Rückkehr Nach Wien: Ein Tagebuch

by Hilde Spiel

Rare Book

Genres: World War II, Memoir, Nonfiction

138 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jessica Cleghorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always find it difficult to rate someone's life story. Add to this that this was a book we read for a class under a lot of pressure, and my review is naturally going to be very skewed.

This was a very interesting read nonetheless. Reading about returning to post-war Vienna from the perspective of an adult who escaped to England near the beginning of WWII was somewhat unique compared to other books I've read in this genre, which was very interesting.

If you are looking for a read about displaced people in WWII, this adds an intelligent and insightful female voice to the genre.

[Mariarosa Raffaelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilde Spiel atterra a Vienna nel febbraio 1946, 9 mesi dopo la sua liberazione da parte dell'esercito russo. Ripercorre i luoghi in cui era stata ragazza, prima di lasciare Vienna, a 25 anni, con una laurea in filosofia e un marito, alla volta di Londra. Molte le persone che incontra, e molte le testimonianze "tra le righe" di ciò che sono stati gli anni della follia nazista.
Una testimonianza di alto valore letterario e storico, assolutamente consigliata.

[Marina Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So thoughtful, so moving, yet rigorously unsentimental: a meditation about cultural identity, as well as a picture of city destroyed by war and its own inner frailties. A limpid style and many, many quotable moments.
For a longer review, see here:
http://findingtimetowrite.wordpress.c...

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First-person accounts of life in Vienna during the war and its aftermath, including some personal accounts of the end of the war. The author makes the rounds, visiting the people who remained from her childhood and contacts in the cultural world, and describes how different sorts of regular people in the city went about their lives.

This is a book which is much improved by 21st century technology, to be read with your laptop or iPad at hand, while pulling up the photos and background on historic locations in the city. Would give you a perspective on how a local resident experiences Vienna before taking a trip to the city, as many of the locations and institutions described still exist.

Might also be comforting reading for those who have experienced the loss of loved ones and familiar places during the pandemic.

Perhaps because she's Austrian, this author seemed to choose some of the less common versions of ordinary German words. Having Beolingus at hand (in addition to the Wikipedia articles and photos) was very helpful, and made the prose much more vivid. https://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/

If you enjoyed "Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood, this is similar, with non-fiction anecdotes of how ordinary people experience urban life in a turbulent time.

[Zola Zyndschnur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilde kündigt an, bei ihrer rückkehr nach Wien, wo sie geboren und dann vor 10 Jahren vertrieben wurde, ihre gefühle zu beobachten bzw zu schauen, zu wie viel Emotionen sie nach WW2 noch fähig ist. Turns out: ziemlich schnell zieht sie sich zurück auf eine eher journalistisch beobachtende, beschreibende Position. das ist auch interessant und für mich privat persönlich von belang, aber darüber hinaus keine Empfehlung.

[Morgan Baliviera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reportage interessante fatto da Hilde Spiel, giornalista austriaca trasferitasi in Gran Bretagna prima dell’anschluss. Tornando nella sua Vienna durante i primi mesi dell’occupazione sovietica, successiva alla seconda guerra mondiale, racconta - attraverso testimonianze di chi ci viveva - la difficile vita, quasi alienata, degli abitanti nella vecchia capitale asburgica.

[Maria Merlino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un racconto sulla Vienna alla fine della Seconda Guerra mondiale attraverso lo sguardo e le parole di una scrittrice sensibile ed emotivamente coinvolta che torna nella città dove è nata ed ha vissuto il primo periodo della sua vita..
Scritto bene , non mi ha mai preso veramente..

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interessante Momente im Leben einer gscheiten Frau - sehr lesenswert!