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Beware of Pity | 
 enlarge | Author: Stefan Zweig
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £6.21
You Save: £2.78 (31%)
New (4) Used (3) from £6.21
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 29267
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 372
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1901285499
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781901285499
ASIN: 1901285499
Publication Date: November 28, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 A heart-breaking work of staggering genius July 7, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
...no, not the book by Dave Eggers, but this masterpiece by Stefan Zweig. I came upon this by accident, and bought it, intrigued by the story outline and the reviews below. Only very, very rarely does a book have the power to draw me into the lives of the characters, probably because they're usually just that - characters. Not so here. Here we have flesh and blood and all that entails. I'm still amazed at Zweig's story telling. He's the kind of writer who could make a shopping list fascinating. I lived and breathed every single word in this incredibly beautiful book, and as Nigel Rodgers has accurately said below, the tension becomes almost unendurable. I can hardly do justice to it in a few words. Weirdly, I often found myself smiling, not because it's a funny book, far from it, but just through an appreciation of Zweig's supreme mastery of his art. This is one of those books appearing only a few times in your life that wring emotion out of you whether you like it or not. A heart-breaking, unforgettable and life-enriching experience.
Kudos to Pushkin Press for publishing a very handsome new edition. I'd also like to praise the translation, too, by Trevor and Phyllis Blewitt. At no time is there even a hint that you're reading a translation - something that occurred to me only after finishing the book. On the contrary, it seems to me that the elegance of the language and all the magnificent virtues that contribute to Zweig's humanity and genius have been faithfully rendered. The proof is in my twin disappointments; coming to the end, and learning that there are no further full-length novels by Zweig. I'll definitely be reading all his other works, though.
Great Read March 14, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Beware of Pity is a book which all young people shoud read so that they do not have to say later on in their life that if only they have read the novel earlier. Although the book harks back to a period which would have seemed out of date even when the book first came out, it dwells on the eternal question about love and honour,about one's moral responsibility to other people, about self-interest and the interest of others. I do not think Zweig knows what the answer is himself. However, he does provide a book where private agonies are laid bare and allowed his readers to participate in the moral struggle of the protagonist. Greatly observed and perfectly constructed. It is more akin to the Russian novels of the 19th century than a book written just before the onset of the second world war.Like the Russian novels, one can see the intensity of moral and emotional turmoil. Seeing the hapless protagonist sliding helplessly into the trap he sets up for himself out of good intention and "pity" is similar to witnessing the proverbial car crash in slow motion. What horror.
Beware of this book - it is heart-breaking July 10, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Stefan Zweig is normally considered the supreme master of short stories. Here he shows almost equal mastery in a full-length novel so moving that it is almost painful to read to the end. Set in the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the very eve of the Great War - the fateful long summer of 1914 - it traces the one-sided affair between a young cavalry officer, who has most of the faults of his class but some unusual virtues too, and the crippled daughter of a local baron. The secret - and there are secrets within secrets in this book, which entraps the reader - is that she is Jewish as well as rich and (newly) aristocratic. The stumblings and foolishness of the young officer, the infurating if understandable pride of the girl, interact fatally.
The fact that millions are about to be killed in the Great War in no ways diminishes the pathos of her death. Be warned - this book could break your heart.
Black love and the heart's impatience April 30, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
An Austrian lieutenant becomes the victim of the strong emotions of a crippled young girl from a wealthy family, who takes his pity for love: 'the outcasts, the branded, the ugly, the withered, the despised and rejected love with a fanatical, a baleful, a black love.'
The lieutenant doesn't have the strength to cut the links with the girl and her family, partially because he is impressed by their wealth. He continues to give her hope, although he feels that 'anyone who identifies himself with the fate of another is robbed to some extent of his own freedom.'
He is warned against the poison of pity: 'if they were all to give way to their pity, the world would stand still ... You take on yourself a confounded amount of responsibility when you make a fool of another person with your pity ... for the weak, sentimental kind (of pity) is really no more than the heart's impatience to be rid of the painful emotion by the sight of another's unhappiness.'
His undecidedness creates a disaster, also for himself: 'No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.'
Stefan Zweig is the master of the unexpected U-turns, the eye opening revelations, the surprising upheavals, the passionate endgames, the arousing question marks. While he used his strengths in short novels and historical evocations, he shows here that he also was capable of using them in a longer work.
His insight in the basics of human nature is outstanding: 'Have you ever heard of logic prevailing against passion?'
This story is perhaps partially influenced by Theodor Fontane's 'Irrungen, Wirrungen'.
Not to be missed.
A wonderful novel in a fine presentation January 26, 2005
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I came to this book with some trepidation, firstly because it looked rather long and dense (long is fine, but long and dense maybe not) and secondly because the topic of a mistaken love affair is not really up my street. However, it was the January choice of my book group, so I had to read it. Within a few pages I was hooked. The novel, set in the Austro-Hungarian empire in the early part of the 20th century, tells the story of a young second lieutenant who finds himself embroiled in a relationship with a partly paralysed 17 year old girl. Her family encourage the relationship and it is only when it is too late that he discovers the girl's love for him and also the impossibility of breaking her heart at a time she is about to embark on a new course of medical treatment, so she can get better "just for him". The novel is not just about love, it is about obsession, guilt, and the way the expectations of others can so easily dominate our choices so that we act as others expect us rather than as we want to. It is interesting to view this story in the light of modern assertiveness training, because all the way through the reader can see that Toni, the young officer, is subjugating his own needs for the needs of someone to whom he has no obligations whatsoever - he is in fact ruled only by her fantasies and the expectations of her father and sister. The novel is remarkably suspenseful because the plot unfolds gradually and at each stage the reader cringes as the net of this sick love slowly ensnares him. It is full of strong characters: the doctor who treats the young woman and slowly enveigles Toni in her treatment regime; the old brutal colonel who turns out to be more wise than the other characters; the girls father who's whole life is a quest for his daughter's well-being. Different aspects of these characters are revealed as the novel slowly travels towards its inevitable conclusion and each one has a unique role in the ensnarement and ultimate release of the young officer. The novel is beautifully produced by Pushkin press - the clear typeface, fine paper and strong cover makes this a pleasure to read. Alas, this is Zweig's only novel and I was left thirsting for more from this fine writer.
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