Beware of Pity (European Classics) - Softcover

Zweig, Stefan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810113309 ISBN 13: 9780810113305

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 1996

Synopsis

After Thomas Mann, Stefan Zweig was perhaps the most well-known and widely read author writing in German before the Nazi period. Beware of Pity was written in Zweig's London exile in 1938, and although it is above all a psychological novel whose tragedy unfolds in the private realms, Zweig's humanistic perspective provides a commentary on the larger historical and political situation.

The main action is set in 1914 in the months leading up to World War I. Anton Hofmiller, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, consents to marry Edith, the crippled daughter of a wealthy local family. Immediately regretting his assent, remorseful yet refusing responsibility, he denies the news of his engagement to his comrades. His weakness of character and his selfish, superficial pity for Edith drive the woman to commit suicide and break her father's heart.

About this title

About the Author

Stefan Zweig was born in 1881 in what then was Austria-Hungary and committed suicide with is wife in Brazil in 1942 after being forced to flee Nazi-held Europe. Before his books were banned by the Nazis, his biographies, plays, stories, and his only novel, Beware of Pity, established his reputation as one of the most widely read and translated authors in the world. 

Phyllis and Trevor Blewitt's translations include Alfred Döblin's Men without Mercy.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0810113309
• ISBN 13: 9780810113305
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 353