Book cover of Beware of Pity

Book description

Wes Anderson on Stefan Zweig: "I had never heard of Zweig...when I just more or less by chance bought a copy of Beware of Pity. I loved this first book. I also read the The Post-Office Girl. The Grand Budapest Hotel has elements that were sort of stolen from both…


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Why read it?

1 author picked Beware of Pity as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

First published in German in 1939, I find this book still relevant to our time. One lesson I have learned is to examine my feelings toward those who are less fortunate. Other than feeling a sense of pity, how else should I react? The book makes me think about whether our pity as an outsider really helps or whether this feeling only serves as a defense mechanism that helps relieve our guilty feelings over living a life of abundance and security.

Hofmiller, the main protagonist of the book experiences such a moral dilemma: should he do more for a young…

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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