In short, this novel mirrors large-scale historical events on a small scale: the decline of a family going hand in hand with that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was written in 1932, some time after the end of said empire in 1918.
Since last year marked the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, the year the novel ends, it would have been a very fitting read in 2014. But it still had the same fascination and I still learned a lot from it about those times just before the beginning of the Great War by reading it now.
The novel accompanies Carl Joseph von Trotta through his relatively short life, from the time he starts his military education at the age of seven (as was the custom in families who had the financial possibility and standing in society to send their male offspring to military schools) until he dies - in military action, yes, but, strangely enough, with two buckets of water in his hands, and almost a hero.
By referring to Carl Joseph's father and grandfather - and occasionally going back even further - the book actually spans the von Trottas' family history for three generations. We get to know Carl Joseph's fater quite well; in some ways, nearly better than his son, especially towards the end of the story. The day of the old servant's death was, for me, one of the most touching parts of the novel.
I am not going to tell you too much about the story, but really want to recommend reading it to everyone, hoping that the English translation you may be able to come across will live up to the German original. The author is one of the best, language-wise, I have ever read. His style is special and ranges from reporting the facts to painting a complete picture of a situation, a person or a place with just a few precise and elegant pen strokes. I wish more authors would have the talent to write like he did!
Saldy, there are some parallels between Carl Joseph and his author. Joseph Roth died way too young, too; like his novel character, he was an alcoholic, and from what I have read about his life, he was lonely and unhappy for much of it.
You can read more about the novel here, and more about the author here (both links lead to wikipedia articles).
O my, your sister really is trying to educate you and encourage to some more high-brow reading than you usually write about here. I love Joseph Roth too; would it have been easier to start with some of his Meistererzaehlungen?
ReplyDeleteI know - for someone who was originally trained as a Librarian, my reading is very low-brow at times... This was my first Joseph Roth, but I think it won't be the last. I love his style of writing very much.
DeleteI am rather perplexed. Of course I know the Radetzky March as a Johann Strauss composition but when I read your post the name Roth also meant something but I can't for the life of me place it. I've certainly not read Joseph Roth's novel. Ah well. These things are sent to perplex us I suppose. It reminded me that I really must make time to watch Heimat again some time. I think part of education should be to watch things from the other person's point of view. I suppose because I spent quite a lot of time with German friends in Berlin I already had some understanding but Heimat had quite a profound effect on me when I first saw it.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know about Joseph Roth, his perspective was always that of an Austrian with Jewish background, even though he spent a lot of time in Germany. And of course Austria and Germany are neighbours, so what happens in one country usually affects the other.
DeleteLife in Berlin, though, must be as different from life in a small village (as described in Heimat) as it can be.
Yes, education should enable us to, at least occasionally, leave our own perspective behind and view things differently.
So interesting! I've ordered an inexpensive pb because the Kindle for the English one is too expensive. But it sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI am sure that you'll find a lot of interesting bits in Joseph Roth's writing because of your Hungarian family background, Kristi.
DeleteThat sounds like a really interesting book. I often find that translations read in a wooden and clunky way, I'm struggling with a terrible translation of Banana Yashimoto's "Kitchen" which I can tell must be a wonderful book but not if it is translated so that the narrator sounds like an American high school kid!!
ReplyDeleteI am very sensitive to translations, too, Jenny. That is why I prefer reading books in English if they were originally written in English, and in German if that is their original language. Of course it is not always possible, for instance when I come across a Swedish author, or a French one; I don't speak Swedish, and my French is not good enough for an entire book.
DeleteI do recognize the name Joseph Roth but don't think I actually ever read anything by him...Just went to Amazon to check and found it available in German for Kindle for just $1.71. I keep telling myself I should read more in German, to keep up the language, so that price was too good to resist. Whether I'll ever get round to actually reading it is another question, though!
ReplyDeleteIt is very, very good German if you want to use this book to keep up the language, so I'm all for you reading it in its orginial language if possible. I'd like to know how you perceive this book when you'll get around to reading it.
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