A 1935 visit to New York lets us see Stefan Zweig as a spectator-tourist, visiting Radio City, the Savoy Ballroom, and “a self-service café” — no doubt the Automat. This passage’s description of “a geometric composition of lighted squares” made me think of the miniature cityscape in a 1947 film noir.
Elsewhere the diary entries veer from everyday details — letters, reviews, visits with friends and publishers — to an everpresent dread, as Zweig, the citizen of the world, watches the rise of totalitarianism: “I am sure there’s another coup brewing, and I think it will be successful.”
But I think of what our friend Eva Kor said: “Never give up.”
Related reading
All OCA Zweig posts (Pinboard)
[I’m glad that I got a copy of this book when I did: it has already disappeared from Amazon’s listings. Also available from Ediciones 98, in Spanish: Diarios (1931–1940) and Diarios (1912–1914).]
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Lighted squares
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Zweig seems to be big in Spain for some reason (more so than here, I think?). Editorial Acantillado has dozens of his titles (in Spanish only).
https://www.acantilado.es/persona/stefan-zweig/
I know his work is available in many languages, but I didn’t know about these translations. New York Review Books and Pushkin have made much of his work available in English. And there’s the Wes Anderson influence. I really don’t know about relative popularity though. His anti-authoritarian, anti-nationalist outlook and anticipation of a European Union would make him interesting to many European readers today.
I should have mentioned that this book is also available in Spanish. I’ll add it to the post.
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