Noteworthy Novels

 As somebody who loves literature, and teaches it, moreover, one reads countless texts. What Shakespeare said about greatness applies to literary texts as well. Some are born great. Such texts do not need any concerted effort by any criticism mafia to inflate them. They may not even be fashionably 'modern' in ideation or genre-wise. 

Yet such is their simple but genuine allure that they stay with you forever. Such are the writings by the Austrian author, Stefan Zweig. His long short stories, his novellas, and his novels are simply unforgettable.The milieu they explore is Austrian, and yet everywhere. The characters who people his works are not wonky or weird, unlike the contemporaneous novels in the modernist mode.

Still these unique personalities and their vivid, realistic stories live with you forever. In a way, this kind of abiding realism, during the high tide of literary modernism of the 30's and the 30's, is in itself noteworthy. Zweig, equally well-known as a committed student of historical personas and periods, inevitably uses realism. Yet his texts resonate with the lyricism of life itself.

Great are all his texts. Truly unforgettable are his 'Collection of Short Stories', his novella entitled 'Letter from an unknown woman' and one of the greatest novels in  the whole world, 'Beware of Pity'. They show his ability to explore the psychological complexities that weave the fabric called life.

Be it the young kid who wages a psychological warfare with a womaniser trying to tempt his mom, be it the passionate beloved  writing an ardent letter literally from the deathbed to her hero who hardly knew that she existed for him alone, or be it the much decorated army 'knight' who knows his soul destroying cowardice, Zweig's characters  and their tales are simply unforgettable. 

In an academy and a publishing industry fashionably obsessed with that bandwagon called the post-colonial, not many would even know Stephan Zweig's intense, human(e) wor(l)ds. Yet his brilliant texts enriched with infinite empathy are the true slice of life. No wonder, most of his literary writings have managed to transform themselves in to interesting films, a rare feat indeed! How I wish I could get a chance to translate Zweig's texts in to Marathi and Hindi so that a great treasure unfurls in front of the Indian readers.

Pratima@ Some texts are indeed born great. They do not need to be made so by the admiring bog of bards!