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Title: The Royal Game & Other Stories by Stefan Zweig, Jill Sutcliffe ISBN: 0-8419-1406-0 Publisher: Holmes & Meier Publishers Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.92 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the greatest writers ever
Comment: Nobody has ever described feelings, the deepest human emotions, like Stefan Zweig did. I think he was the most gifted German language writer, a psychologist as well as a historian and it is a shame that there are not more translations of his work into English available. Forget everything you have ever read before and dive into the world of an obsessed mind in "the Royal game", the turmoil between moral and guilt in "Amok" and the most wonderful and sad story of an unfulfilled love in the "Letter from an unknown woman". This is as good as literature gets, even brilliant when translated from another language. To be able to read more of his work would be a reason for learning German!
Rating: 4
Summary: What's here is good.
Comment: Zweig was the master of melodrama. Every single work of fiction that he wrote falls neatly into that style, and makes no bones about it. However, his melodramas were gut-wrenching, not sappy; profoundly moving, not sentimental; grief-inducing, not tear-jerking; sad, but not manipulative. Furthermore, his stories had the benefit of not being overlong, and they never dragged or repeated themselves, like his novel Beware of Pity tends to do. This collection contains some of his best work - surely the first and the last stories already are worth the price of admission. "The Royal Game" is a harrowing look at a little-known phenomenon known as "chess fever," an inexplicable but very real affliction, and remains the definitive portrait of same. The last story, "Letter From An Unknown Woman" has to be read to be believed. A Romantic (capital R) story of unrequited, lifelong, hopelessly fixated love, it is as close as Zweig ever came to writing an unadulterated masterpiece. Every word is pure gold. It's one of those things you'll wish you had written - and one that is inexplicably obscure, despite having been made into an American movie in 1948. The other three stories don't quite live up to that standard (and let's face it, few things can), but they're good, "Amok" especially.
However, I must question what was going on in the head of whoever put this book together. What was the basis of the stories' selection? And why was it necessary to limit the book to only five of them? What sort of Zweig collection is it that includes "Fear," but doesn't include "The Invisible Collection," or "Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman," or "The Sunset of One Heart"? Huh? Huh? As long as you've set out with the noble goal of reprinting the wonderful stories of a sadly ignored author, you might as well do a competent job of it. If this book is supposed to fill the role of a Zweig Greatest Hits, it is woefully incomplete. It's sad, since it seems to be the only such collection in print, and since much of what _is_ in it is truly spectacular.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Psychological Tour de Force
Comment: Zweig is a gripping storyteller and these stories are taut, atmospheric and psychologically astute. Zweig explores the human mind in the grip of obsession, fear, guilt, sexuality and suicide. My favorite of these five stories was "The Burning Secret", a brilliant exploration of the anatomy of the seduction of a married woman, with her young son the implement of the seducer's art. In the process we are shown the inner workings of a child's mind as it becomes aware of the hidden power of sexuality. Each story is gripping and beautifully written.
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Title: Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman by Stefan Zweig, Anthea Bell ISBN: 1901285480 Publisher: Pushkin Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Invisible Collection/Buchmendel by Stefan Zweig, Eden Paul, Cedar Paul ISBN: 1901285006 Publisher: Pushkin Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig ISBN: 1901285499 Publisher: Pushkin Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig ISBN: 0803252242 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1964 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R. Von D by Stefan Zweig, Anthea Bell ISBN: 1901285227 Publisher: Pushkin Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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