Confusion (German: Verwirrung der Gefühle), also known in English under the titles Confusion of Feelings or Episode in the Early Life of Privy Councillor D. is a 1927 novella by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It tells the story of a student and his friendship with a professor.[1] It was originally published in the omnibus volume Conflicts: Three Tales, together with two other Zweig novellas, Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman and Untergang eines Herzens. It was included on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century list.

Confusion
Argentine first edition 1944
AuthorStefan Zweig
Original titleVerwirrung der Gefühle
TranslatorEden Paul
Cedar Paul
LanguageGerman
PublisherInsel-Verlag
Publication date
1927
Publication placeGermany
Published in English
1927

Plot

edit

Roland, the narrator, begins the story after he becomes an English professor years after the central action takes place. Roland explains that he was a poor student and how he would end up intoxicated on the streets of Berlin. His father then sends him off to university in the country.[2]

Confusion is the account of [...] Roland, who has become enamored of the intellectual, bewildering, and isolated world of his greatest idol — his college professor. Roland gravitates toward the secluded home of his professor, the seclusion prompted by the fear of having his secret revealed. The novella, referencing the Greats (writers and philosophers alike) blurs all three of the greatest distinctions of love of the Ancient Greeks: Philia, Èros, and Agápe, although the novella does not address them explicitly.”[3]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Cameron, J. M. "Confusion by Stefan Zweig". nybooks.com. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  2. ^ Zweig, Stefan (2002). Confusion. Pushkin ltd.
  3. ^ "Three Percent".
edit