Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman

I read most of ‘Twenty-four Hours in the Life of a Woman’ in the bath and it was an excellent accompaniment to soaking. As with previous novellas and short stories of Zweig’s that I’ve read, the narrator is relating an anecdote of some emotional intensity in which he himself plays only a small part. Here, the narrator is staying in a hotel when a woman confides in him a shameful secret from her past. The woman’s rather anguished voice is vivid and moving, giving this novella more impact than [b:Chess Story|59151|Chess Story|Stefan Zweig|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924796s/59151.jpg|57593] in my opinion.

What I particularly liked would probably spoil it, however. The dramatic twenty-four hours the woman spent two show more decades before were occupied with a beautiful young man addicted to gambling, who she tried and failed to save. Her sudden, intense obsession with this youth is nothing so simple as lust or even romantic love, although there are elements of both. She seems determined to have a meaningful, positive impact on someone who is terribly at risk of destroying himself. Thus I felt Zweig inverted the theme of an older, wealthier man saving a young, vulnerable woman from herself very neatly and showed such saviours as fallacies. The woman cannot offer a miracle cure for the youth’s gambling compulsion. He returns to the roulette tables and she is stricken with horror to find him there, in the most powerful scene in the story. Zweig seems to deliberately eschew simple moral judgements in his writing, and this is no exception. I had every sympathy for the woman, and the fact she felt ashamed of her actions for so long only underscores how limited women’s lives were in the late nineteenth century. Impulsiveness was considered highly suspect and inappropriate, which Zweig demonstrates is stifling.

In short, another beautifully written Zweig novella with a very pretty Pushkin Press binding. The painting on the cover implies more raciness than the book contains, though! show less

Can a woman forget all her values and morals and throw herself into an affair without guilt or remorse? Can she go against her character and do something so incredibly spontaneous to which others question her actions and she questions her actions as well? It's the story of what can happen in 24 hours in the life of a woman.

Zweig takes us through an incredible and emotional journey in this novella. We are the ones debating in the hotel garden, we are the ones walking through the casino observing the hand movements of players, we are the ones under the rain. Because Zweig manages to make of us a character; the observer.

Truly marvelous and a great way to come back to Zweig after enjoying Pitie dangereuse (Beware of Pity) so long ago. I show more will not again let so much time pass before I read another Zweig. show less

This story within a story begins at a guesthouse on the French Riviera, where a scandal has just erupted: two of the guests, a seemingly respectable wife and mother and an attractive young stranger have fled together after speaking together for just a few hours. There is a raging debate among the guests about the morality of the situation. Should the woman be seen as a pariah, or were her motives of the heart pardonable? In this early 20th century setting, most of the guests believe the woman has committed an unspeakable act, but the narrator, a single man, doesn't think so. Mrs C, a respectable, white-haired English woman in her 60s, after a brief exchange with him, decides she must come clean about her past and proceeds to tell him a show more story from her younger days, when, within a 24-hour period she let her carefully constructed world of proper widowhood fall to pieces for stranger with a death wish. She had met the stranger in question at a casino, where she spent the evening observing the hands of the players and was taken in by his in particular—the most expressive she'd ever seen. Fascinated, she watches the stranger lose a huge sum of money, then, when he gives every sign that he has decided to do away with himself, she comes to his rescue and falls into a vortex of passion for which her life as a proper English lady had not prepared her: "Perhaps only those who are strangers to passion know such sudden outbursts of emotion in their few passionate moments ... whole years fall from one's own breast with the fury of powers left unused." But can one really expect true love and dedication from an addict? Another very short novel (around 100 pages) by Zweig filled to the brim with timeless human drama. Strongly recommended. show less

Story follows a woman's memory through 24 hours. She is an English widow who never forgot her mourning. She becomes hypnotized by a Polish diplomat one evening in Monte Carlo. He is suicidal and addicted to gambling. And also younger than her. Very unlikely pair of a secure woman and risky man. Some amazing quotes:
"Such a denial of the obvious fact that at certain times in her life a woman is delivered up to mysterious powers beyond her own will and judgment, I said, merely concealed fear of our own instincts, of the demonic element in our nature, and many people seemed to take pleasure in feeling themselves stronger, purer, and more moral than those who are 'easily led astray'."
"Perhaps only those who are strangers to passion know such show more sudden outbursts of emotion in their few passionate moments ... whole years fall from one's own breast with the fury of powers left unused."

Not every 24 hours last the same. This book is a masterpiece and a great example of how the novellas should be written. show less

Passion. It’s a word that gets bandied about a lot these days. People tell prospective employers that they’re passionate about their work; others say that they are passionate about their hobbies, their sport or their gardens. But true passion, as Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) shows in this neat little novella, is a kind of madness. If you’ve been lucky enough to fall passionately in love, you know what I mean. Nobody would want an employee who really was passionate about accounting, or teaching, or driving a train.

Once again a small pensione is the setting for strangers to come together; this time it’s on the Riviera, where an unusual incident triggers a confessional narrative from a very old lady. On the spur of the moment an show more otherwise respectably married woman with children runs away with a very recently arrived handsome young man, and amongst the guests there is indignation and outrage. They are convinced she must have known him beforehand and had been having a covert affair. The narrator, irritated by their judgementalism, plays devil’s advocate, and provokes consternation by saying that he thought that such a hasty passion was possible. This is the catalyst for the old lady to take him into her confidence, unburdening herself of a secret that has tormented her for most of her life.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/13/twenty-four-hours-in-the-life-of-a-woman-by-... show less

Curiously old-fashioned and melodramatic, it felt like the product of 1877 rather than 1927...

ROTATIVA - PLAZA&JANES
Una señora inglesa, con hijos mayores, se ve irresistiblemente atraída por la desesperación de un joven jugador de ruleta, con el que liga su existencia durante unas horas. Esta es la línea argumental de Veinticuatro horas de la vida de una mujer, obra que contiene una sorprendente descripción de la metamorfosis de dos manos que se agitan sobre el tapete verde de una mesa de juego. En esta breve obra, mundialmente famosa, y recientemente llevada a la pantalla, el arte de Etefan Zweig consigue uno de sus más exquisitos triunfos.