Encounters and Destinies: A Farewell to Europe
Encounters and Destinies: A Farewell to Europe
By Stefan Zweig
Translated by Will Stone
"Encounters and Destinies . . . capture(s) a special moment in modern European culture, caught for posterity on the eve of catastrophe."—The Jewish Chronicle
"Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies [are] almost too impressive to take in."—Clive James
Stefan Zweig was a born eulogist. In this collection of powerful elegies, homages and personal memories, Zweig forms a richly interconnected portrait of key creative figures in the European cultural diaspora up to 1939. Many of those mourned or celebrated here cast a long spiritual shadow over Zweig’s own writing life: Verhaeren, Rolland, Nietzsche, Roth, Mahler, Rilke and Freud.
Zweig’s farewells, souvenirs and declarations of gratitude demonstrate his ardent pan-Europeanism and rich friendships across borders. Elegant and haunting, these tributes are a monument to his reverence for the arts and his belief in the sacredness of individualism.
Paperback
256 pages
Pushkin Press, 2020
5.1 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
ISBN 9781782273462
Literature, Historical Essays, Travel