The world of Yesterday Autobiography of Stefan Zweig Review
The world of Yesterday Autobiography of Stefan Zweig Review This was among the last books written by Stefan Zweig. He tells of the hi...
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The world of Yesterday Autobiography of Stefan Zweig Review
This was among the last books written by Stefan Zweig. He tells of the history of modern times via his life. In this book, we see the rise of youth culture, the rise of Hitler, the rise of the United Nation sentiment and Soviet Russia. What is interesting was that Stefan Zweig almost taken in by the communist ideologies. Like we all know, Stefan Zweig is an eternal pacifist. He had the hopes of one day seeing a European Union. In his generation, the blocks of this ideology where fermented. In any case, he did not want to visit Russia because he would be forced to be either for or against it.
It so happens that he was invited to celebrate ,with many other authors, the Birthday of Tolstoy. He knew the man's work and thus figures that this would not tie him to any political ideology. So, when he went there he found it hilarious the child like simplicity of the Russians. Overnight, the Russians went from the Dark Ages to the Modern era. They used to show off their electricity as if they had invented it themselves. It was a riot. All the comrades were really nice to Zweig.
However, one night he found a letter in his pocket. The letter told him that he was being watched. His phone was tabbed and there was like 500 KBG men trailing after him. Zweig noticed that he had never spoken to any Russian person alone. As it happens, the Russians where only allowed to say certain things. They had no right to individualized thoughts. Thus, that child like hospitality was a mask. No Russian person was allowed to think outside the communist box.
In this tale, we saw the foundation of all the communist regimes that where to come. Bureaucratic, Controlling, Materialistic, Heartless and Dehumanizing. Once outside, Zweig reserved his opinions about Soviet Russia. Still, that letter alone soured up his trip to Russia. He spent most of this trip looking over his shoulder. I still have not finished the book. The last chapter is the Hitler chapter. I am not looking forward to it... In any case, this is just a small taste of the wonders of this autobiography. We see all these important events through the lens of the best modern day biographer of his time. Truly, this autobiography deserves 5 star rating.
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