Books by Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was an Austro-Hungarian writer. Below his books recommended on Five Books, which include a novel and his poignant memoir, The World of Yesterday.
“The novella parallels, in some ways, aspects of Zweig’s own life. It was one of the last things he wrote and it was published posthumously. Zweig left Europe in 1940 for New York, then emigrated to Brazil, where not long after he and his wife committed suicide. The main characters in Chess Story represent elements of Zweig’s own experience as well as events in Europe at that time.” Read more...
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers
Greg Jackson, Novelist
“It is a gripping read, written just before he committed suicide in Brazil…He wrote vividly about witnessing the outbreak of the First World War. A pacifist, he notes the excitement, the exhilarated men and women out in the streets craving to rush off to battle. He doesn’t tell you much about himself or his wife, but describes people, particularly fellow authors, in a very generous manner.” Read more...
The best books on Jewish Vienna
Brigid Grauman, Journalist
“Just before the First World War, Hofmiller, a young Austrian officer from a modest background, finds himself stationed in a town where he knows few people. He scores an invitation to the home of the richest local family and, at the end of the evening, realises he has not spent time with their attractive daughter, Edith…It’s a tense, emotional thriller for the well-meaning.” Read more...
Steven Amsterdam, Novelist
Interviews where books by Stefan Zweig were recommended
The best books on Worry, recommended by Steven Amsterdam
The author tells us about books that have anxiety at their heart, ranging from obsessional love and chronic neurosis to conspiracy theory paranoia and existential angst
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1
Tante Jolesch or the Decline of the West in Anecdotes
by Friedrich Torberg & Maria Poglitsch Bauer (translator) -
2
The Road into the Open
by Arthur Schnitzler & Roger Byers (translator) -
3
The Radetzky March
by Joseph Roth -
4
The World of Yesterday
by Stefan Zweig & Anthea Bell (translator) -
5
Last Waltz in Vienna
by George Clare
The best books on Jewish Vienna, recommended by Brigid Grauman
The best books on Jewish Vienna, recommended by Brigid Grauman
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Vienna had a vibrant intellectual and cultural life, embraced and at times led by key figures in its large Jewish community. All that would disappear with the rise of anti-Semitism and the Anschluss. Many Jews fled or committed suicide. Others were deported to concentration camps. After the war some went back, but Vienna would never be the same. Here Brigid Grauman, whose father’s family were assimilated Jews from Vienna, recommends books that evoke that poignant, tragic period that ended with World War II.
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1
Language, Truth and Logic
by AJ Ayer -
2
The World of Yesterday
by Stefan Zweig & Anthea Bell (translator) -
3
The Vienna Circle
by Friedrich Stadler -
4
Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers
by Cheryl Misak -
5
Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science
by Karl Sigmund
The best books on The Vienna Circle, recommended by David Edmonds
The best books on The Vienna Circle, recommended by David Edmonds
Members of ‘the Vienna Circle’ had strong views on what can and cannot be meaningfully said. They’ve had an enormous impact on modern philosophy, partly because the arrival of fascist rule in Austria scattered them around the world. Here, philosopher David Edmonds, author of The Murder of Professor Schlick, introduces us to their ideas, their milieu and the poignant background to their lives and thinking.
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1
Phantasmagoria
by Marina Warner -
2
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
by Andy Warhol -
3
Shadows of a Hand
by and Georgel, Florian, Luc, Marie-Laure, Pierre, Prevost, Rodari & Sante -
4
The World of Yesterday
by Stefan Zweig & Anthea Bell (translator) -
5
Vincent van Gogh - The Letters
by Hans Luijten, Leo Jansen (Editor) & Nienke Bakker (Editor)
The best books on Inkblots, recommended by Will Hobson
The best books on Inkblots, recommended by Will Hobson
The author of a modern, inkblot-based character test discusses the history and cultural resonances of the inkblot, from Victor Hugo to Andy Warhol.
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1
The Invention of Morel
by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated by Ruth L. C. Simms -
2
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller
by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver -
3
Chess Story
by Stefan Zweig, translated by Joel Rotenberg -
4
The Intuitionist
by Colson Whitehead -
5
The Lost Daughter
by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers, recommended by Greg Jackson
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers, recommended by Greg Jackson
Metaphysical literature calls into question the very nature of reality, says the acclaimed US novelist Greg Jackson: it dramatises “the liquid mysteries of thought, pattern, and form.” Here, he highlights five ‘metaphysical thrillers’—artfully written novels powered by intrigue, which explore or embody philosophical dilemmas.