I've read 3 books by Stefan Zweig, didn't like any, and I was wondering what people think of his books because I know many people liked them. When I shared my opinion, I got responses like, "Ah, you're just too stupid to understand such books." So, I'm really curious to hear your opinions! Do you like his books? What do you think of his style of writing? Is there really a sense of being "smart" to grasp the deep meanings of his works? Do you genuinely love that aspect of his writing, or do you find it pretentious? It would be great to hear different perspectives!
by cutelamia
3 Comments
I don’t think you are stupid, but his books require you to be in a particular mental and emotional state to “get” them. If you are not prone to melancholy, it be harder for you to appreciate them. Nothing wrong with you, in fact, I’d say you are the lucky one!
It’s not you. When I saw that Wes Anderson’s movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel (which I really enjoyed), was inspired by Zweig’s stories, I gave him a try — and bounced right off.
I’ve only read *The Post Office Girl*, and I enjoyed it pretty well. I didn’t think it was very deep though. The plot is plenty easy to follow, and I think the protagonist is pretty clear about voicing the themes of the books in rather explicit ways. I read it in translation which was also pretty clearly written, so I can’t speak to the original German, but what I read wasn’t linguistically complex either.