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cirulputenis's review against another edition
4.0
I am very excited to read more of Stefan Zweig's work!!
ashamerton's review against another edition
5.0
Zweig writes with a spectral grimness, always with the threat of the end—be it of the sentence, the book, or of life itself—looming. Many of his works take the form of recounted stories; our protagonists function as little more than someone to listen, an authorial figure who records the story told to them by the truer protagonist: the one whose story makes up the bulk of the work. These people meet quite often in spa towns, viennese cafe societies, grand hotels, salons, dinner parties or riviera guesthouses. In short their stories are steeped in an innate Europeanness, a Europeanness of such grace, wealth, and splendour that it could only belong to the turn of the century? the last vestiges of 19th century grandeur. By the time Zweig writes, in the early half of the 20th century, we know this world is long gone. Similarly, in having the stories be recounted and retold by their now aged, nostalgic protagonists looking back with regret, we are already aware of their ending: Zweig toys with disappointment, and the omen-like knowledge of the present, to depict the sentimental world of the past with a grim sort of naivety as it steps gracefully into sepia obscurity.
This is most poignantly mirrored in Zweig himself: he is made famous in part thanks to his suicide, cast out from his beloved europe as it falls to fascism. The fateful war then is ominously present throughout all of Zweig’s writing, his europe of the past and his presence as a young student haunted by the rise of nazism, and his eventual death
This is most poignantly mirrored in Zweig himself: he is made famous in part thanks to his suicide, cast out from his beloved europe as it falls to fascism. The fateful war then is ominously present throughout all of Zweig’s writing, his europe of the past and his presence as a young student haunted by the rise of nazism, and his eventual death
himawari's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
balancinghistorybooks's review
4.0
Stefan Zweig is an author who I very much admire, and Wes Anderson is my favourite director. Why, then, would I not have picked up The Society of the Crossed Keys, which is a collection of Zweig's writings that influenced Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'? The interview between Anderson and one of Zweig's biographers, George Prochnik, is both enlightening and charming. Fascinating and beautiful in its entirety, The Society of the Crossed Keys is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf of any Anderson/Zweig fan, of which I am sure there are many.
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