Zweig's books (novels, biographies, essays) were translated into numerous languages, and he moved in the highest literary circles; he also encountered many leading political and social figures of his day.
The World of Yesterday is a remarkable, totally engrossing history. This translation by the award-winning Anthea Bell captures the spirit of Zweig's writing in arguably his most important work, completed shortly before his tragic death in 1942. It is read with sympathy and understanding by David Horovitch.
The World of Yesterday Memoirs of a European (Audible Audio Edition) Stefan Zweig David Horovitch Anthea Bell translator Ukemi Audiobooks Books
Overtime: A Basketball ParableI'm sixty-five years old. I'm educated and I have spent a good deal of my leisure reading and watching movies. After reading this book I find it hard to believe that I had never heard of Stefan Zweig until Rod Dreher mentioned him in a blog post a few weeks ago. Dreher said that the book was about Austria before and after WWI. I have personal reasons for being interested in that war. My grandfather fought in France then and could never - even 50 years after the fact - recount his experiences there without crying. I have also toyed with writing a book that would include characters and a scene or two from old world Austria.So my curiosity was piqued and after some deliberation - I thought that the book might be dense and nearly impenetrable for me. It was also very long - I downloaded it on my Kindle. I'm glad I did.
First I should say that the book is quite readable. One of the things you learn from the story is that Zweig was a prolific writer and this book is the work of one who has mastered the art of narrative. Although the subject matter was all new to me, I sailed through the book.
Have you seen the excellent movie "Midnight in Paris?" There a contemporary American writer is magically transported to Paris in the 1920's where he meets and carouses with the great literary, musical and artistic personalities of the day - Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. The movie is a real hoot, but this is what Zweig's life was actually like. This guy traveled the world and moved in the highest intellectual and artistic circles in Europe for decades on end. He worked together with Richard Strauss in the composition of an opera. Toscanini was a regular guest in Zweig's home in Salzburg. He had a long and intimate friendship with Sigmund Freud.
All of that is interesting in and of itself, but the thing that Zweig adds to the story is his take on what art and poetry meant in his day and time. Before WWI poets were rock stars (who among us today can even name five working poets) and people looked to them not just for aesthetic satisfaction or entertainment but for insight into life and the affairs of the world. Zweig was devoted to poetry and poets and his descriptions of many of the famous (and not so famous) poets he came to know are affecting.
In the book you also get an insider's view of the World Wars. I had hoped to get a better understanding of why WWI was started and what anybody expected to gain by it, but Zweig leaves it as the mystery that it is. Likewise he, a Jew himself, meditates on the hatred his people have suffered through the centuries and, like Freud and everyone else, can find no rational answer.
Zweig's life was, for a long time, a near perfect dream. He achieved critical acceptance and even acclaim very early in his life and he spent decades free to pursue his great passion - literature. But he was ruined. When Hitler rose to power in Germany Zweig was banished and his works burned and censored. Maybe that's why I had never heard of heard of him. It may by that his oeuvre yet suffers from Hitler's destructive hand.
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The World of Yesterday Memoirs of a European (Audible Audio Edition) Stefan Zweig David Horovitch Anthea Bell translator Ukemi Audiobooks Books Reviews
This is a remarkable book! I had modest expectations for this 'historical autography,' but found myself spellbound - not so much by his style as by the writers, intellectuals, and accounting of his period of history -- early 20th century Europe. Zweig was a writer and intellectual of unique gifts and talents, at one point one of if not the best selling writers in the world, and a translator unequalled. His friendships with Rilke, Freud, and dozens of other well-known writers, artists, and other leading minds of Europe were staggering. While his name does not usually resonate with the American consciousness now, a century ago he was a prescient intellectual and literary force who opened almost any door in the world.
The most disturbing perspective in this autobiography, which is mixed with a heavy account of history, is, however, tainted by what many would see as an ambivalent relationship with the early aspects of Nazi Germany. As an Austrian Zweig, a pacifist, refused to let nationalism rule his thinking -- a worldview that led him to be shunned by friends and others as both World Wars fomented a patriotism that disallowed Zweig's views to be tolerated at all. He felt, understandably, excluded from the acceptance his work had gained, and finally moved to Brazil, where his writing and his position had received much wider respect. He lived there until he and his second wife committed suicide -- the day after he sent the manuscript of this book off to his publisher, a scene depicted with great effect in the film version of the book. The film version is slow-moving, far from plot driven, and is enhanced, of course, by reading the book itself. But I found it affecting and poignant.
For those at all interesting in world literature at the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, including events that influenced both World Wars, this is fascinating reading. The reader has to accept Zweig's unique writing style. But I found a certain charm, self-effacing ego, and candid reflection on his unusual 'life journey.'
There's so much to know, and so much we don't know, about what led to all the 20th century upheaval in Europe. I was lucky enough to get word of this book, either through or Goodreads recommendations, before the movie (which is only loosely based on the "mood" created by Zweig and not on his books themselves) before the movie even came out. I can't recommend this book enough to those who wonder, like me, why people didn't see WWI or WWII coming. Like us, everyone was caught up in their own cultural and national preoccupations and believed, before the line became a cliché, that "It couldn't happen here." Anything can happen anywhere. How perceptive and moving a writer Stefan Zweig is, and I hope people who see the "Budapest Hotel" don't think they know him and thus miss out on the experience of seeing through his eyes. A compelling and moving writer, an intimate writer, a man I wish I had known, in a sense, or the kind of person, thoughtful, analytical, perceptive, loving, that I hope I am lucky enough to have in my own life, in reality, and in the authors I find along the way. Don't miss out on him if you want to learn more about yourself, your world, what we see, what we miss, and most of all, what we should remember.
I recently discovered Zweig, sad to admit because I'm 71 years of age and have a graduate degree. This book is a description of a world gone by. For simplification, think of the lyrics to the songs in Romberg's "Student Prince". The Vienna, the Austria of old, how wonderful, The Viennese waltz, the decorum of the times, etc. After one reads this, one begins to think that Zweig is a bit fragile, even naïve. But you want to read his other books as well.
Overtime A Basketball ParableI'm sixty-five years old. I'm educated and I have spent a good deal of my leisure reading and watching movies. After reading this book I find it hard to believe that I had never heard of Stefan Zweig until Rod Dreher mentioned him in a blog post a few weeks ago. Dreher said that the book was about Austria before and after WWI. I have personal reasons for being interested in that war. My grandfather fought in France then and could never - even 50 years after the fact - recount his experiences there without crying. I have also toyed with writing a book that would include characters and a scene or two from old world Austria.
So my curiosity was piqued and after some deliberation - I thought that the book might be dense and nearly impenetrable for me. It was also very long - I downloaded it on my . I'm glad I did.
First I should say that the book is quite readable. One of the things you learn from the story is that Zweig was a prolific writer and this book is the work of one who has mastered the art of narrative. Although the subject matter was all new to me, I sailed through the book.
Have you seen the excellent movie "Midnight in Paris?" There a contemporary American writer is magically transported to Paris in the 1920's where he meets and carouses with the great literary, musical and artistic personalities of the day - Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. The movie is a real hoot, but this is what Zweig's life was actually like. This guy traveled the world and moved in the highest intellectual and artistic circles in Europe for decades on end. He worked together with Richard Strauss in the composition of an opera. Toscanini was a regular guest in Zweig's home in Salzburg. He had a long and intimate friendship with Sigmund Freud.
All of that is interesting in and of itself, but the thing that Zweig adds to the story is his take on what art and poetry meant in his day and time. Before WWI poets were rock stars (who among us today can even name five working poets) and people looked to them not just for aesthetic satisfaction or entertainment but for insight into life and the affairs of the world. Zweig was devoted to poetry and poets and his descriptions of many of the famous (and not so famous) poets he came to know are affecting.
In the book you also get an insider's view of the World Wars. I had hoped to get a better understanding of why WWI was started and what anybody expected to gain by it, but Zweig leaves it as the mystery that it is. Likewise he, a Jew himself, meditates on the hatred his people have suffered through the centuries and, like Freud and everyone else, can find no rational answer.
Zweig's life was, for a long time, a near perfect dream. He achieved critical acceptance and even acclaim very early in his life and he spent decades free to pursue his great passion - literature. But he was ruined. When Hitler rose to power in Germany Zweig was banished and his works burned and censored. Maybe that's why I had never heard of heard of him. It may by that his oeuvre yet suffers from Hitler's destructive hand.
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