Quote:
Originally Posted by Billi
For those of you who are interested in the general story - intellectual jews who had to flee from Nazi Germany - I could additionally suggest reading some books by Erich Maria Remarque. But unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge about translations and availability in English.
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I'm following up
Chess with Peter Gay's
My German Question, which tells of his boyhood as an assimilated Jew in Nazi Berlin (his family fled in 1939) and deals with the issue of why more Jews didn't realize/didn't get out in time and his feelings about Germany and being German. I had assumed Gay was from an intellectual family, but in fact they were solidly middle class.
Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72
some of the ideas that issybird brought up, but she always has very astute observations while I'm often mired in the literal.
I wouldn't necessarily rush out and read everything that Zweig has written based on this, but it made for an interesting diversion.
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Aw, shucks. I have to contest the mired; the literal
is the story. I don't think you can be too "mired." I always find your exigesis of the plot and characters to be illuminating.
I don't think Zweig is aging well, so I agree with your second comment. That was my real objection to
Chess; it came across as rather fusty to me. Good when it was written, but not penetrating or original enough to achieve classic status. But there's nothing wrong with being highly readable and shining a light on contemporary attitudes. Social history more than literature, as it were.