Journeys

When I am on a journey all ties suddenly fall away. I feel myself quite unburdened disconnected free - There is something in it marvellously uplifting and invigorating. Whole past epochs suddenly return: Nothing is lost everything still full of inception enticement. For the insatiably curious and ardent Europhile Stefan Zweig travel was both a necessary cultural education and a personal balm for the depression he experienced when rooted in one place for too long. He spent much of his life weaving between the countries of Europe visiting authors and friends exploring the continent in the heyday of international rail travel. Comprising a lifetimes observations on Zweigs travels in Europe this collection can be dipped into or savoured at length and paints a rich and sensitive picture of Europe before the second World War. Review ‘A fascinating glimpse into interwar Europe that still feels fresh today.’ - The Lady‘[The pieces] blend travel writing with a journalistic dedication.’ - Pendora MagazineZweigs accumulated historical and cultural studies [are] almost too impressive to take in.- Clive James Review Zweigs accumulated historical and cultural studies [are] almost too impressive to take in. --Clive James About the Author Stefan Zweig was one of the most popular and widely translated writers of the early twentieth century. Born into an Austrian-Jewish family in 1881 he became a leading figure in Viennas cosmopolitan cultural world and was famed for his gripping novellas and vivid psychological biographies. In 1934 following the Nazis rise to power Zweig fled Austria first for England where he wrote his famous novel Beware of Pity then the United States and finally Brazil. It was here that he completed his acclaimed autobiography The World of Yesterday a lament for the golden age of a Europe destroyed by two world wars. The articles and speeches in Messages from a Lost World were written as Zweig a pacifist and internationalist witnessed this destruction and warned of the threat to his beloved Europe. On 23 February 1942 Zweig and his second wife Lotte were found dead following an apparent double suicide. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Season in Ostend The season in Ostend signifies a colourful and unbroken alternation of festivals and public events. For all who frequent this the largest and most elegant among the Belgian coastal resorts the motivation officially at least is that which otherwise incites most people to visit bathing resorts: the need for peace and relaxation. The person who through the course of a year has the sense of being dragged through the stimulating and thrilling round of metropolitan pleasures who feels the pulse of life and all their resilience stretched to the limit and is one might say bloated with culture and refinement becomes accustomed to profiting from summer weeks of harmonious relaxation in the calm contemplation of nature cut off from these energies. But for the clientele of Ostend it’s different. For them this summer halt is not a rest a chance to switch off on the contrary it’s only another shining link in the endless chain of society distractions an ersatz for the broiling boulevards of the metropolis for their theatres their festivals their gardens which summer renders unapproachable. Little by little Ostend has become the unofficial rendezvous-location for the real and bogus aristocracy that one sees floating like a spume above the waves of capitals everywhere encountering and recognising itself and for whom a home-town is merely a station in transit from which they seek to reach the great international centres of pleasure. Ostend shelters these welcome guests in high summer from July to the last days of August. One could speak copiously and endlessly of these days without ever evoking by a single word th