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A review by michareads
Bloemen in de sneeuw by Gregor von Rezzori
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
A mesmerising memoir that captures the zeitgeist of the collapse of the pluriforme Danube monarchy and the turbulent years that follow, through the lives of his nuclear family.
The cyclical narrative style, heavy prose and continual use of abstract concepts clearly taken from the 'ideenraum' of continental philosophy sometimes makes for a challenging read.
It's a book I had to grow into, but I was rewarded in the end. I have learned to love it as a beautiful and tender personal counterpart to Stefan Zweigs grander 'The World of Yesterday'.
The cyclical narrative style, heavy prose and continual use of abstract concepts clearly taken from the 'ideenraum' of continental philosophy sometimes makes for a challenging read.
It's a book I had to grow into, but I was rewarded in the end. I have learned to love it as a beautiful and tender personal counterpart to Stefan Zweigs grander 'The World of Yesterday'.
(Disclaimer: I read the book in Dutch, in a quite literral word-to-word translation. I read a sample of the English translation and it was a lot friendlier due to necessary sentence restructuring.)