Amok / Lettre d'une inconnue

by Stefan Zweig

L'amok, en Malaisie,· est celui qui, pris de frénésie sanguinaire, court devant lui, détruisant hommes et choses, sans qu'on puisse rien faire pour le sauver. Le narrateur rencontre sur un paquebot un malheureux en proie à cette forme mystérieuse de démence. Histoire encore d'une folie, d'une passion d'un amour fou, cette fois - que la Lettre d'une inconnue reçue par un romancier à succès. Mais la passion peut faire de l'homme dominateur et méprisant un être humilié et ridiculisé : c'est le thème du troisième de ces récits, La Ruelle au clair de lune.

Genres: Roman

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 23, 2015

About the author

Stefan 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.

Reviews

[Zu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stele pentru maiestria cu care Stefan Zweig a redat tumultul sufletesc si nebunesc in iubiri obsesive si neimpartasite.
Amok. In care citim despre pasiunea unui doctor pentru o femeie care intra in cabinetul lui sa-i ceara ajutor secret de intrerupere a unei sarcini. Doctorul se indragosteste nebuneste, la prima vedere, si il apuca amocul, furie maniacala. Intamplarile sunt vrednice de un roman de aventuri cu intorsaturi de situatii neasteptate, cred ca se putea scrie un roman.
A doua nuvela, iubirea platonica a unei copile de 13ani pentru un scriitor de 25ani si care, dupa niste ani, devine o obsesie. La 20ani are un copil cu el de care nu ii va spune nimic pentru ca ea nu exista pentru el ca iubita. Doar o foloseste din cand in cand in aventuri de o noapte-doua. La final, scriitorul primeste o scrisoare din partea ei, un testament sufletesc.

[Mouna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐ pour amok
4 ⭐ pour lettre d'une inconnue

[Karen Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

4) Lettre d'une inconnue ~ Stefan Zweig

Un écrivain viennois reçoit dès les premières lignes une très longue lettre d'une inconnue.  Que peut bien contenir cette lettre?

Une nouvelle troublante ... narrée avec cette manière propre au plumeau de l'auteur.

"...mais avec ce seul regard j'absorbais toute l'atmosphère et j'avais de quoi nourrir éternellement mes rêves de toi, ceux du jour comme ceux de la nuit. " p.36

[Luiza Markosyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amok is an outdated piece for sure but it doesn't mean it's not written well. I enjoyed both of the nouvelles, especially the letter. The author describes a woman's feelings very well though with a little dramatisation.

[Laila Ambrosino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Très beau style mais histoire datée qui met en scène un personnage extrêmement raciste et misogyne. Ses défauts enlèvent donc une partie de charme à l’intrigue car nous n’avons pas d’empathie pour ce personnage. Cette vision de l’Orient est elle aussi bien caricaturale de nos jours.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book I've read of Zweig: I want to read more now!

[Hel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why doesn’t Goodreads allow half stars? I would have given it a 2 1/2 stars.

It was an interesting read despite depicting old-fashion thinking: the main character is racist and sexist.

From the middle part onwards it because a page turner, which I enjoyed, I was left on the edge of my seat until the end.