The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth)
by Joseph Roth
List Price:
Our Price: $8.95
You Save: $8.00 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.04 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Joseph RothEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-08-01
ISBN: 1585673269
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Overlook TP
Book Reviews of The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth)
Book Review: "The lamps are going out all over Europe;
Summary: 5 Stars
...we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime." The subject quote, perhaps apocryphal, is attributed to the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey, on the eve of World War I. Grey was a harbinger for the immense changes that would be wrought by this conflict; perhaps none were greater than for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for which the lights would never be lit again, in one lifetime, or an infinity of them. Joseph Roth, who was a Jewish member of that empire, has written an excellent novel depicting life over the last 55 years of its existence, largely using the rise and fall of the Trotta family to accomplish this. During all these years one man, Franz Joseph, ruled over this amalgamation of ethnic groups, and he is depicted throughout. It was the assassination of the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was the proximate cause to the world conflict. The balance of power between the major European countries, that had maintained the peace on that continent for 100 years, unraveled, as the "logic of war" became the motive force, and the alliances, and, of course, "honor," dragged all the
European powers, and America as well, into a savage war that would take the lives of 20 million.
Roth has written a beautiful, complex, wryly ironic, and elegiac novel of the A-H Empire in decline. The novel's title is derived from a military band piece written by Johann Strauss to honor Joseph Radetzky, one of Austria's preeminent military heroes, whose long career spanned from the Napoleonic Wars to the Italian wars of Independence. The piece is repeatedly referenced throughout the novel; no doubt a thematic technique which reminds the reader of at least the perceived glory of the Empire with its current tattered state. The novel is structured around four generations of the Trotta family, with the focus being on the last two, since the first two are dispensed with in the first chapter. The Trotta's were of Slovenian peasant origins, and the one of the second generation established the subsequent fortunes by saving the life of the Emperor in the Battle of Solferino in 1859. Henceforth, he is known as the Hero of Solferino. Another ironic touch from Roth: no where in the novel does he indicate that this is a battle that the Austrians lost. "The Hero of Solferino" did have his own private honor, despite the awards that were heaped upon him: he was outraged about the distortions written about his actions that were used in school books, and he resigned from the Army over it. Roth makes a universal observation: "All historic events," said the lawyer, "are rewritten for school use. And to my mind this is proper. Children need examples that they can grasp, that sink in. They can find out the real truth later on."
Henceforth the novel concerns the "Hero's" son, who is forbidden by his father from a military career, but is provided a worthy position as a District Commissioner in Moravia, which is now the eastern portion of the Czech Republic. And it is his son, rigidly raised, as was the custom of the time and place, who joins the military, clearly an ill fit for him. The son manages to overcome his rigid upbringing, struggles against, but falls into a dissolute life, involving alcohol, women, and gambling. The women are foils, never depicted in their own right, and are either married and / or, what is today referred to as "cougars," that is, much older women. Numerous scenes are memorable, few more so than one which underscores the rigid social structure of the A-H Empire: the cuckolded sergeant meekly returns the lieutenant's love letters to his wife without a word. Roth's prose can be equally fresh and memorable. Consider: "...powerful forensic baritone it sounded like a gentle zephyr grazing a harp." Or, "And their silence had poured out a dark, dumb hatred, the way pregnant and infinitely silent clouds sometimes pour out the mute electric sultriness of an unspent thunderstorm."
I consider this a solid 5-star read for Roth's efforts in showing the A-H Empire in decline, including the various aspects of Franz-Joseph's dementia. Still there were portions that seemed irrelevant, or too lengthy, and the thunderstorm when the telegram is delivered concerning the assassination of the Archduke is dramatically overdone. And his depiction of the women borders on the misogynistic. Consider: "But some women are prohibited by nature itself from telling the truth -- the nature that prevents them from aging. Frau von Taussig may have been too proud to cover up three whole years. But stealing a single wretched year from truth was no theft."
There are a number of excellent reviews posted on this book, probably more than on any other than I've seen. I thought the book read quite well, and am in no position to judge the quality of the translation, so those who were, and noted various flaws, well, it was much appreciated. And I see nothing "nostalgic" about the novel, as Coetzee indicates, and gladly settle upon the consensus of the other reviewers that it is "elegiac." I don't think it was great history though, since it lacked that essential "differential diagnosis." Similar books could have been written about the decadence, and class stratifications in England, France, Germany and Russia before the "Great War," but why was it only the A-H Empire that collapsed, whereas the other countries were only "transformed," is never really addressed.
Ancient history of a far away place, or parallels with today for America? There is that astonishing waste of resources on non-productive military activity, and a tremendous mis-match of weapons with the real threat to the country. In Roth's novel it's swords and cavalry against machine guns and tanks. Now the reverse seems to be true: nuclear subs and jet fighters against guys with box cutters. And as symbolized in Roth's novel by the drip at the end of Franz Joseph's nose, there is the disconnection between form and the reality of meaningful governance; there are the amazing ways in which the governing class is distracted from the essential issues at hand. Well, at least in America we all speak the same language, more or less. Communicating with it is another matter.
Summary of The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth)
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.
Joseph Roth's 1932 novel, The Radetzky March, starts with an accident that creates a dynasty. When an infantry lieutenant steps in front of a bullet intended for the young Franz Joseph, the Austro-Hungarian emperor rewards him with wealth, promotion, and a knighthood. Almost overnight, Joseph Trotta is "severed" from his ancestors, and his family is transformed from unremarkable soldiers and peasants living in the outer reaches of the empire to barons and high-ranking officials living near the imperial palace. As long as Franz Joseph is the Kaiser, their status is secure. But when Trotta happens upon a schoolbook account of the event that exaggerates his heroism, he is shaken:
He had been driven from the paradise of simple faith in Emperor and Virtue, Truth, and Justice, and, now fettered in silence and endurance, he may have realized that the stability of the world, the power of laws, and the glory of majesties were all based on deviousness.As World War I approaches and the monarchy's limitations become apparent, Trotta's son and grandson become even further removed from this paradise. They continue to follow the codes of honor and duty, though such behavioral guides become pointless, even burdensome, in a world shorn of simple faith in an emperor. Trotta's grandson Carl Joseph finds his military career overwhelmed by bad horsemanship, alcohol dependency, frivolous roulette and baccarat debts, and misguided love affairs--the kinds of flaws, he thinks, that are inevitable without the self-assurance and practical knowledge that he would have gained had he earned (rather than inherited) his position. Not long ago, he thinks wistfully, his family lived as peasants "in dwarfed huts, making their wives fertile by night and their fields by day." It is here that the Trottas' demise is at its most poignant, as the focus of the narrative shifts from the loss of status to the far more devastating loss of purpose.
In both style and temperament, Roth's novel stands between the 19th and 20th centuries, and the three Trottas could be seen as part of a progression that stretches back to Tolstoy's Prince Andrei and looks ahead to the Mathieu of Sartre's Les Chemins de la Liberté trilogy. Although The Radetzky March illustrates why the monarchy was doomed, and isn't blind to the new nations and ideologies on the horizon, Roth is more interested in his characters' psychology than their politics. And their central difficulty--the bewildering meaninglessness that follows the dissolution of an ideal--has been a fundamental 20th-century dilemma. The Trottas are, in Roth's stunning phrase, "homesick for the Kaiser." One need only substitute "the Chairman" or "Marxism" or "God" to understand the novel's lasting resonance. --John Ponyicsanyi
Literary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Angelsby Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Boonville: A Novelby Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Carameloby Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $4.60
Price in other shops:
Headhunterby Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The Whiteby Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Hiroshimaby John Hersey
Ishi Press; Published: 2009-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.77
Price in other shops:
The French Worker: Autobiographies from the Early Industrial EraUniversity of California Press; Published: 1993-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.90
Price in other shops:
1848: Year of Revolutionby Mike Rapport
Basic Books; Published: 2010-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.88
Price in other shops:
Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germanyby Isabel V. Hull
Cornell University Press; Published: 2006-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.47
Price in other shops:
The Bridge on the Drina (Phoenix Fiction)by Ivo Andric
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1977-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.18
Price in other shops:
The World of Yesterday: An Autobiographyby Stefan Zweig
University of Nebraska Press; Published: 1964-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
The Emperor's Tomb (Works of Joseph Roth)by Joseph Roth
Overlook TP; Published: 2002-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops:
The Wandering Jewsby Joseph Roth, Elie Wiesel
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2001-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.18
Price in other shops:
What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933by Joseph Roth
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2004-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.07
Price in other shops:
Job: The Story of a Simple Manby Joseph Roth
Archipelago Books; Published: 2010-12-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.66
Price in other shops: