Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) once said: "As an Austrian, Jew, writer, humanitarian, and pacifist, I happen to stand on the earthquake zone." And this "place with the most violent earthquake" is Germany and Austria.The writer lived from the end of the 19th century to the Second World War, and experienced two world wars in his life.This ill-fated era and turbulent world have left a deep imprint on his life.He has seen revolutions, famines, inflation, currency devaluations, epidemics and political exile... On February 22, 1942, Zweig and his wife Lottie ended their precious life with dignity in an extremely rational and calm way at their residence in Pietro Paulis, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to pay respect to the inhumane crimes. Fascists protested.

Zweig was a master of psychological realism.Nietzsche's philosophy and Freud's psychoanalysis have a great influence on his creation, and his novels are almost all psychological novels. Human psychology is a vast field worth reclaiming.The Danish critic Brandes said: "The human heart is not a calm pond, not an idyllic forest lake. It is an ocean in which there are seabed plants and terrible inhabitants." Zweig is this ocean of mind tireless and intrepid explorer.He believes: "The inner infinity and the universe of the soul have opened up an inexhaustible field for art. The discovery of the soul and the self-knowledge will become our - wise human beings - more and more daring in the future. It is a subject that can be unraveled incessantly but cannot be finally solved.” Zweig has a special preference for psychological problems, and enigmatic psychological activities have an irresistible temptation for him.He tirelessly explored the mysteries of human psychological activities throughout his life, and was keen on psychological analysis of characters.Among them, the influence of Freud's theory on him is an important factor.Freud was one of Zweig's closest friends.Zweig admired Freud's subconscious theory very much, and believed that it pointed out to people the way to enter the soul and explore the deep psychology of people.

This time Shanghai Yazhong planned, Shaanxi Normal University Publishing House published two collections of Zweig's novels: and ①.These two collections of Zweig's novels not only fully highlighted Yazhong's publishing direction of "female literature with humanistic care", but also covered the basic themes and characteristics of Zweig's works.The three received novels are all women’s novels describing passion and lust; the eight received are diverse in theme: describing the psychology of adolescents, expressing passion and lust, praising steadfast love, criticizing current abuses and exposing Nazi crimes.Yazhong's unique insights and vision are impressive. Using the popular terms of "sharp talk" and "sharp commentary", Yazhong's aggressive editing style can be called "sharp editing".

The most striking themes of Zweig's novels are the revelation of passion and the excellent depiction of female psychology, and the focus on adolescent psychology. Most of Zweig's novels are written about the encounter of passion, which bears the imprint of deep psychoanalysis.In his writing, passion is the primitive desire in the subconscious, that is, the instinctive impulse, and the "libido" released from the subconscious.Zweig likes to go deep into the inner world of the characters, to explore the most secret corners of the characters' hearts.The protagonists in the novels are often tormented and driven by passion and lust, and spend their whole lives drinking the bitter wine brewed by passion and lust in the subconscious, and some even lead to tragic consequences.Zweig's psychoanalytic novels are like precise electrocardiograms, recording the curve of the protagonist's heart vibrating.Most of the protagonists in the novel are characters who cannot resist the mercy of fate. The writer shows the dominant role of instinct on the behavior of the protagonists and the decisive influence on their fate from different angles.

Zweig is a writer who is good at insight into and expressing women's inner activities, and he is unique in shaping women's images and revealing women's psychology.The three received are all passion and erotic novels.and "Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life" are two of Zweig's most famous and popular works, which most typically present the author's creative style and artistic characteristics, and the influence of Freud is also the most obvious.In the novel, the passion emanating from the strange woman is the original, innate instinctive desire and impulse in the id or subconscious.The heroine's letter is written in a lingering, emotional way, revealing a woman's most secret psychological activities.This novel, cleverly arranged on the relationship between the sexes, writes love so pure and noble, which not only demonstrates Zweig's superb writing skills, but also reflects the author's pure ideological realm and noble sentiments. No wonder the Chinese writer Liu After reading it, Bai Yu couldn't help exclaiming: "It's really an amazing masterpiece!" Gorky said emotionally when talking about this novel, the work "with its astonishingly sincere tone, the tenderness of the superhuman woman, the originality of the theme, and the uniqueness of the novel. I was deeply moved by the strange power of expression that a true artist possesses... I was so moved by the sympathy for the heroine, by her image and by her sorrowful heart-song, that I burst into tears without shame "In "Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life", the heroine, Mrs. C, is driven by lust, and her temporary commitment to the gambler turns into sincere love. She is willing to abandon everything and follow the person she loves to the ends of the world.Unexpectedly, what she got for her selfless dedication was the insult of the gambler.These twenty-four hours of experience weighed on her heart like a nightmare, making her carry a heavy spiritual cross for the rest of her life.The description of the subconscious mind in the novel is breathtaking.Gorky believed that "Twenty-Four Hours of a Woman's Life" was "more ingenious" than Zweig's other novelettes, and said that Zweig "describes women with rare tenderness and sympathy".

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the psychological description, the main features of this novel are also the extraordinary detailed close-ups, especially the description of the gambler's subconscious hand movements, which is absolutely wonderful.Zweig focused all the passion of the young gambler on his hands, and portrayed them vividly and outstandingly, becoming one of the most exciting highlights in the history of world literature.The protagonist of the story, a silver-haired, demure and elegant sixty-seven-year-old British lady, was fascinated by the gambler's hands in the Monte Carlo casino twenty years ago, and she performed the ups and downs within 24 hours. Ups and downs, exciting, soul-stirring story.Freud discussed Zweig's description of the gambler's hands in his article "Dostoevsky and Patricide", and explained it from the perspective of psychoanalysis, thinking that gambling addiction in the novel is masturbation A substitute for , Mrs. C is equivalent to mother.The young gambler's fantasy: If my mother learns that masturbation will bring him great harm, she will definitely let me get all kinds of tenderness from her to save me from danger.The mother, on the other hand, transfers her love unconsciously to her son, where fate seizes her in this unguarded place.Although we can disagree with Freud's analysis, his article undoubtedly contributed to the world-famous fame of Zweig's novel.

Also a novel of passion and eroticism, known for its fascinating psychological descriptions.The heroine Irena Hongxing cheated and was followed and blackmailed. After a period of fear, her spirit was on the verge of collapse. Finally, her husband forgave her and treated her more tenderly and considerately. "Misty Night", "Moonlight Lane" and "Leon's Wedding" are also the same theme.There are still many female novels written by Zweig about passion and lust. It is no wonder that many critics are amazed that Zweig's "analysis of female psychology has almost become obsessed."But Zweig’s passionate writing is not only in women’s novels, but also in some works with male protagonists, there are also instant bursts of passionate encounters. In "The Star Above the Forest", the hotel waiter who fell on the rails and died for love is an example. .Dr. B's trembling hands subconsciously and selfless expression in the process of playing chess are the manifestations of his passion being aroused in an instant.It can be seen that most of the characters in these works are paranoid who indulge in certain ideas.Zweig said frankly: "In my life, I am most interested in people who suffer from various paranoias, people who have a clear mind, because the more limited a person's knowledge, the closer he is to infinity; People who have come to pay no attention to the world are building a strange and unique miniature world with their special materials like ants.” ()

Another important theme in Zweig's novels is to pay attention to the psychology of prepuberty and puberty in boys and girls.Adolescence is an important station in the journey of life.Boys and girls who are just in love are the most sensitive psychologically. They are afraid, shy and curious about the adult world, especially about the relationship between the sexes.In the eyes of writers, the awakening of children and teenagers' hazy sexual consciousness seems to be their "rite of passage" for them. With "first experience" and the tracking and exploration of "burning secrets", teenagers have opened up the depths of their emotional world. door. "Misty Night", "The Governess" and "Summer's Story" all describe the inner emotions and psychological and physical changes of boys and girls during their puberty.In the history of world literature, there are few writers like Zweig who pay so much attention to the psychology of adolescents.Most of Zweig's novels on this subject were written before the 1920s, which probably has something to do with the social environment in Austria at that time.From a psychological point of view, it is completely normal for adolescents to be turbulent and curious about gender issues.Society and schools should give them correct guidance through sexual enlightenment education.However, in Austria at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, people carefully avoided the issue of sex, thinking that it was a factor that caused instability and was contrary to the ethics and morals of the time.Young men and women seldom have unfettered and sincere relationships, and their normal communication is also restricted by social moral norms.In this case, Zweig's meticulous research and vivid description of the psychology of adolescents is nothing more than a powerful criticism of the hypocritical morals of the bourgeoisie and Austrian school education at that time. A serious indictment of adolescent education.

Since Zweig's works mostly express passion, lust and their consequences, they often give people the impression that they are out of the times and society. The works of Nazi crimes are written extremely profoundly and touchingly, such as "Invisible Collection", "Interlude on the Banks of Geneva", "Knowing New Art", "Bookseller Mendel" and "Shackles". "The Invisible Collection" is a novel that criticizes the disadvantages of the times, and truly reflects the social situation of food shortage, severe famine, inflation and currency devaluation in Germany after the First World War.The old forest officer who loves art devoted all he has to collecting a batch of art treasures year by year.Later, he became blind, and in the famine years after the war, his family had to sell these priceless collections without telling the old man in order to survive.Although each treasure can be sold for a huge sum of money, in the era of currency depreciation, the huge sum of money sold has turned into a pile of waste paper in an instant.These descriptions are a true portrayal of the German social situation at that time.For the suffering of the people, Zweig is full of sympathy and love. This novel is deeply touching and makes people cry.

Completed in early 1942, shortly before the writer's suicide.The novel criticizes the cruel spiritual persecution of people by the Nazis.Zweig, the poet who regards spiritual labor as the most precious wealth in the world, still kept writing at the last moment of his life, completing this masterpiece in his later years, his autobiography "Yesterday's World" and other works.The central psychological description is extremely profound, the plot is ups and downs, and has a strong shocking power. Picking it up, I just want to read it in one go.In order to write this novel, Zweig specially bought a chess game book to study, and played chess with his wife according to the famous game on the game book.This shows his serious and serious creative attitude.

Different from critical realist masters such as Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert and Tolstoy in the 19th century, Zweig does not ruthlessly expose and brutally dissect the characters in his works, but has great sympathy and warmth. Tolerance and love, narrating the encounters and misfortunes of the characters.For the extramarital affair between the lawyer's wife Irena and the young pianist, instead of "watching", she gave a warm understanding (); the silver-haired Mrs. C committed herself to a gambler and was insulted She did not ridicule or despise her painful experience at all, but also gave her actions noble motives, and gave her sincere understanding and sympathy for her actions ("Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life"); The countess fell in love at first sight, and she died for her own wish that she could not realize. The writer did not laugh at him for "the toad wants to eat swan meat", but expressed sympathy and regret for him ("The Star Above the Forest"); Human virtues such as selfless love, perseverance, and self-esteem that are neither humble nor overbearing are given to this strange woman to contrast with the emptiness and moral corruption of the "superior people"... Examples abound in Zweig's work.Zweig has always adhered to humanitarian ideals, giving sympathy and love to people, especially "little people", the weak, women, and people who are suffering spiritually. Give sincere understanding and tolerance to weaknesses. Zweig's works are full of musical and rhythmic language, exquisite structure, fascinating stories, plot development is often beyond people's expectations, psychological description and analysis are extremely detailed, scene description is very good, and he is good at "play within play" skills , After reading it, it can leave us with a meaningful aftertaste.All this has made him one of the most popular authors in the world.These artistic features of his are also in line with the aesthetic habits of Chinese readers, so in our country, "Zweig fever" has been enduring for a long time.

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Notes: This translated name has been widely circulated and domestic readers are already familiar with it, so this book adopts the latter.