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Wondrak
The artist Ferdinand, central figure of Compulsion, partly reflects Zweig’s own experience. In The Snow tells of the plight of a group of Jews who freeze to death while trying to escape a medieval pogrom. In Wondrak, a woman, disfigured since birth, attempts to save her only child from being drafted into the military. In this newly available English translation, the reader discovers Zweig's essential humanist preoccupations—his compassion toward human suffering, his horror of war and his faith in idealism, generosity, and love—values that can, in an instant, illuminate an entire existence.
187 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1994
2 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Stefan Zweig
2,263 books10.5k 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 1, 2020
As a collection, this really feels like it could use a fourth story (like Amok and The Governess have), but those that are here are very good with sparks of greatness. Based on his five novellas and the thirteen stories of his I've read to date, I really feel that if it's short and it's Zweig, it's going to be well worth your time. One day I'll meet someone else who reads him. Hopefully a woman.
November 8, 2018
Zwei Geschichten, davon die zweite ziemlich gut. Ein Maler hat es in die Schweiz geschafft, wo er die Einberufung in den Krieg erhält. Und wie unter einem Zwang, obwohl es den in der neutralen Schweiz eigentlich nicht geben sollte, fährt er, sich gegen sein besseres Wissen und seine Frau stellend. Im letzten Moment an der Grenze sieht er den Krieg und kehrt doch um.
May 29, 2022
Wondrak et La dette (renommé plus récemment La Vieille Dette) sont deux nouvelles posthumes que j'ai découvert.
La Scarlatine est indéniablement ma nouvelle préférée dans ce recueil.
Un homme qu'on n'oublie pas, Printemps au Prater, Rêves oubliés et La Scarlatine sont des nouvelles que j'avais déjà lues avec la traduction de Alzir Hella. Il s'agit ici d'une traduction de Hélène Denis.
La Scarlatine est indéniablement ma nouvelle préférée dans ce recueil.
Un homme qu'on n'oublie pas, Printemps au Prater, Rêves oubliés et La Scarlatine sont des nouvelles que j'avais déjà lues avec la traduction de Alzir Hella. Il s'agit ici d'une traduction de Hélène Denis.
June 10, 2017
Savaş karşıtlığını son derece insani ve etkileyici bir şekilde anlatan öyküler. Beğenerek okudum.
August 24, 2016
“We feel revulsion not for the negligent designer but for the innocent thing it has designed.”
Parents may shake their fists at God if their child is born imperfect, but society is more likely to spurn the child than God.
This is a story of the power of simply getting on with life, and the transformative power of maternal love. Zweig didn't finish writing it, but it doesn’t feel incomplete; you just don’t know what happens next.
I read this as one of the stories in the collection titled The Invisible Collection, all of which I reviewed HERE.
Like all the stories in that collection, this features desire and obsession, and legacy:
Parents may shake their fists at God if their child is born imperfect, but society is more likely to spurn the child than God.
This is a story of the power of simply getting on with life, and the transformative power of maternal love. Zweig didn't finish writing it, but it doesn’t feel incomplete; you just don’t know what happens next.
I read this as one of the stories in the collection titled The Invisible Collection, all of which I reviewed HERE.
Like all the stories in that collection, this features desire and obsession, and legacy:
December 23, 2010
A selection which is part of the 2010 Author Theme read on LibraryThing.com.............Finished the three short stories found in [Wondrak and other stories]. I was, as I am sure it occurs commonly, left pofoundly touched by "Wondrak" and it's unfinished ending. I spent a lot of time considering where the author was at that time in his life, in Brazil, and what his state of mind was. I have to also wonder why the story was entitled, "Wondrak". He was a bureaucratic clerk, while the main character was the mother, Ruzena. I wonder how much Zweig identified with the characters and their struggle to make the choices they each made. The fact that he and his wife committed suicide before he finished the story is heartbreaking and disturbing.
Certainly all three stories communicated the power of government and war to take away all that is dear unless one is willing to take a tremendously risky stand.
Certainly all three stories communicated the power of government and war to take away all that is dear unless one is willing to take a tremendously risky stand.
July 22, 2011
Ça se lit bien !
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August 6, 2011Les nouvelles de Zweig se lisent vraiment très bien et son style est tout de même superbe. Une belle façon de finir l'année ... Allez, le prochain Zweig sera 24h dans la vie d'une femme...
November 5, 2011
Comme toujours, Zweig est magistral!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews