A wonderful collection of Stefan Zweig's stories. His writing is elegant, philosophical and humane. Zweig was extremely erudite but wore his knowledge lightly. He conjures up beautiful turn-of-the-century European settings & a time when people travelled, for leisure & then necessity. Bittersweetness of past loves, the fears of war and a reverence for forgotten greats (a bibliophile, an actor) drive these tales, told with warmth & style. 👏🏼💙
"... he had soon abandoned Jehovah the harsh One God to give himself up to idolatry in the form of the brilliant, thousand-fold polytheism of books."
Beautiful portrait of Mendel the bibliophile. ???
Current read
I watched Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel back in early 2015, and it easily situated itself in my favorite films list. It was also the film that got me curious about Stefan Zweig. So far I've only read the first two stories in this collection, but I am absolutely smitten with his writing. ❤
I'd say this is a good start to 2017.
Finding Stefan Zweig soothing. Waiting for a dear friend at a fabulous restaurant. The week is looking up! 🍸📖