Yesterday's World: A Memoir of Stefan Zweig

Author: (Austrian) Stefan Zweig
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-02-01
Features: This book is regarded as a "timeless masterpiece." It was completed in 1939-1940 and is his last prose work in his lifetime. When published in 1944, he had already taken his own life in Brazil over two years prior. Some say this book is an "autobiography," but it is rather a "lyrical autobiography"; others say it is a "memoir," but it is a "philosophical memoir." His The Starry Sky of Human Groups was once a mandatory read in West Germany's Personality Magazine; his Collected Works once made waves in East Germany; in less than half a century, his works have been translated into seven or eight languages and reprinted multiple times. His The World of Yesterday has long been translated into numerous languages. He entered the literary hall of fame as a "poet," gained global fame as a "novelist," and was immortalized as an "outstanding biographer." He possessed extraordinary literary talent. This book was written by the author "with a heart full of despair." The tone of the entire book is "pessimistic." Why pessimistic? Not for himself, but for humanity. "A European," he believed that everything in his "memories" had become the "world of yesterday"; in reality, it had not. The world remained the same, and "false heroism" was still humanity's strongest anthem. "Out of despair, I am writing the history of my life." When he finished writing, it would also be the end of his life. The joys, excitement, sorrows, and worries of his past would all be waved goodbye. He was a master of psychological portrayal in literature. He viewed history through the lens of a poet and recreated it with the techniques of a novelist. The so-called "objective history" was always nothing more than a "servant" to his thoughts and emotions. His works flow like clouds and water, meticulous yet enduring, captivating and vivid. This book is suitable for readers who hold hope or despair for humanity, historians or history enthusiasts, biographers or biographical works lovers, those who uphold or oppose cosmopolitanism, party and government officials or the general public, as well as students at all levels.