Faustibooks > Recent Status Updates

Really good book so far!! Have to admit though that after reading so many novellas this feels pretty long

I can finally read again!!

Great book so far, really touching

Really liking this book so far! Where did I get all these Zweig books from all of a sudden??

You know you’ve been cooking when your goodreads update has 10 likes hahah

Ahhh, the Austro-Hungarian empire! The waltzes, the writers, the different ethnicities, languages and cultures, the political system and of course Franz Joseph! It’s such an interesting and fascinating polity

Great to keep my Italian alive! I hope I can read Ferrante’s work later, but that might be too ambitious tbh

Did I grab this book because it has the same title as one of my favourite pieces of classical music? Yes. Did I buy it because it’s set in Austria-Hungary? YES!!

I know I said I wasn’t going to read, but I just finished one of my essays and thought that a small book by the author of my favourite fiction book would be a nice reward!

Pausing this book for now, it’s really good but I have two big essays and unfortunately they’re not going to write themselves

Uni is really taking a toll on my reading. Luckily I already reached my goodreads goal

Reading while a cat sits on your lap is a life changing experience

Some of these lines feel really soothing

“Much of the Eighth Army was made out of East Prussians, men with personal reasons for wanting to clear the region of invaders. One officer, on August 26, found himself directing artillery fire on his own house after the Russians took possession of it.”

I am only one month into the war and already so many people have died. All wars are tragic but this one feels especially pointless

I crushed my goodreads goal!!! Will still keep reading though

Have to read sooo much for uni, I am in the trenches rn, but at least it counts for my goodreads goal

The way in which the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was done is so weird and clumsy, like I almost can’t believe that all of this happened

Making great progress on this book due to all my commutes with the train. Uni starts on Monday, so I hope I still have time to continue at this pace

I have always been intrigued by the Austro-Hungarian Empire! Such an odd yet interesting state

I am surprised at the amount of cannibalism in this book

Ethiopia is such a fascinating country!! Would love to learn more about its history and culture. Also, how is modern Italy so terrible at war

This book is definitely taking a while, but it’s very good!

How do you have a kingdom bordering a lake and think that swimming is a “miraculous feat”????

I can’t believe how incompetent and unprepared the French are in this war. Like, you guys were the ones who declared war!!

(From letter sent by a mother to her son who joined the Prussian army) “I am pained by the realisation that I may never again hold you in my arms, but far greater than my pain is my joy that you can too fight in this war. (…) It is not necessary that you return from the war, only that you do your duty.” Damn, nationalism

I think I will pause this book for a while. It is very good so far, but I just bought a book on the Franco-Prussian war and feel I should read that first, for context and chronology.

“With the help of God and the Martini-Henry” man what a fire line

This book is going to radicalise me haha

Making good progress on this book! Also, I’m getting new glasses tomorrow :)