The World of Yesterday (Stefan Zweig, early 1940s)

(389 pages) (passed along by Paul Jr)

Finish wasn't expected. Ended his days in South America in February 1942 (with his wife) - difficult to find a landing spot (as so many Jews experienced), cumulative burden of many difficult years and experiences during the world wars and interwar period, more factors than I can grasp.

The loss of his passport in the 1930s hit Zweig hard - like the Wandering Jews - a deep (and correct) feeling of no place to call home. Hard to imagine.

I didn't know much about him, just had very much enjoyed his novel Beware of Pity. He authored all sorts of interesting things - plays, articles - not so many novels (which I'm normally on the hunt for). Collaborated with big names for his plays. 

In the large group of Jews fully assimilated into Viennese society in early 20th century. Successes early as a writer got his name out there and he met an incredible number of famous names.  There was a lot going on in Vienna prior to World War I! He spent a lot of time abroad and particularly loved hanging out in Paris.

His works were completely banned in Germany by the Nazis. Including a libretto written for erstwhile Nazi favorite Richard Strauss.

His discussion echoed other books I've read about the momentous eras he lived through, just on a more personal level.  The golden years leading up to WWI (and disbelief that it happened). The WWI years.  The interwar years; the rise of Hitler; the seeming inevitability of WWII; incredible and increasing difficulties for Jews. That's a lot to live through. 

He was exposed to, and hung out with, an incredible concentration of high-end talent across many disciplines. Fascinating.

Twilight of Empire: The Tragedy at Mayerling and the End of the Habsburgs (King and Wilson, 2017)

(352 pages)

Book club selection (via POC; session held 2 June 2019 (though I was in Virginia so missed it)).

I love reading about this period of history and this part of the world.  But I didn't altogether love this book - the author just was way too focused on the scandal-details surrounding the Mayerling hunting lodge incident - sure it was important in the arc of the monarchy, but it was just one fairly minor episode in the overall story (if titillating). 

I would have liked much more Austria-context, and a lot less Mayerling-minutiae.

Still, the book did provide some insights about the Austrian royalty in its final period.  And in working through various conspiracy theories surrounding the Mayerling incident, the author did get into some of the challenges faced by the empire as the 19th century drew to a close, including divisions among Czechs, Hungarians, and other groups.  It's impressive that the conglomeration hung together as long as it did - I often think it receives more ridicule than it deserves.

The Transylvanian Trilogy - Vol. II - They Were Found Wanting; Vol. III - They Were Divided (Miklos Banffy, 1934)

(830 pages)

I had read Volume I of this trilogy back in 2016; liked the final two volumes even a bit better.  My summary for Volume I actually work quite well for purposes of Volumes II and III; however, the action (certainly the political stakes) pick up as World War I nears.  

The story lines of course take place in the geographies where the incidents that kicked off the war occurred, so there's the run-up for that.  More discussion of Franz Ferdinand as heir apparent; he is presented as a conniver, quite unflattering.

The scenes taking place in Transylvania and Hungary are consistently interesting; the author also certainly must had a great feel for the era's politics.

The book is a great companion to the second of Patrick Leigh Fermor's books - he was visiting much the same geography, only in the 1930s.

Balint; his mother Roza; Adrienne; Pal Uzdy; Laszlo; many more.

Recommended

Ostend - Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, and the Summer Before the Dark (Volker Weidermann, 2014)

Book was well reviewed (and short).  Somewhat interesting items about important authors.

Main focus is on Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth (and their longstanding relationship).  Zweig had been at a resort on the Belgian seaside (then known as Ostend) when World War I broke out - interesting descriptions of the excitement, the sense of national unity in summer 1914 (reminded of the false, or at least ephemeral, feelings around 9-11 in this country back in 2001).  Zweig, Roth and others were back at the same resort during a summer in the 1930s - had been kicked out of Germany and banned from publishing there (their main business and financial lifeline) - because of Jewishness, and/or writings that didn't satisfy Nazi censors.  Spanish Civil War breaks out.

Zweig as cultured, successful, assimilated Viennese-based Jew; Roth as Galicia-based - this distinction seems to come up a lot.

Interesting stories at Ostend - but not all that interesting.  In a way it reminded me of this Hemingway novel - expat types struggling and carousing.

Zweig wrote this really fine novel (started working on it during the time period covered in this book) Roth was famous for this really fine novel; they run into Arthur Koestler (still enamored with Communism, so a bit before he wrote this book).

One of my favorite authors - certainly a famous expat in those days - did not show up at Ostend that summer, but apparently he was a regular topic of conversation, and at least one of his children did.

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived - The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger (Greg Steinmetz, 2015)

Generally interesting and worthwhile - but where was the editor?  Fugger lived an amazing life during amazing times - all this would have spoken for itself - but the author endlessly wrote in hyperbolic fashion (starting with the overwrought title).  (By comparison - this book discussing very much the same time period was enjoyable - and credible - in significant part because it was so matter-of-fact.  Let a good story tell itself!)

The author also occasionally descends into tropes-about-business - taking shots at "capitalism" here and there, when someone like Fugger generally was involved in pure-play "crony capitalism" - not at all the same thing.  Made most of his money by getting monopolies (often on metals) backed, of course, by state violence - this is not capitalism.  Sometimes he was involved in what I would consider capitalism (or what this author would refer to as "trade tested betterment,")

Great stories of Fugger's interactions or cause/effect relationships with all the big players in the last part of the 15th and first of 16th centuries - several Hapsburgs (his financing could swing Holy Roman Empire elections it seems); several popes; Francis I, Suleiman the Magnificent, Charles V.  Ferdinand and Isabella/Columbus; voyages of exploration; New World gold (and food); Henry VIII; Martin Luther (supposedly the aggressive ramping up of indulgence sales was prompted in significant part by the need to repay Fugger loans).  Finances spice trips with Portuguese (as discussed in this book); Venice still powerful but loss of overland spice trade monopoly was a factor in gradual loss of influence.  Hapsburgs rising from pretty much nothing, then in right place at right time (with right financier) via HRE elections, savvy marriages and New World discoveries.  Later in Fugger's life - peasant revolts in Germany; Luther becomes more conservative.

An early adopter of double-entry bookkeeping (learned from the Italians).

Author considers Fugger to have been a sincere practitioner of his religion notwithstanding tough business practices.  Puts up a housing complex for needy workers - ahead of his time here as well.

The years around 1500 were pretty amazing; endlessly interesting; this was a different perspective.

The Transylvanian Trilogy - Volume I - They Were Counted (Miklos Banffy, 1934)

This sounded interesting, and I was willing to give it a try as part of an ongoing effort to get a better picture of eastern Europe, Balkans, etc. (for example, this, this and this within the last few months).

Quick read; debatable whether I'll go on and read the last two parts of the trilogy.

Author is telling a story of Hungarian aristocracy in the years just before World War I (as a result of which their world broke, irretrievably).  Two cousins are the main characters:  Balint Abady and Laszlo Gyeroffy.  They are headed down different paths.

Sometimes draggy but generally interesting discussion of early 20th century politics in this corner of the world - feeling pushed around by the emperor in Austria; the "Dual Monarchy" not seeming very well balanced.  Some are dreaming of incorporating Balkan states into the empire.  References to 1848 and 1867 episodes and influence on Hungary, Transylvania; Kossuth; but no references reaching back to Turkish occupation etc.

A reminder of how closely integrated this world was with all of western Europe; perhaps now the effect of the Iron Curtain is fading a bit and that integration is somewhat restored?  Romanian minorities (including folks on Balint's estates).  A sense of the geography of Transylvania - hinterlands even by the standards of these countries.

So much of the talk by the politicians would sound right at home in 2016 presidential campaign - phony patriotic appeals, identity politics, payoffs, etc.

Descriptions of of old houses - originally built with fortifications.

Balint interested in Adrienne and Laszlo interested in Klara.  Author burns a lot of time on this and it's the weakest part of the book - these portions are how I imagine a Harlequin romance would read.

Danube - A Journey Through the Landscape, History, and Culture of Central Europe (Claudio Magris, 1986)

Continuing to try to get a better feel for MittelEuropa.  Much more obscure to me than Western Europe.  Some of my interest was prompted by this so-interesting travelogue.

But what was the author up to here?  This is a travelogue that is nothing like a travelogue, at least as I conceive the genre.  The author - an Italian professor - has all sorts of consistently interesting things on his mind - but they don't always connect well with the Danube theme.

And the Danube is a very long river - as he proceeds east - away from Germany and his areas of familiarity - Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania - he seems progressively less knowledgeable, and relies more and more on narratives about selected writers.

Endless literary and historical references.  I read enough to make sense of some, which is pleasing.  But . . . so many . . . must leave readers with questions, at least it did for me.

But I like the book, an awful lot.  Would have preferred more straight historical-narrative style information, but once I gave up on that, I just enjoyed the ride.

Some ideas:

1.  The Danube as an east-flowing, Asiatic, river.  Compare the Rhine (Germanic purity).  At the end of the Danube line:  Attila and his ilk.  This notion reinforced by the Roman experience - barbarians across the Limes.

2.  Large zones where armies from major powers constantly traverse - with endless consequences for the affected populations.  The Turk.  Magyars getting hit from every direction.

3.  German settlers and influence.  German colonists in the Banat.  Bringing some order into places that lacked it.  Interesting.

4.  Lots of discussion on Regensburg.  I still want to see this.  Passau, maybe?

5.  Hungarians compromising with Austria in 1862 (Dual Monarchy).  Obliterated by Turks in 1526 (Mohacs).

6.  The "Military Frontier" - described as a thousand kilometers - borderlands, somewhat lawless, first line of defense against the Turk.

7.  1986 Bulgaria - "Oppression, he writes in his novel-epic of Bulgaria, has the privilege of making peoples happy; for when the political arena is closed, society seeks consolation in the immediate good things of life, in wine drunk under the trees, in love, in generation.  'Enslaved peoples have their philosophy which reconciles them to life.'"

8.  He has an idea that folks living in landlocked areas are more conservative, less adventuresome, less liberal and adaptable in comparison to folks living nearer the sea.

Author is a colleague of Umberto Eco!

There's just a lot here, and I need to spend more time with it.  Many glorious passages.  Dense.  Requires slow reading.  Worthwhile.

Beware of Pity (Stefan Zweig, 1939)

I liked this book very much.  I keep hearing references to Zweig but never have read any of his works.  Wanted to learn something about this as I try to develop a better feel for eastern-central Europe.  I find that this is Zweig's only novel.

Protagonist is an Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer stationed in a rather dreary post pretty far removed from cities; he is invited to a party at the home of a rich local landowner.  Much enjoys the change of scenery; asks the host's daughter for a dance but learns she is crippled; this creates an unpleasant scene.  But he is welcomed back to the house very shortly thereafter; tries to be helpful; it turns out badly.  Actions based on pity certainly can be dangerous.

Dr. Condor is treating the invalid.  The landowner (father of the invalid) has quite a story of his own.  Protagonist enlists for WWI and becomes a hero (though that isn't a direct part of the plot line).

Interesting beginning to end, usually compelling, very much worthwhile.  (Which is particularly appreciated as I recently seem to be encountering a higher percentage of mundane books than usual . . .)

The Good Soldier Svejk (Jaroslav Hasek, 1923)

I had never heard of this book until reading Patrick Leigh Fermor describe his travels through central Europe in the 1930s (wonderful book, discussed here).  Fermor said reading Svejk was very helpful for him in getting a handle on Bohemia.  Fermor's recommendation - and my interest in Bohemia (based on bloodlines for my wife and children) - motivated me to track this down.  Phoenix library didn't have it; on Amazon, all I found was a pretty beat-up version stamped "Leeds Metropolitan University - DISCARDED".

I hope, for LMU's sake, that it has replaced the book.

The author died without finishing the book (though this translation runs 750 pages).  Hasek apparently was quite the colorful character.  But not as colorful as Svejk - typically described as an "everyman" caught up in a vast bureaucracy (this one being military).  It's consistently funny, and consistently observant of WWI eastern front absurdities.

Best I can tell, Svejk remains very famous in Bohemia - now 90 years later.

Part of what the reader starts to appreciate is that Bohemia - then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - later part of Czechoslovakia - now divided among successor states such as Czech Republic and Slovak Republic - has for big chunks of its history been a lesser entity within polyglot empires.  It had its proud/independent phase earlier on.  By the time of WWI, it was dragged along into conflict by its Austro-Hungarian masters, who in turn were dragged along by their German masters (I'll call them).  Leaving the Bohemians - at least those of Svejk's ilk - generally somewhat less than highly motivated to throw away their lives on eastern front battlefields while being bossed around by incompetent Austrian officers.

Svejk deals with the situation with a combination of cunning and humor (not to mention prodigious drinking capabilities).  Epic run-ins with Lieutenant Dub, a secret policeman, the good-natured Vanek (who he serves as "batman"); the ever-hungry Balloun; and plenty of others.

A useful and very different take from a soldier/common man perspective looking at WWI's eastern front.

Svejk's classic line:  "Humbly report, sir . . . "

A Time of Gifts (Patrick Leigh Fermor, 1977)

Fermor intended to write a three-part story of his walking tour from Holland to Constantinople in the 1930s. As it turns out, part three was never written. I so much liked part two - summarized here, with lots of explanation about what Fermor was up to.

So now we come to part one - which lived up to very high
expectations.  I don't think I missed much by reading the two books out of order - though it was useful to have a better understanding of why the youthful Fermor decided to go walking across Europe.  Starting in December 1932.  (Book written 45 years later!)

This is the kind of well-read, highly inquisitive person with whom I would love to travel - seems impossible for him to view a landscape (or cityscape) without it conjuring up visions of related historical occurrences, depictions by artists, local music and customs, etc.  Nonstop provocation of one's imagination - which is the best thing, after all.

As with the other book of his - once you read it, you simply have to visit the area.  (Kind of the way this book required me to make this trip.)

Thoughts:

1.  Compact writing style - makes me jealous, I would love to write in that manner.

2.  On a barge he was given a meal of baked beans garnished with speck - basically just fat - he found it frightful.  Now I know what Grandpa Bormann was referring to when he used the word - 50 years ago.

3.  Interesting theory of how the "Landsknechts" (a term I hadn't heard before) set the tone for architecture in the area.  Who knows?

4.  I never really had bothered to figure out how the Danube flows, or why it was the ultimate runway for Asian invaders over the centuries.  Fascinating to trace its west-east run from Germany (eventually heading south into the Black Sea).  I  can see that leisurely travel in this area would be a delight.

5.  Melk.  Regensburg.  He loves Prague (though, it not being on his route, required a side trip).

6.  German towns.  Nazi activities - early phases of its hold on power.

7.  He knew the Dutch landscape painters very well - and passing through on foot gave him constant reminders of their work.  A wonderful Christmas story with a kind family.

8.  Long-term occupation by Roman empire - near-mythical the frontier with the deep woods.

9.  I'm interested in learning more about Bohemia - the under-appreciated but majority bloodline for my little wife.  This book is a good assist in this regard.

10.  Was reading this in the latter stages of Lent . . . the author arrives in a small Hungarian town just as evening services begin on Holy Thursday . . . just a great, evocative recounting of the ceremony, the evening of the Betrayal, etc.  Wonderful scene.

11.  He reaches Budapest, which is where the next book starts.

I need this as a reference, so just bought it.  It is a delight.

The Lady in Gold - The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece (Anne-Marie O'Connor, 2012)

Far more interesting than anticipated.  I'm sure it helped that I've recently read quite a bit more about Austria and this historical period (most recently here and here).  This had strands of Austria in twilight of Habsburg empire, incorporation of Jews into the empire, all of the famous musicians, scientists, thinkers in Vienna c. 1900, Nazi looting of war art, concentration camps, Anschluss, etc.  Not to mention the main story lines about Klimt's art and the postwar efforts to reunite lost art works with owners or heirs.

The far-more-famous portrait (version 1)

Klimt apparently quite the personality - not of noble birth, but an obvious artistic talent that received major commissions.  He and others decided they needed to be "free" of the usual bourgeois restraints - no doubt some artistic considerations here, but some of this is just uninteresting pushing of boundaries for its own sake.    Klimt got into doing nudes; quite a bit apparently pornographic more than anything else; loved having relationships with his female models (reportedly had 14 children by them).

But Klimt was an undeniable talent.  Jews - generally accepted and successful in Viennese society notwithstanding some strong anti-Semitic strains - were more willing to sponsor non-mainstream artists like Klimt.  He did a pricey portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.  Then a second portrait years later - more realistic, far less attractive.  The author was more than willing to endlessly speculate whether Klimt had an affair with Bloch-Bauer - whatever, no one knows, who cares.  That got tiresome.

The circles these folks ran in - Gustav and Alma Mahler.  Sigmund Freud.  Arnold Schoenberg.

Hitler as making a serious attempt at becoming an artist in Vienna.  Walking the streets there at the same time as all these other folks!  Perhaps contributing to his view of the relationships of Jews and "degenerate" artists.  (Not surprisingly, the Nazis did not care for most of Klimt's work - though they did recognize the significance of Adele's portrait #1.  Couldn't display it as originally titled - a Jewess! - so just gave it a neutral name (The Lady in Gold, if I recall correctly).

#2 - more realistic.

I hadn't realized that the Ringstrasse was made possible by tearing down the old city walls (useful in repelling Turks all the way up to 1683).

The stories about Nazi looting and other depredations were effective in this book - partly because the characters and families had been introduced.  Interesting escape stories; generally bad outcomes for Jews who waited too long.  The same effect held with the moral ambiguities facing Austrians in the face of a Nazi tide - how does one react?  Wow.

As discussed in Tony Judt's work - how Austria, perhaps more than anywhere else, tried to position itself after the war as Hitler's "first victim" - deliberate amnesia.  That seems pretty understandable, also - ugh - but somehow life needed to go on.  Later generations were more willing to look into the unpleasant facts.  Kurt Waldheim, for example.

And real ambiguity about how to handle stolen artworks - should they remain on exhibition in Austria?  Or returned to heirs, somewhat distant, for resale into the private market where they end up who knows where?

Remodeling the Belvedere (built for Eugene of Savoy!) as a back-up bunker for Hitler.  Stolen artworks hidden there.

Los Angeles expats - Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Mann, Alma Mahler, Schoenberg, Billy Wilder.

Adele's portrait #1 as the center of the controversy - partly because an aging heir (sympathetic figure) residing in LA found a lawyer who pushed the case.  And to what a result!  Not resolved until around 2006.  An Estee Lauder heir as buyer.  Interesting story (with picture of the primary plaintiff (Maria)) about the purchase is here.

The Radetzky March (Joseph Roth, 1932)

I've had this on my reading list for quite awhile, it was well worth the wait.

Traces three generations of the Trotta family - Austrian nobility - as the Habsburg dynasty approaches its end point with the onset of World War I.  First generation was a soldier of peasant stock who was elevated to the nobility after saving Franz Josef's life on the battlefield at Solferino (which was a much bigger battle than I remembered).  Second generation Trotta became a career diplomat after his father dissuaded him from joining the military.  Third generation Trotta re-entered the military - but seemed better suited to functioning in the style of his peasant ancestors.  Franz Josef of course lived to a very old age, and he reappears throughout the novel in various contacts with the Trotta family members.

I know nothing of the author except read he is ranked with Thomas Mann among central European authors of the period.

This book reminded me very much of three-generation stories that I have read in the last couple months; the first two having been focused on South America and Italy, respectively.    It is an odd coincidence that those three books all ended up in the queue at the same time.

As with the other books - this is a great construct to communicate the loss (or change) of a particular way of life.  Austria in particular was poised for drastic changes. 

Some losses in third generation Trotta's regiment (resulting from a duel, actually) were broadly felt by the survivors - Roth has an effective way of pointing out that losses like this just felt different before the mechanized killing of World War I, which took away the personal element; humans were just another (replaceable) cog in the machine.

As best I can tell the Habsburgs did a decent job trying to hold together all the national minorities in their dominions.  Sounds though they were reactionary and then some, but it's hard to see that things were better off for their demise.  The second Trotta, from his administrative post, was the author's vehicle for communicating the way in which grievances and politics surrounding these national minorities largely overtook the old empire.  Leading to Wilson, self-determination, nationalism, persistent slaughter in this difficult corner of the world.

Third generation Trotta ends up in a border town - near Russia - very interesting descriptions of early 20th-century life there.  Franz Ferdinand's assassination is announced during a party there.