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The Stefan Zweig Collection - Volume 1: A New Translation
Stefan Zweig, one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, possessed a rare ability to explore the depths of human psychology with both precision and empathy. His works, often driven by themes of obsession, fear, fate, and moral dilemmas, remain timeless in their portrayal of human fragility. The Stefan Zweig Collection – Volume 1 brings together seven of his most compelling novellas and short stories in fresh translations that preserve the intensity and elegance of his prose.
This collection features The Chess Player, Zweig’s final and perhaps most haunting work, where a man’s extraordinary chess skills mask the psychological torment inflicted by the Gestapo. In Fear, a bourgeois woman’s illicit affair leads to blackmail, sending her spiraling into paranoia and self-destruction. Unexpected Revelation of a Trade presents a surprising moral twist, revealing Zweig’s fascination with the hidden aspects of human nature.
Leporella follows a lonely servant whose blind devotion to her aristocratic employer takes a dark and unsettling turn, while The Woman and the Landscape offers a poetic meditation on longing and fate, set against the indifferent forces of nature. The Bookseller Mendel is a poignant story of an aging bibliophile, whose obsessive love for books is tragically erased by the tides of history. Finally, The Invisible Collection tells of an art dealer’s encounter with an old collector, whose devotion to his treasures blinds him to a heartbreaking reality.
Each of these stories captures Zweig’s mastery of psychological depth and his ability to turn seemingly ordinary lives into profound literary experiences. Whether unraveling the torment of a chess prodigy, the quiet desperation of a forgotten bookseller, or the tragic devotion of a humble servant, Zweig’s storytelling remains as gripping and thought-provoking as ever.
This volume presents these works in new translations, ensuring that modern readers can fully appreciate the richness of Zweig’s language and the timeless relevance of his themes. The Stefan Zweig Collection – Volume 1 invites both longtime admirers and new readers into the fascinating, often unsettling, world of one of literature’s most insightful observers of the human condition.
This collection features The Chess Player, Zweig’s final and perhaps most haunting work, where a man’s extraordinary chess skills mask the psychological torment inflicted by the Gestapo. In Fear, a bourgeois woman’s illicit affair leads to blackmail, sending her spiraling into paranoia and self-destruction. Unexpected Revelation of a Trade presents a surprising moral twist, revealing Zweig’s fascination with the hidden aspects of human nature.
Leporella follows a lonely servant whose blind devotion to her aristocratic employer takes a dark and unsettling turn, while The Woman and the Landscape offers a poetic meditation on longing and fate, set against the indifferent forces of nature. The Bookseller Mendel is a poignant story of an aging bibliophile, whose obsessive love for books is tragically erased by the tides of history. Finally, The Invisible Collection tells of an art dealer’s encounter with an old collector, whose devotion to his treasures blinds him to a heartbreaking reality.
Each of these stories captures Zweig’s mastery of psychological depth and his ability to turn seemingly ordinary lives into profound literary experiences. Whether unraveling the torment of a chess prodigy, the quiet desperation of a forgotten bookseller, or the tragic devotion of a humble servant, Zweig’s storytelling remains as gripping and thought-provoking as ever.
This volume presents these works in new translations, ensuring that modern readers can fully appreciate the richness of Zweig’s language and the timeless relevance of his themes. The Stefan Zweig Collection – Volume 1 invites both longtime admirers and new readers into the fascinating, often unsettling, world of one of literature’s most insightful observers of the human condition.
252 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2025
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About the author
Stefan Zweig
2,162 books10.3k followersStefan Zweig was one of the world's most famous writers during the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the U.S., South America, and Europe. He produced novels, plays, biographies, and journalist pieces. Among his most famous works are Beware of Pity, Letter from an Unknown Woman, and Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. He and his second wife committed suicide in 1942.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 6, 2025
Wonders revealed...
Great imaginative stories with psychological background. Memorable characters. Carefully constructed. Almost all from the narrator's viewpoint, creating a deeply personal connection with the reader. In the end, an unhappy life.
Great imaginative stories with psychological background. Memorable characters. Carefully constructed. Almost all from the narrator's viewpoint, creating a deeply personal connection with the reader. In the end, an unhappy life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review