After
reaching to finishing line of Wolf Hall and recently completing The Luminaries, I wanted a break. I wanted to read a classic, perhaps something
of its time rather than a pastiche of a much-loved era.
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig with its ill-fated Austrian
author and its historical context seemed like the perfect book for me - plus I
had watched Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest
Hotel earlier in the week.
The foreword
by Nicholas Lezard in this particular edition was the perfect introduction to
the book and supplied much hype to the story - which by the way is encased by a
frame narration (one of the things Wes Andersson borrowed for his film).
The story
itself is a tale of emotional blackmail and provides so much ammo for a Freud/Nietzsche
workshop I could hear the literary theory critics jumping with glee.
Hofmiller, a
young cavalry officer, makes a social faux-pas when he is invited to the mansion
of a rich estate-owner. He upsets the disabled daughter of his host by asking
her to dance and a series of events unfold which ‘ties’ the young man to the
family.
The book is
a story of agency, military indoctrination and a satire on the social protocols
of the time. There are some farcical treats in Stefan Zweig writing which had
me laughing and pointed to why Wes Andersson was attracted to the author’s work.
However, I
must say I found the character of Edith, the “crippled”* daughter, very
annoying.
One of the
things I detest in any literature from a bygone era is hysterical female
characters – you know the type who faint, cry, shriek or tremble and can’t pull
themselves out of their emotional dilemma and basically get a grip.
Unfortunately
Edith in her melodramatic ways did quite a lot of this which promoted me to
commit the cardinal sin of skipping some pages until she had left the scene.
The
Translater’s Afterword although was very interesting and provided an
interesting reflection on Beware of Pity’s
historical relevance.
*I also
don’t like the use of the word “crippled” to describe characters who are in
some way handicapped.
