Beware of Pity

Zweig was one of the world’s best known and respected authors in the 1920s and 1930s. The burning of his books by the Nazis, and the subsequent changes in taste after the war have relegated most of his books to an undeserved obscurity. As a personal friend of Freud (Zweig gave the eulogy at Freud’s funeral), he understood brilliantly how to portray the psychological state of his characters. This novel is particularly rich in that regard, as the main character finds himself facing a series of moral and spiritual choices he is ill-prepared to make. In an attempt to apologize for a social mistake (unintentionally insulting his host’s daughter at a party), he finds himself ever more absorbed into the life and concerns of this family. Every time he’s faced with a difficult choice, he gives way to his emotions, and invariably makes matters worse. Zweig’s original title, «Impatience of the Heart,» aptly describes Toni Hofmiller’s problem: he ignores logic and discretion to follow his feelings. We all live in a society that tends to view human emotions as the most important factor in human interaction. Zweig’s genius lies to demonstrating for us what a questionable assumption that is. One of the finest novels I’ve ever read (and that’s saying something).