The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth) | Joseph Roth

The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth) | Joseph Roth | The Radetzky March an honorable mention

books:

The Radetzky March...

	The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth) Joseph Roth Overlook TP, 2002 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The Radetzky March, Joseph Roth's classic saga of the privileged von Trotta family, encompasses the entire social fabric of the Austro-Hungarian Empire just before World War I. The author's greatest achievement, The Radetzky March is an unparalleled portrait of a civilization in decline, and as such, a universal story for our times.

Helpful hint

I have little to add to the helpful reviews here but just wish to inform readers:

Michael Hoffman's superb translation is now available in the US - ASIN 1862076057 - and is the best translation of this wonderful work.

for more information click here

The Radetzky March an honorable mention

I bought two books of the Radetkzy March. Although seen and written through the eyes of a Jewish writer, it is a befitting memorial to one of the imortal pieces of music written about the multinational monarchy of one of Europe's great powers. At least for me, it evoked the days of the grand Habsburg power that sadly ended with an insane Serbian assassin. Lately the world got a taste of Serbian nationalism which provided the death knell to an empire of multinational cohesion. I hope in this case, history will not repeat itself.

Three and a half stars

I would highly recommend this book if you are (like me) fascinated with the decline of the Habsburg dynasty during WWI. However, I would not be as eager to do so if you were not. Roth's powers of description and detail are superb to say the least and this allows him to perfectly capture the pessimism and slow decline of Austria Hungary before the war, yet his lack of effective dialog and heavy handed symbols and allusions really hurt this work from a pure literary perspective.
Roth's magnificent eye for setting and some truly amazing scenes depicting the emperor Franz Josef, and the state of the Austrian army make this a must read for those interested in the period

for more information click here

Wanted to like it more

I can't put my finger on why this book just seemed average to me. The writing is clear and easy to read. The descriptions are detailed, but not overly so. The characters are fully-fleshed and interesting. The plot is engrossing. So why didn't I like it more? I don't know. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I can't identify with life in a monarchy and I can't stomach the pampered, entitled lifestyle of people who don't deserve such wealth and leisure.

Regardless of all that, I did find it interesting that Roth depicted gambling addiction so accurately (or at least as I imagine it to be) long before anyone recognized it as such.

While I occasionally felt sorry for the characters, by the end I was just happy to be finished and that I would no longer have to linger in their world.

for more information click here

So-So as Literature - Great as History

No better portrait of the German martial psyche leading up to WWI. The depth of the characters was amazing and the historical detail kept me reading.

Still, tough to get through this sort of multi-generational saga. I have the same reaction to Thomas Mann. Probably a better read in the original German.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

products you might be interested in