Stefan Zweig – Journey into the Past – Comment.

Zweig is a master of the psychological, interior thought, and intentions of his characters. In his novella, Confusion, we enter the mind of a young student enthralled by his professor, and the deep attraction for the professor’s wife. The reader comes to discover the obsessions of another party that is fairly taboo in nature. For the time, a scandalous sexual orientation, that today, is hardly worth the attention. In Journey into the Past, Zweig takes us into the thoughts and feelings of two individuals whose deep love for each other must remain unspoken. 

Our protagonist, Ludwig, comes from a working-class family, though due to his intelligence and dogged perseverance; he attains his qualifications in chemistry. He lands a job in a large company owned by a wealthy, German industrialist. The young man works hard, surpassing the expectations of the owner, and is asked to move into his boss's home, to take on the duties of assistant, personal secretary and liaison. It is here we see one of Ludwig’s personal complexes. As he came from humble beginnings, he sees the wealthy as almost a personal affront to himself. That he will always be looked down upon, no matter his achievements, in that world of money and power. At first, he declines the new job offer, believing the job will further cement him in ‘peasant status’, but later changes his mind. It is here that he meets the boss’s young wife. 

As it turns out, the woman is sensitive to all of Ludwig’s needs. He will tell her he admires a particular painting, to later find a framed print of it on his desk. The intense unspoken attraction over time reaches an unbearable pitch, where only the occasional kiss occurs in the shadows of the house’s back hallways. Zweig writes in such a way that we see that this love between them is real, though truly innocent and pure. At this stage, their love is never consummated. 

Ludwig is called by the company to travel overseas to Mexico and oversee mineral exploration. At first, he is hesitant but is assured the assignment will only last two years, though lasts nine years. WWI breaks out and all their correspondence stops between the two lovers. After almost a decade, Ludwig reaches out and contacts her again. 

She is a widow, and Ludwig is married with children, so will they have the same feelings for each other as they did in the past? 

Ludwig desires their relationship not to have changed, but has it really ended? 

Both seem to be connected in a different way. For certain they are in a purgatory between the feelings of their past and what they’re experiencing now, One can say, lost in the emotional shadows of time and space. Can there be renewal, or should the past remain a fading memory? 

This short tale I found sensitive and tender, written with psychological accuracy, touching the depths and fragility of the human heart. 

John Williams – Stoner – Comment.

First published in 1965, to then appear in Great Britain in 1973, to finally be published in 2024 by Vintage Classics, this astounding novel suddenly caught my attention in 2026. While online, and perusing actual bookstores, the book continued to pop-up, grabbing my attention, as if politely requesting to be read. After many weeks of this repeated phenomenon, I finally broke down and bought a paperback. On the front cover under the title reads, ‘The greatest novel you’ve never read.’ Guardian. This statement cannot be truer. 

We enter the life of a young man from a poor farming family in Missouri. William Stoner’s father insists that he attends university to study agriculture, to better the prospects of the family business. At the end of his freshman year, he signs up for an English class. On one auspicious day, where a particular Shakesperean sonnet is being read and interpreted. Professor Sloane reads the entire piece, repeating the last two lines:

‘This thou perceivest, which makes thy love 

 strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.’

Sloanes eyes came back to Willian Stoner, and he said dryly, Mr. Shakespear speaks to you across three hundred years, Mr. Stoner, do you hear him?’

The young man doesn’t respond immediately and realizes he’s been holding his breath through the entire reading. But in this instant of the moment, Stoner feels what the American philosopher, William James, describes as a religious experience. The soul of the young man has shifted, and it is here that he changes his major to English studies, to attain his undergraduate degree, his Masters, and finally his PhD, where he’s offered a job as a teacher, remaining in this job for over forty years. 

During his teaching career, Stoner lives through two world wars and feels the sadness and waste of the first one, and great anger during the second. 

Stoner believes he has fallen in love with a girl who he pursues and marries within months of the courtship. Edith turns out to be not what she appears and reveals herself to be a selfish and vindictive woman, ensuing years of marital pain and unhappiness. 

There are two central antagonists in Stoner’s life: another vindictive individual, a charismatic cripple, Dr. Lomax, and of course, Mrs. Edith Stoner. Because of a disagreement about a student, a matter of principle for Stoner, Lomax goes to war with our protagonist that lasts forty years. 

This novel is a beautiful rendering of a simple life of a man devoted to his job of teaching. He views his students with care and diligence and constantly endeavors to improve his skills and knowledge. Although the story touches on many themes, above relationships, his one and only experience of real love, and the varied conflicts with small minded and harmful people, the man’s devotion and responsibility for teaching, a job he truly loves, stands as his greatest quality. 

Many readers and critics have described Stoner as a sad account of an uneventful life filled with mundane conflicts in a loveless world. Life is full of unspoken ‘heroes’ who move through this existence without the fanfare of celebrity. Though William Stoner’s life appears insignificant, we see great significance in an individual life well lived. 

The greatest novel you’ve never read.