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Twilight and Moonbeam Alley
Twilight is the story of a fashionable lady who is banished from Versailles by the king. She tries to make the best of living on her country estate, but although she entertains lovers and friends from Paris, she comes to find it intolerable. Life at court, for all its essential emptiness, was the only thing that gave her existence meaning, and she moves inexorably towards suicide. In Moonbeam Alley, a traveller delayed in a French port explores the sailors' quarter. Enticed by a voice singing an aria, to a bar near the harbour, he learns the story of those who run it and frequent it: a tale of violence, unrequited passion, and a marriage that is no true marriage.
Pushkin Collection editions feature a spare, elegant series style and superior, durable components. The Collection is typeset in Monotype Baskerville, litho-printed on Munken Premium White Paper and notch-bound by the independently owned printer TJ International in Padstow. The covers, with French flaps, are printed on Colorplan Pristine White Paper. Both paper and cover board are acid-free and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
Pushkin Collection editions feature a spare, elegant series style and superior, durable components. The Collection is typeset in Monotype Baskerville, litho-printed on Munken Premium White Paper and notch-bound by the independently owned printer TJ International in Padstow. The covers, with French flaps, are printed on Colorplan Pristine White Paper. Both paper and cover board are acid-free and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.
104 pages, Paperback
Published January 4, 2005
About the author
Stefan Zweig
2,580 books11.3k followersStefan Zweig was one of the world's most famous writers during the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the U.S., South America, and Europe. He produced novels, plays, biographies, and journalist pieces. Among his most famous works are Beware of Pity, Letter from an Unknown Woman, and Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. He and his second wife committed suicide in 1942.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 28, 2014
This is an elegant little book (almost pocket-sized) containing a novella and a short story, both of which are exquisitely structured tales of personal downfall and utter desperation.
Twilight concerns an actual historical figure, Madame de Prie, who goes from being an intimate of royalty to exile in the country. She's a somewhat sympathetic character, but also a woman devoid of any solitary strength of character. Removed from the court, and from the host of adoring and envious eyes, her self-image withers into a pathetic nothingness of suicidal despair.
Moonbeam Alley offers evocative descriptions of disreputable port-side alleys in France and is also an in extremis tale of despair; this time murderous.
I'd prefer a big book with a much larger sampling of Zweig's stories and novellas. This little book just whetted my appetite for more masterful stories by this psychologically probing, glittery but melancholy aesthete.
Twilight concerns an actual historical figure, Madame de Prie, who goes from being an intimate of royalty to exile in the country. She's a somewhat sympathetic character, but also a woman devoid of any solitary strength of character. Removed from the court, and from the host of adoring and envious eyes, her self-image withers into a pathetic nothingness of suicidal despair.
Moonbeam Alley offers evocative descriptions of disreputable port-side alleys in France and is also an in extremis tale of despair; this time murderous.
I'd prefer a big book with a much larger sampling of Zweig's stories and novellas. This little book just whetted my appetite for more masterful stories by this psychologically probing, glittery but melancholy aesthete.
April 12, 2009
I can't get enough of ths writer. He can almost make me look inside the character's soul.
December 19, 2016
I really like Stefan Zweig's stories, but these short novelles were too short for me. I did enjoy Twilight a lot, and Moonbeam I liked, but in the latter I felt like I wanted a little more, and that because of it's shortness and and lack of substance, it'll be a forgettable story. Twilight will stay longer though as I really enjoyed this psychological despair the Marquise du Prie was going through. It was dark and sad, and the translator's note, mentionning what part sof it were real and other Zweig's imagination, was a great addition to it.
Will definitely be reading more of stefan Zweig's stories.
Will definitely be reading more of stefan Zweig's stories.
April 18, 2010
This was another excellent short story collection by Zweig, consisting of the novella Twilight and the short story Moonbeam Alley
Twilight narrates the last days of Madame de Prie (1698-1727), a beautiful but vacuous and conniving noblewoman, who was the mistress of the prime minister of King Louis XV. She was the most powerful person in the kingdom for a time, until she was banished from Versailles by the King after a power struggle. Although she lived in luxury in Courbépine, de Prie became increasingly agitated and despondent in exile from French high society, and finally decides to stage a spectacular event that will make her the talk of Paris.
Moonbeam Alley is a short story about a visitor who spends the night in a French coastal town after missing an evening train, who encounters a man desperate to win back the woman he loves and has lost.
Twilight narrates the last days of Madame de Prie (1698-1727), a beautiful but vacuous and conniving noblewoman, who was the mistress of the prime minister of King Louis XV. She was the most powerful person in the kingdom for a time, until she was banished from Versailles by the King after a power struggle. Although she lived in luxury in Courbépine, de Prie became increasingly agitated and despondent in exile from French high society, and finally decides to stage a spectacular event that will make her the talk of Paris.
Moonbeam Alley is a short story about a visitor who spends the night in a French coastal town after missing an evening train, who encounters a man desperate to win back the woman he loves and has lost.
February 1, 2014
Note: Rating's only for Moonbeam Alley, as my edition doesn't include Twilight.
February 8, 2014
I loved Twilight more than Moonbeam Alley… well, in fact it was so beautiful that I loved it much more than practically any other short piece I'd ever read. Was it perfect! So poignant, so beautifully written, so lively that I was spellbound whilst reading it. Those words dragged me away to this Scottish palace, feelings were strong and vivid, I almost smelled freshness of forests and felt air on my skin. Wonderful. One of those stories I'd like to read again and again. And the ending made it even more beautiful. Brittle sadness about losing childhood and whirlwinding into adult life, that's what I feel these days.
Moonbeam Alley is a complete another story. Urban, grey, filthy and nevertheless so loudly-human. I didn't like the protagonist though, why didn't he even try to help the man? But I guess I grasped the author's idea, there could be no other ending. You can love a person, but still day-to-day routine lifts the veil and shows your naked soul, that's why people divorce so frequently, to my mind. And surely I don't think the woman loved the man. Ever. It's sad, it's depressive, but no one is flawless, and we all have to deal with it. His love was strong, it's visible from the fact that even in that quite strict time he could welcome his wife so warmly even though she'd been a prostitute for some time. But this fault… I couldn't forgive him if I were her, either.
I love Stefan Zweig's works so much it hurts. He paints those pictures of day-to-day life like an in grossed painter, they always seem alive to me, like they have soul, feelings.
Moonbeam Alley is a complete another story. Urban, grey, filthy and nevertheless so loudly-human. I didn't like the protagonist though, why didn't he even try to help the man? But I guess I grasped the author's idea, there could be no other ending. You can love a person, but still day-to-day routine lifts the veil and shows your naked soul, that's why people divorce so frequently, to my mind. And surely I don't think the woman loved the man. Ever. It's sad, it's depressive, but no one is flawless, and we all have to deal with it. His love was strong, it's visible from the fact that even in that quite strict time he could welcome his wife so warmly even though she'd been a prostitute for some time. But this fault… I couldn't forgive him if I were her, either.
I love Stefan Zweig's works so much it hurts. He paints those pictures of day-to-day life like an in grossed painter, they always seem alive to me, like they have soul, feelings.
October 7, 2014
Me pushtoi vetem nje ndjenje: nuk ndodhte asgje per mua e megjithate gjithcka me takonte- kjo ishte ndjenja e kendeshme e nje ngjarjeje qe nuk e jetoja, po r e kuptoja thelle, qe bente pjese ne burimin e gjalle te shpirtit tim dhe me lidhte padashur me te panjohuren.
une ndieja lumturi , sa here qe kisha rastin ta poshteroja , se... une nuk e dija sa fort e dashuroja ...
(Twilight is the story of a fashionable lady who is banished from Versailles by the king. She tries to make the best of living on her country estate, but although she entertains lovers and friends from Paris, she comes to find it intolerable. Life at court, for all its essential emptiness, was the only thing that gave her existence meaning, and she moves inexorably towards suicide. In Moonbeam Alley, a traveller delayed in a French port explores the sailors' quarter. Enticed by a voice singing an aria, to a bar near the harbour, he learns the story of those who run it and frequent it: a tale of violence, unrequited passion, and a marriage that is no true marriage.)
une ndieja lumturi , sa here qe kisha rastin ta poshteroja , se... une nuk e dija sa fort e dashuroja ...
(Twilight is the story of a fashionable lady who is banished from Versailles by the king. She tries to make the best of living on her country estate, but although she entertains lovers and friends from Paris, she comes to find it intolerable. Life at court, for all its essential emptiness, was the only thing that gave her existence meaning, and she moves inexorably towards suicide. In Moonbeam Alley, a traveller delayed in a French port explores the sailors' quarter. Enticed by a voice singing an aria, to a bar near the harbour, he learns the story of those who run it and frequent it: a tale of violence, unrequited passion, and a marriage that is no true marriage.)
September 13, 2016
Four things to know about these two novellas
1. Zweig was an expressionist. To be honest, with all the years between me and my first degree I cannot remember the proper definition for this literary movement/tradition. What I mean is that Zweig sets out to explore a history of a certain feeling/sensation/emotion within one person (Twilight) and in a relationship (Moonbeam Alley) in order to explain people's actions.
2. Not much happens in both novellas, but the description of emotions is very detailed and can become tedious, but is rewarding in the end.
3. While the characters may be alien and removed from the reader in both space and time, the emotions expressed are timeless.
4. Moonbeam Alley gives a good description of a relationship where one controls the situation and the other is forced to obey (sadist/masochist) and its inevitable outcome.
1. Zweig was an expressionist. To be honest, with all the years between me and my first degree I cannot remember the proper definition for this literary movement/tradition. What I mean is that Zweig sets out to explore a history of a certain feeling/sensation/emotion within one person (Twilight) and in a relationship (Moonbeam Alley) in order to explain people's actions.
2. Not much happens in both novellas, but the description of emotions is very detailed and can become tedious, but is rewarding in the end.
3. While the characters may be alien and removed from the reader in both space and time, the emotions expressed are timeless.
4. Moonbeam Alley gives a good description of a relationship where one controls the situation and the other is forced to obey (sadist/masochist) and its inevitable outcome.
September 8, 2009
I always admire Zweig, who seems to try very hard at writing past the edge of despair, but who never quite manages to pull it off.
January 21, 2020
The cruelty of 'love'
August 5, 2020
I was surprised by whom I would be sorry for..
February 2, 2025
i’ll always love Zweig and his writing even when the length of the book/story leaves me unsated.
March 29, 2022
Một ông quý tộc già bị lỡ chuyến tàu về nước Đức, đành trú tạm lại khách sạn ở Pháp. Để tránh không khí đặc sệt hơi nhờn ở phòng ăn, ông quyết định dạo quanh phố phường. Đôi chân đưa ông rẽ vào những con hẻm tối tăm hẻo lánh, đối lập hoàn toàn sự xa hoa hào nhoáng của giới thượng lưu ở đại lộ.
Một giọng hát tiếng Đức cất lên, làm ông tò mò. Ông tìm đến ngôi nhà phát ra lời ca ấy. Đó là một quán bia, cũng là nơi chứa những cô điếm tô son điểm phấn quá đà. Không hiểu lý do nào cứ kéo ông ngồi lại, uống bia cùng cô gái điếm. Thế rồi chứng kiến cảnh mọi người kể cả mụ chủ quán chế giễu cợt nhả, còn cô gái điếm cay độc chửi rủa người đàn ông có vẻ nhút nhát lẫn lo sợ. Cảm thấy ghê tởm với những trò đùa độc ác đó, ông quý tộc quyết định đứng dậy ra về mặc sự ve vãn của cô. Ông không ngờ rằng gã đàn ông ấy đã đợi sẵn ông ở ngoài, xin được dẫn đường về khách sạn. Lúng túng mãi, gã mới bật nói ra, lắp bắp kể lại nguyên cớ tại sao cô ta lại hành hạ gã: họ là vợ chồng, gã giàu còn cô nghèo, tuy vậy cô thích những món đồ đẹp. Gã muốn cô phải phủ phục xuống bày tỏ lòng biết ơn gã, để gã cho mua từng chiếc áo, dải băng. Nhưng cô lại là người kiêu hãnh, đến khi không chịu nổi tính keo kiệt đó nữa, cô bán mình để thoả lòng ăn diện. Gã yêu cô, nhưng thể hiện không đúng cách, lúc cô đi gã bỏ tất cả đi kiếm cô như một thằng điên. Gặp lại, cô mủi lòng muốn quay về thì chứng kiến tính tằn tiện chi li của gã thêm lần nữa, lần này cô chỉ để lại bức thư: anh khiến tôi thấy ghê tởm. Gã van xin ông quý tộc hãy nói gì đó để cô quay về bên gã, gã tin cô sẽ nghe lời ông. Nhưng đó đâu phải là chuyện mà ông quý tộc này sẽ nhúng tay vào. Ông phớt lờ lời cầu xin, trở về khách sạn.
Đêm hôm sau ông ghé ngang căn nhà thổ trước khi khởi hành về Đức. Là người đàn ông hôm qua đang đứng nép ở cửa, ông bỏ chạy vì sợ liên luỵ vào những chuyện rắc rối nào đó. Đến ngã rẽ, ông quay lại, thấy loé lên ánh kim loại nham hiểm không rõ là đồng bạc hay con dao trong tay gã.
Một ông thì hà tiện, một bà thì đua đòi, hai người thích hành nhau, rồi gây sự đâm chém nhau. Ông quý tộc đứng ngoài mọi chuyện lại hợp lý.
Một giọng hát tiếng Đức cất lên, làm ông tò mò. Ông tìm đến ngôi nhà phát ra lời ca ấy. Đó là một quán bia, cũng là nơi chứa những cô điếm tô son điểm phấn quá đà. Không hiểu lý do nào cứ kéo ông ngồi lại, uống bia cùng cô gái điếm. Thế rồi chứng kiến cảnh mọi người kể cả mụ chủ quán chế giễu cợt nhả, còn cô gái điếm cay độc chửi rủa người đàn ông có vẻ nhút nhát lẫn lo sợ. Cảm thấy ghê tởm với những trò đùa độc ác đó, ông quý tộc quyết định đứng dậy ra về mặc sự ve vãn của cô. Ông không ngờ rằng gã đàn ông ấy đã đợi sẵn ông ở ngoài, xin được dẫn đường về khách sạn. Lúng túng mãi, gã mới bật nói ra, lắp bắp kể lại nguyên cớ tại sao cô ta lại hành hạ gã: họ là vợ chồng, gã giàu còn cô nghèo, tuy vậy cô thích những món đồ đẹp. Gã muốn cô phải phủ phục xuống bày tỏ lòng biết ơn gã, để gã cho mua từng chiếc áo, dải băng. Nhưng cô lại là người kiêu hãnh, đến khi không chịu nổi tính keo kiệt đó nữa, cô bán mình để thoả lòng ăn diện. Gã yêu cô, nhưng thể hiện không đúng cách, lúc cô đi gã bỏ tất cả đi kiếm cô như một thằng điên. Gặp lại, cô mủi lòng muốn quay về thì chứng kiến tính tằn tiện chi li của gã thêm lần nữa, lần này cô chỉ để lại bức thư: anh khiến tôi thấy ghê tởm. Gã van xin ông quý tộc hãy nói gì đó để cô quay về bên gã, gã tin cô sẽ nghe lời ông. Nhưng đó đâu phải là chuyện mà ông quý tộc này sẽ nhúng tay vào. Ông phớt lờ lời cầu xin, trở về khách sạn.
Đêm hôm sau ông ghé ngang căn nhà thổ trước khi khởi hành về Đức. Là người đàn ông hôm qua đang đứng nép ở cửa, ông bỏ chạy vì sợ liên luỵ vào những chuyện rắc rối nào đó. Đến ngã rẽ, ông quay lại, thấy loé lên ánh kim loại nham hiểm không rõ là đồng bạc hay con dao trong tay gã.
Một ông thì hà tiện, một bà thì đua đòi, hai người thích hành nhau, rồi gây sự đâm chém nhau. Ông quý tộc đứng ngoài mọi chuyện lại hợp lý.
June 16, 2020
Nightmarish but a little boring. An interesting moral tale, but nothing close to the quality of Amok. Moonbeam Alley features an especially devilish whore/wife who is rendered somehow virtuous by the confession of the penny pinching husband. You see, she only sleeps around and tortures you because there’s not enough of the money coming her way... Get it?
November 14, 2007
Twilight is one of the finest stories I have ever read, packing a huge amount of passion and bleak brilliance into 60 pages. A must read.
Full review here: http://theasylum.wordpress.com/2007/0...
Full review here: http://theasylum.wordpress.com/2007/0...
June 18, 2017
Two tales of incisive and unrelenting portrayal of the dark and feeble corners of human psychology in the precise language of Stefan Zweig. Highly recommended unless you are suffering from depression.
April 23, 2018
Deaths and suicides... Each story reminded me this note from his suicide letter:
"....I send greetings to all of my friends: May they live to see the dawn after this long night. I, who am most impatient, go before them."
"....I send greetings to all of my friends: May they live to see the dawn after this long night. I, who am most impatient, go before them."
July 16, 2018
I loved the first two stories, the third one was good too, the rest was just "meh". Overall the stories was really well-written and I'm glad I chose this book to read at a time I literally don't have time to read anything. Hopefully I'll be reading lots starting from August!
April 3, 2016
Two decent short stories. Liked the writing. Moonbeam alley was the better of the two. I have no idea why i haven't checked out more of zweig's work.
January 17, 2022
I think I’m about to have a new author to enjoy. And more “French-appreciation(adoration)” vibe books to read.
August 9, 2023
I like Stefan Zweig's language. In this book, he reflects the feeling of discomfort that his characters arouse in me so well that it is impossible not to love the book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews