Malevolent Muse: The Life of Alma Mahler

The reason I requested this book, a biography of Alma Mahler was the description of her in the overview. Specifically "Her detractors saw her as a self aggrandizing social climber, a boozy, bigoted, vengeful harlot - or as one contemporary put it, "She was a grande dame and at the same time a cesspool." To put it mildly she was all those things and then some. The author did a really excellent job in his research of this narcissistic spoiled woman. I cannot see how anyone in their right mind would find her attractive as she was really not that physically attractive and had such a unearned over inflated opinion of herself. Her level of antisemitism was astounding and yet she managed to attract two Jewish husbands whom she tortured with show more her unfaithfulness and vile attitude. It has been said she was attracted to, and attracted genius's, but the 'genius's' she had relationships with were say to put it mildly, weirdos, especially the artist Kokoschka. Frankly if she had not had money she would have been nothing. I think if she were a modern woman of today she would have turned out to be a corporate raider, or some kind of female version of Bernie Madoff (and probably in prison). The only thing it seems that Alma Mahler seems to have accomplished in life was the act of torturing and hurting others while always playing the victim. Despite her disgusting character I found the book interesting and I came away with a better understanding of early nineteenth century Europe and the life style of the times. Recommended. show less

Malevolent Muse was published in 2004 in German. This 2015 English translation does have a new Prologue by Oliver Hilmes wherein he goes into great detail about his sources for Alma's biography. Everything is meticulously researched and noted. After I finished the book, I reread the Prologue to make sure of his sources.

Because anyone who reads this biography is in for a rude awakening about Alma Mahler. She was not just malevolent; she was a monster revealed through her own words. Hilmes speculates that she may have suffered from "hysteria". "The constant vacillation between emotional frigidity and erotic extravagance; an inclination toward coquetry with a concurrent disinclination toward physical closeness; the pronounced tendency show more toward theatrical and frequently inappropriate posing; the toying with thoughts of suicide as well as the total inability to endure criticism." (pp11-12). In her dealings with other people, from her family to lovers to friends, Alma needed to be worshipped from anear.

It is a harsh diagnosis, but at least it explains Alma's excessive actions. While Mahler is dying she is writing passionate letters to Walter Gropius and signing them, "your bride." For propriety's sake she breaks with Gropius while she is in mourning for Mahler. This does not stop her from beginning a erotic relationship with the artist Oskar Kokoschka while secretly engaged to Gropius. Alma, until she was too old to be appealing, managed to keep more than one man on a string. She did not divorce Gropius until she was assured of Werfel, and even then she could not let go of Kokoschka. And the real tragedy is that once she became the lover of these men, she fell out of love very quickly, bored with her situation. All these incidents are noted in her candid diaries and in letters.

Her relationship with her family is just as bad. She adored her father who died when she was 13 and hated her mother who was an unfaithful wife passing off her second child as her husband's, when, in fact, the girl was Carl Moll's daughter. This did not stop Alma from using her mother as a go-between for her extra-marital affair with Gropius. Alma's relations with her own children were broken. She considered Anna Mahler, her oldest surviving daughter, flawed because of her Jewish blood. When 17 year old Manon Gropius was dying as a result of polio, Alma put "the patient on exhibition like a monstrance." Alma even arranged a deathbed engagement to the son of her professor of moral theology who saw it as a career boost. As Alma wept beside her dying child, Manon's last words were "You'll get over it, the way you get over everything."

The most shocking aspect of Alma, for me, was her anti-Semitism. Her rationale for her marriages to two Jews was that she was driving the Jewishness out of them. She consistently berated them with vile statements about their heritage. She would belittle Werfel when he challenged her Holocaust denial. Nor did she mellow in her old age; when she was diagnosed with diabetes she refused treatment because diabetes was a Jewish disease so she could not possibly have it.

I am as much at a loss as Hilmes about why Alma would be considered the inspiration for so many brilliant, creative people. Mahler did not want her around when he composed and she admitted often that she did not understand or even like his music. That did not stop her from riding the pony of his reputation as long as she lived. She could be considered a driving force behind Franz Werfel since she pushed for him to write more and more, but that was because she wanted the money while he was a bohemian at heart and would have been just as satisfied to eke out the odd novel and poem. Kokoschka did create some wonderful paintings with her as the subject so that may be counted as an inspiration, even though their relationship was less than healthy..

I expected a biography of Alma to show why she was so fascinating to so many of the geniuses of her age and I read an entirely different, absorbing book. And that is my one quibble with this work. Hilmes fails to explain to me WHY this woman, so twisted and destructive, could enthrall people to this day. He suggests reasons, her eroticism, her cruel wit, her fabulous parties, but they are a molehill to the mountain of her flaws.

This is a engrossing book about an anti-heroine who created her own legend. Highly recommended. show less

It’s always fascinating to read about a woman who achieved fame by being a muse to someone of renowned talent. One can’t help but wonder, was it merely being at the right place at the appropriate time? Was she sacrificing her own career to support her husband, lover, or dear friend? And when does a woman cease to be simply a loyal supporter and earn the esteemed title of “muse”?

Labeling Alma (Schindler) Mahler a muse is even more of a mystery. She inspired both love and hate amongst her peers. Based on the documented sources presented in this book, she was described as everything from a femme fatale and sex crazed circe- the most beautiful woman in Vienna- to a self-aggrandized social climber… a boozy, bigoted, vengeful show more harlot, and “a grande dame and at the same time a cesspool.” And after reading "Malevolent Muse" one can attest that she was all of those things.

It is very much a conundrum that a person with such a narcissistic, self-centered, and narrow-minded personality could possibly be a muse to anyone. If you are at all curious, you may find this book entertaining.

The lack of her own personal achievement does not detract from the substance of the biography or the quality of the writing. Aside from details of Alma’s own personal life, "Malevolent Muse" enlightens the reader of the cultural and social attitudes prevalent in Austria in the early 1900s. The story of Alma and her third husband Franz Werfel’s escape from the hands of the Nazi’s is gripping. And despite the fact that two of her three husbands were Jewish, it is astonishing to learn she was an avid, outspoken, Nazi sympathizer. Malevolent muse indeed.

Along with a collection of photographs and the citing of his extensive list of sources, the author did a magnificent job of documenting Alma’s life using excerpts from her personal diaries and letters. show less

Born in 1879 and living until 1964, Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel lived a long life. She lived through two world wars, outlasted two husbands (Mahler and Werfel), divorced another one (Gropius), was constantly unfaithful, drank too much, was a virulent anti-Semite despite marrying two Jewish men and having affairs with many more, was emotionally abusive to pretty much every one around her- especially her husbands, lovers, and children-, thought Hitler had kind eyes, was self-deluded and self-aggrandizing, was a great fan of the arts, and was greedy. Yet men of genius flocked to her. Painters, writers, composers, architects, sculptors, conductors, politicians, and more all became lovers or friends. And to be either of those show more things, you had to be a vocal admirer. Any criticism of her and she was an enemy. So what did this woman have that other women didn’t? I confess that I am no closer to understanding that I was before reading the book.

She was physically attractive, but not exceptionally so. She knew how to decorate a house and to throw a party. She had composed a few songs described as ‘slight’ before meeting Mahler, who put an end to her composing Apparently she must have been a good conversationalist, to have interested so many people. A number of her lovers remained attracted to her long after their affairs were over- was she that good in bed?

Was she a muse? Mahler, Gropius and Werfel were all pretty well along in their careers when she met them, so they didn’t need to her create. Werfel wrote a large number of plays and books after becoming Alma’s husband, but part of that is because she demanded that he support her in the style to which she was accustomed. To do most of his writing, he most often fled to another city until he was finished with the project- those long separations may possibly be why their marriage lasted so long.

It’s a mystery. I was rather revolted by the picture of Alma that emerged from the book. Hilmes’s research is impeccable; he waded through boxes of correspondence and diaries. Alma kept a rather thorough record of her life and relationships, although she self-censored it at some point. That she destroyed some diaries and letters is probably a good thing; as it was, her memoir, ‘En Leben’ was so full of sex that it was sold from under bookstore counters like pornography (bearing in mind that this was 1959). Her story is interesting-Alma and Werfel’s escape from Europe as Hitler’s armies took over was enough to make me hold my breath- but most of the book moves very slowly. Because of her character, I can’t say I really enjoyed the book. Just as I thought she couldn’t get any worse, she’d do or say something unforgivable. And yet, so many in her life forgave her constantly. show less

Oliver Hilmes has done a truly remarkable job digging into the life of Alma. However, I wish he would've chosen a less despicable person to do so. (Though who says who should investigate something?!?) Alma seems to have had nothing much going for her except for her money (average looks, terribly bigoted, probably looked like a "fun" girl at a party, all surface), and her telling you about how wonderful she was. People like this make me want to run in the other direction, and were it not for Hilmes' writing, I would've dropped this book early on. I think that says a lot. I requested this book because I love classical music, and I'm trying to read more biographies of composers and the people in their lives. And all I can say is "Wow". A show more muse, I certainly couldn't call her, but clearly several men were drawn to her like a moth to a flame. A truly interesting portrait of a truly terrible woman, I'd only recommend it with caution. Still, kudos to Oliver Hilmes! show less

Alma Mahler, or, to be more exact, Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel, is both a fascinating and a difficult subject for a biographer. A number of full-length treatments have preceded Hilmes's effort to capture Alma Mahler's elusive magnetism, but Hilmes's book is the first that I have read. I have encountered Alma Mahler many times in second-hand fashion, in reading about Gustav Mahler, Thomas Mann, or any one of a number of her glittering circle of acquaintances and lovers, but I was looking forward to reading a work devoted to this woman who clearly fascinated so many brilliant minds in her time.

To say that she presents a difficult subject seems somewhat of an understatement. Not only is Alma frequently unlikeable, bearing as she show more does variously sympathies with Nazi ideology, cruel actions toward family and friends, and frequently manipulative behavior (in Hilmes's telling), but it is also clearly difficult to keep the narrative focused on Alma when she is surrounded by such important personalities. Obviously, there will be much intimate overlap, as Mahler, Gropius, and Werfel were not only part of Alma's circle but of her family as well. I do feel, however, that, especially in the case of Mahler, Hilmes tends to get a bit bogged down in detailing minutia of the great composer's career while losing a bit of the thread of Alma's existence during these years.

Having read the most about Alma's relationship with Mahler prior to reading this work, I found the sections regarding her relationship with Franz Werfel and her later life to be more engaging than those regarding her years with Gustav Mahler. Hilmes treads a fine line, when engaging words like "hysterical" when referring to Alma Mahler and her often peculiar behavior, but he presents a convincing picture of her emotional ups and downs, making frequent and effective references to personal letters, journal entries, etc. One of the other challenges, of course, for a biographer of Alma Mahler, is the pre-existing published record. Alma crafted her public image carefully and published an account of her years with Mahler that paints her in a certain light. It is up to the modern biographer to sift through this careful process of persona-building to emerge with a clearer picture of the actual state of affairs. Has Hilmes done this? Perhaps. This book certainly appears to be well-researched and more than competently crafted to present us with a picture of a woman who is far from perfect, infinitely complex, and continually captivating.

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Group. show less

"Malevolent Muse: The Life of Alma Mahler" by Oliver Hilmes (translated by Donald Arthur).

Readers find a lofty statement on the book's first page: "I should like to do a great deed."
So spoke Alma Schindler in 1898.

A ten page prologue introduces her. What follows in this account of her life is, rather than a celebration of great deeds, reports of many interactions that fall within the dictionary definition of malevolent: " intense ill-will,spite, wishing harm to others."

Of all her judgements perhaps the most bizarre is speaking of Hitler's "kindly, soft eyes...a young frightened face." She considered reports of concentration camps "horror stories...fabrications put out by the refugees" and said, "the Nazis, after all, had done a great show more many praiseworthy things."

The book's many pictures truly enrich the text. A gleeful child (p.15), a stylish senior (p. 214), and a haughty profile (p.102) are prelude to her passport picture (p. 210).

Alma Mahler died Dec. 11, 1964. "Mommy has just died." is how her daughter Anna informed her friends. She had been an unusual mother, a serial wife/mistress, an inspiration and an exasperation.The book's Epilogue includes a Tom Lehrer song followed by a bibliography and a Name Index.. show less