The Impossible Exile
Stefan Zweig at the End of the World
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Granta Books
Published:3rd Sep '15
Should be back in stock very soon
A moving and original examination of Stefan Zweig's tragic decline from universal acclaim to obscurity and suicide in exile
By the 1930s, Stefan Zweig, born to an affluent Jewish family in Vienna, had become the most widely translated living author in the world. His novels, short stories, and biographies became instant bestsellers, and his cultural patronage, his generosity, and his literary connections, were legendary. In 1934, following Hitler's rise to power, Zweig left Vienna for England, then New York, and, finally, Petrópolis, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. With the destruction of the cultural milieu of pre-Nazi Europe, Zweig's life in exile became increasingly isolated. In 1942 he and his wife, Lotte Altmann, were found dead. They had committed suicide, just after Zweig had completed his famous autobiography, The World of Yesterday. The Impossible Exile tells the mesmerizing and tragic story of Zweig's extraordinary rise and fall, the gulf between the world of ideas in Europe and in America, and the alienation of the refugees forced into exile. Zweig embodied and witnessed the end of an era: the great Central European civilization of Vienna and Berlin.
Prochnik's portrait could hardly be bettered * Independent *
A different approach to understanding Zweig has long been needed, and now at last we have it... Brilliantly accomplished -- John Gray * New Statesman *
With vast scholarship and a light touch, an incisive eye for the telling anecdote and a poignant reflection of his family's immigrant legacy, Prochnik illuminates every place and time he glances at * New Yorker *
This sensitive and beautifully written book is more than just a biography of a great writer, it is also the obituary of a civilised and cosmopolitan European civilisation that was swept away by Nazi barbarism -- ‘Biography book of the Year’ * Times *
[A] sensitive and enthralling book... It is a joy to read, and that is simply down to the quality of the writing -- John Carey * Sunday Times *
Prochnik's words could not be more resonant [and] filled with unyielding insight... Superbly lyrical -- André Aciman * Wall Street Journal *
Sensitive and enthralling... a joy to read... [Prochnik] supplies the poetic charge -- John Carey * Sunday Times *
His untraditional form gives his thought, and prose, free rein -- Frances Wilson * Sunday Telegraph **** *
Enthralling * Sunday Times *
Remarkable... A major work of historical and cultural criticism of Europe's darkest times. Zweig's haunted talent has never been better explored than in this exemplary study [of] an unjustly neglected literary master -- Oliver Kamm * The Times *
[A] sensitive, emotional astute and strikingly stylish account of Zweig's exile... Prochnik manages to convey, better than virtually any other book I've read on the subject, the awful intellectual and emotional costs of wartime displacement... Remarkable -- Daniel Mendelsohn, author * The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million *
A gripping, unusually subtle, poignant, and honest study * New York Review of Books *
Deeply researched and beautifully written... as sensitive and exquisite as Zweig's novellas * New Republic *
Prochnik's perceptiveness and gentle humor slip us inside the meticulously cultivated persona... Fascinating * Vogue *
Once renowned, then long forgotten, the forever poignant Viennese writer and humanist Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) is now the focus of a revival. His books are back in print, Wes Anderson pays homage to Zweig in his film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Prochnik presents an exceptionally astute, affecting, and beautifully composed portrait and analysis of Zweig and his cherished and lost world... Prochnik is so emphatically attuned and committed to the full sweep of Zweig's by turn glimmering and sorrowful story that nothing goes unexamined or unfelt in this brilliant and haunting biography * Booklist *
Prochnik brings a sympathetic but unsparing eye to his subject... a riveting study of one of the major literary émigrés of the Nazi era [and] a profound meditation on the nature of fame, the intersection of politics and art, and the condition of exile itself -- James Lasdun, author * Give Me Everything You Have *
Interesting... clearly written and well researched * Jewish Renaissance *
[A] fine book [with] the essayistic virtues of brevity, personality and a relaxed gait... It is impossible to read The Impossible Exile without wanting to spend more time in Zweig's company -- Frances Wilson * Daily Telegraph *
A haunting, tragic work -- Simon Winchester * New Statesman *
[A] sensitive biography * Sunday Telegraph *
Touching -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *
[A] deft, unusual approach -- Stoddard Martin * Jewish Chronicle *
Prochnik's concise account of his subject's life and tragic death is drenched in detail. Personal, lively and warm... the perfect gateway to Zweig's work -- Claire Lowdon * ‘Books of the Year’ Sunday Times *
Enthralling * Mail on Sunday’s Event *
Thoughtful, evocative and quietly gripping -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *
A fine study of the life and times of Stefan Zweig -- Oliver Kamm ‘Book of the Year’ * Sunday Times *
Devotees of Zweig's work will enjoy the fresh perspective and the quality of the writing * Historical Novel Society *
A painstaking and often painful account -- Lesley McDowell * Sunday Herald *
Prochnik brings a rare empathy to the tragic story of [Zweig] * Irish Mail on Sunday *
[Prochnik] brings a rare empathy to the tragic story of [Zweig] * Mail on Sunday *
A fine, original biography -- Roy McEwan, Books of the Year * Herald *
- Short-listed for The Duff Cooper Prize 2015 (UK)
- Short-listed for Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize for Non-fiction 2016 (UK)
ISBN: 9781783781164
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 28mm
Weight: 346g
416 pages