Customer Reviews

Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R von D

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A friend who teaches European lit asked me if I didn't think Stefan Zweig was "sentimental." But in the case of "Confusion," all the high emotion fits the story of a rather obsessive-compulsive young man, who is rather disinterested in learning until he meets the right teacher. Framed by the perspective of this same young man as a 60-year-old professor, the tale is even more poignant. This tale of an over-eager student, who can't see that he's behaving like a spurned lover when his teacher criticizes him, is a searing psychological study. Considering that Zweig gave the eulogy at Freud's funeral, who better to explore such things? I've never read a work by Zweig I didn't find richly textured, beautifully written, and deeply felt. If that's "sentimental," then I plead guilty!

It's nearly impossible to review "Confusion" without giving away the "hideous secret" on which the plot turns, so I'll limit myself to saying that, by today's standards (outside conservative America, at least), the scenario Zweig offers here verges on implausible. Today, the Professor's "vice" would be well known, of little consequence, and hardly likely to generate much confusion - least of all in Roland, an intelligent and highly-sexed nineteen year-old. Zweig's popularity declined soon after his death in 1942 and his sentimental humanism, based on the values of late nineteenth-century Viennese liberalism, has made him an easy target for some. Yet his vivid, psychoanalytically-oriented biographies, novellas and stories are still incredibly engaging. Something like the fictional equivalent of Freud's collected works, they usually deal with the psychological representation of repressed personalities suffering major crises under the weight of nineteenth-century values, and in that sense they are wonderfully evocative of the time. For twenty-first century readers, I suppose, it's that shift in values that is now part of the point of reading Zweig, and a large part of the pleasure. But not only that: his focus is always the emotions - agonizing frustrations, secret fears, explosive joys - with insightful analysis of all of them; and his characters are closely observed - entire plots can turn on one look, one word, one obsessively worried-over instant. It's a rich and rewarding oeuvre, not least because of Zweig's finely cadenced voice (translated here with considerable skill by Anthea Bell). "Confusion" is also worth reading for the Professor's unusual theory of Elizabethan drama, its historical motivations, and its arguable place at the pinnacle of English theatre. It's also interesting because it confirms something we all know from experience: that the events which determine the course of our lives are not always the ones others might think.

I knew of Zweig as Richard Strauss' librettist. Wanting to see what his work was like when he stood on his own I discovered his novella, "Confusion". Elegantly and tautly written it is the story of a respected professor reflecting back upon his life and about the man who had the greatest impact on his life. This man is his English professor. As a young student, our narrator is drawn to this brooding man and his mysterious wife. He is drawn into the web of their lives and the terrible secret that is hidden there.

This poignant novella is a must-read for those interested in German literary history. While Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Mann and Gunter Grass are the most prominent figures of 20th century Germanic literature, writers like Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth deserve recognition for their novellas, novels and stories.

I would best describe Zweig's literary approach as neo-romanticism. Reading him I am reminded of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler. Zweig's writing is elaborate, rich, his prose is touching, emotional and lush in a very straightforward way. For an author who was a specialist in the short story and the novella, his sentences are quite long and his sentiments are overloaded. I loved this little book but at times Zweig being Zweig, describes and over-describes situations and feelings.

One might call this tale about a love triangle but that would be far too simple. A young man, without direction, in an obvious rebellion against his father leads a dissolute life in Berlin only to be rebuked for his behavior and sent to a smaller city to study. He enrolls in English literature classes after hearing the lecture of a passionate professor discussing the world of Elizabethan theatre. Drawn to the professor, the narrator finds accommodations in the latter's home, eventually meeting the older man's wife. Tensions build, secrets are revealed and philosophies and memories shared.

Zweig, like many German men of letters has a philosophical and psychological approach to telling his tale. He was an early follower of Freud and ingested much of the insights of his Viennese contemporaries. This is a beautiful read. Zweig's works are a must and this one especially.

Brutally honest autobiographical confessions are stronger, and more important, than plain literature (plays, novels, poetry, etc.).

Zweig seems to have started his vocation as a profound biographer precisely with a tremendous autobiographical confession.

This is a great book, perhaps the best book Zweig wrote, and confirms my mission that the genre of total autobiography must be born: the true psychology.

This novella was listed among the top 100 novels of the 20th century by Le Monde, but it seems almost unknown in America. I read it in the translation by Eden and Cedar Paul, and was quite impressed with it. I don't want to spoil the plot for other readers, so I won't. I found it to be brilliant, although very old-fashioned (1927).

This short novel tells the story of a student who gets entangled in confusing sentiments between his professor, the professor's wife and himself.

Although the different players are well characterized, the plot is too evident and the final revelation not surprising.

This is not one of Stefan Zweig's most successful stories.