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A Nervous Review
May. 22nd, 2012 12:41 pmHey,
So my infatuation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire continues with A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton. The book mostly follows the lives of various famous personages living in Vienna at the time (Brahms, Klimt, Mahler, Freud) and also details the events leading up to the Crown Prince's double suicide with his mistress Mary Vetsera on January 30, 1889.
The book was a breezy read that tries to draw parallels between Prince Rudolph's frustrated desires to modernize the Empire and the larger issue of modernity running up against the Empire's entrenched aristocratic society. In fact, most of the protagonists in the book are young Turks trying to forge their own path forward in the face of hidebound tradition. But the descriptions of life in Vienna at the time do show the glittering facade that papered over a fractious empire.
Also, I learned something interesting about Gustav Klimt -- apparently in his younger days he would go on "fight-hikes". He'd go out hiking along roads/trails that often proved difficult for carriages to negotiate. If he came across a carriage driver mistreating his horses because they'd gotten stuck, he'd bait the guy into a fist-fight. For some reason I find that kind of adorable.
So yeah, the book is about 30 years old (cripes!), but it was a fun read.
later
Tom
So my infatuation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire continues with A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton. The book mostly follows the lives of various famous personages living in Vienna at the time (Brahms, Klimt, Mahler, Freud) and also details the events leading up to the Crown Prince's double suicide with his mistress Mary Vetsera on January 30, 1889.
The book was a breezy read that tries to draw parallels between Prince Rudolph's frustrated desires to modernize the Empire and the larger issue of modernity running up against the Empire's entrenched aristocratic society. In fact, most of the protagonists in the book are young Turks trying to forge their own path forward in the face of hidebound tradition. But the descriptions of life in Vienna at the time do show the glittering facade that papered over a fractious empire.
Also, I learned something interesting about Gustav Klimt -- apparently in his younger days he would go on "fight-hikes". He'd go out hiking along roads/trails that often proved difficult for carriages to negotiate. If he came across a carriage driver mistreating his horses because they'd gotten stuck, he'd bait the guy into a fist-fight. For some reason I find that kind of adorable.
So yeah, the book is about 30 years old (cripes!), but it was a fun read.
later
Tom
