My Youth in Vienna
by Arthur Schnitzler
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Description
Memoir of student life, coffee-house intellectuals, and romantic experiences of the Austrian playwright during the last days of the Hapsburg Empire.Tags
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Member Reviews
I read this in January of 2000.
Reading this was an amazing experience. I certainly must commend his honesty, because this account of his youth spares nothing in showing him to be selfish, callous, self-centered and utterly lacking in compassion and empathy. His only true continuing interest seems to be in gratifying his ever-present lust, and his only qualm about it all is the fear of syphilis.
From the "Notes" and "Chronology" appended, I deduce that in his maturity he received numerous literary prizes and commendations. Perhaps his mature work expressed a different soul than the one recorded within.
Since he is not only dust, but is, in large measure, forgotten, I feel dreadfully sorry for him and take this whole memoir as a prime show more example of how NOT to live your life. show less
Reading this was an amazing experience. I certainly must commend his honesty, because this account of his youth spares nothing in showing him to be selfish, callous, self-centered and utterly lacking in compassion and empathy. His only true continuing interest seems to be in gratifying his ever-present lust, and his only qualm about it all is the fear of syphilis.
From the "Notes" and "Chronology" appended, I deduce that in his maturity he received numerous literary prizes and commendations. Perhaps his mature work expressed a different soul than the one recorded within.
Since he is not only dust, but is, in large measure, forgotten, I feel dreadfully sorry for him and take this whole memoir as a prime show more example of how NOT to live your life. show less
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Author Information
450+ Works 7,580 Members
Arthur Schnitzler, Viennese playwright, novelist, short story writer, and physician, was a sophisticated writer much in vogue in his time. He chose themes of an erotic, romantic, or social nature, expressed with clarity, irony, and subtle wit. Reigen, a series of ten dialogues linking people of various social classes through their physical desire show more for one another, has been filmed many times as La Ronde. As a Jew, Schnitzler was sensitive to the problems of anti-Semitism, which he explored in the play Professor Bernhardi (1913), seen in New York in a performance by the Vienna Burgtheater in 1968. Henry Hatfield calls Schnitzler "second only to Hofmannsthal among the Austrian writers of his generation and one of the most underrated of German authors... . He combined the naturalist's devotion to fact with the impressionist's interest in nuance; in other words, he told the truth" (Modern German Literature). In his most famous story, Lieutenant Gustl (1901), Schnitzler employs the stream-of-consciousness technique in an exposition of the follies and gradual disintegration of society in fin de siecle Vienna. Schnitzler has also been linked with Freud (see Vols. 3 and 5) and is credited with consciously introducing elements of modern psychology into his works. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Fischer Taschenbuch (16852)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- My Youth in Vienna
- Original title
- Jugend in Wien
- Original publication date
- 1968
- People/Characters
- Arthur Schnitzler
- Important places
- Vienna, Austria
- First words*
- In de Weens Praterstraße, destijds Jägerzeile* genaamd, op de derde verdieping van het huis naast Hotel Europe*, zag ik op 15 mei 1862 het levenslicht; en een paar uur later - mijn vader* heeft het me vaak verteld - lag ik ... (show all)een tijdje op zijn bureau.
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Daarmee is evenwel niet gezegd dat juist ik gerechtigd ben mij tot deze enkelingen te rekenen; maar hoe zou men eigenlijk moeten, of sterker nog, kunnen leven, scheppende arbeid verrichten en zich soms in het leven zelf verheugen, als men zich niet inbeeldde tot deze uitverkorenen te behoren?
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genre
- Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 832.809 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures German drama 1856-1899 History, description, critical appraisal of more than one author
- LCC
- PT2638 .N5 .Z8113 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures German literature Individual authors or works 1860/70-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 114
- Popularity
- 284,491
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.72)
- Languages
- 7 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 19
- ASINs
- 3
