Over rated, a good read but not the great literature that it's feted to be.

Not a review, just to note that this is a translation of Fontane's "Irrungen, Wirrungen". Most other translations are closer to the original German with titles such as "Confusions, Delusions" or "Trials and Tribulations". "On tangled paths" seems quite a free translation of the title !

I couldn't find any reviews of this book before I read it. I am surprised that it seems to be so forgotten and ignored since it is a masterpiece, albeit you could almost treat it as a collection of short stories around a theme. At 600 pages of small print it's fairly long, yet it doesn't provide the narrative of a typical novel. Each of the short chapters (say an average of 6 pages = 100 chapters) gives a vignette of the war or its impact on civilian life. As I read, I was waiting for the individual stories to tie up and meld together, but this doesn't happen and what you get instead is a stunning kaleidoscopic panorama of the American Civil War from all viewpoints.

You've found one of the best books written - now read it !

An extremely well written book - Zweig captures people's emotions and feelings so simply and yet accurately. The storyline is described rather overtly on the NYRB backcover. I wonder if Zweig intended a third part ? and the second half rather foreshadows his own life in Brazil.