- Hardcover: 486 pages
- Publisher: Grove Pr; 1 edition (Dec 1988)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0802111297
- ISBN-13: 978-0802111296
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product Description
Die Presse
'We are reminded of Kafka: dreamlike conversations, introspection of a disturbed soul, an orgy of a nervous breakdown. Married Life is a masterpiece, a find.'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Publishers Weekly
'This is an important novel, not only as the historic document that it is, but as a work of literature that echoes both Kafka and Mann.'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"In the passage the tap woke up with a roar." - I was hooked on this marvellous book from the first sentence. The Vienna of the 1920's, with its social decay, is the setting for this humiliating relationship between a poor Jewish intellectual and an Austrian baroness, also Jewish. Of particular note (to me) is their lack of religious observance, demonstrating how both the Austrian and the German Jews had thought themselves to be assimilated and, mistakenly, assumed themselves to be Austrians, or Germans, to whom, however, they were just 'Jews'. We are exposed to many interesting and disturbing characters and poignant and heart-rending sketches, portraying both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The deterioration of the marriage of the protagonist and his wife is disturbing and the degradation to which he is subjected could be seen to be a prediction of what is to come in the next decade in Vienna and war-torn Europe. This is not a book to be missed - I could hardly bear to put it down!
It is sad to note that the author himself, a Jew, David Vogel, was first detained by the French as an Austrian enemy alien, until France was occupied; he was later deported to a concentration camp in 1944 where it was assumed that he died.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Author and poet David Vogel, who was presumed killed in 1944 at Auchwitz, wrote one book, "Married Life", published originally in 1929 in Hebrew, but then translated by Dalya Bilu and reprinted first in 1988 in English. I mention the dates because Vogel was writing contemporaneously about Vienna in the mid-1920's.
David Vogel's story is about Vienna in the years after WW1. Anti-Semitism was a constant undertone in Vienna and vestiges of it were present in every-day society. Rudolf Gurdweill, a somewhat published writer, is looking sporadically for paying work but is mainly living the life of a poor bon vivant in Vienna's coffee houses and restaurants. He supports himself by asking friends for money, occasionally publishing something, and sometimes receiving money sent from his sister in America. Gurdweill, a Jew, meets Thea, a baroness from a noble family, rich in tradition, but poor in coin. He falls for her, she tolerates him, and they marry. It's the marriage-from-hell and lasts a few years.
Reviewers accurately point out that the basis of the book is that the Protestant Thea looks down and belittles every part of the Jewish Rudolf (or "Rabbit" as she calls him). They write that Thea represents Christian Vienna and Rudolf represents Jewish Vienna. But here's the problem. David Vogel makes it clear in his book that Thea willingly converts to Judaism and is married in a Jewish wedding ceremony. Why would SHE as the dominant partner, choose to embrace the religion of the weaker partner? In fact, Jews in Germany and Austria had for decades been going the other way; THEY were choosing to convert to Christianity to join the mainstream. The ultimate in assimilation, as it were. The fact that Thea proceeds to mock every part of Rudolf's life - including his, and now her - religion makes this plot point unworkable in my mind as a reader. A more accurate plot would be Rudolf converting to Christianity and then Thea cruelly mocking him for doing so. And, of course, making fun of Judaism, his former religion.
Religion anomalies aside, Vogel's picture of Vienna and its people at the time is beautifully written. He takes the reader back to that troubled time and because he's writing contemporaneously, his observations are particularly reliable and trenchant. A jewel of a book it is.
David Vogel's story is about Vienna in the years after WW1. Anti-Semitism was a constant undertone in Vienna and vestiges of it were present in every-day society. Rudolf Gurdweill, a somewhat published writer, is looking sporadically for paying work but is mainly living the life of a poor bon vivant in Vienna's coffee houses and restaurants. He supports himself by asking friends for money, occasionally publishing something, and sometimes receiving money sent from his sister in America. Gurdweill, a Jew, meets Thea, a baroness from a noble family, rich in tradition, but poor in coin. He falls for her, she tolerates him, and they marry. It's the marriage-from-hell and lasts a few years.
Reviewers accurately point out that the basis of the book is that the Protestant Thea looks down and belittles every part of the Jewish Rudolf (or "Rabbit" as she calls him). They write that Thea represents Christian Vienna and Rudolf represents Jewish Vienna. But here's the problem. David Vogel makes it clear in his book that Thea willingly converts to Judaism and is married in a Jewish wedding ceremony. Why would SHE as the dominant partner, choose to embrace the religion of the weaker partner? In fact, Jews in Germany and Austria had for decades been going the other way; THEY were choosing to convert to Christianity to join the mainstream. The ultimate in assimilation, as it were. The fact that Thea proceeds to mock every part of Rudolf's life - including his, and now her - religion makes this plot point unworkable in my mind as a reader. A more accurate plot would be Rudolf converting to Christianity and then Thea cruelly mocking him for doing so. And, of course, making fun of Judaism, his former religion.
Religion anomalies aside, Vogel's picture of Vienna and its people at the time is beautifully written. He takes the reader back to that troubled time and because he's writing contemporaneously, his observations are particularly reliable and trenchant. A jewel of a book it is.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"In the passage the tap woke up with a roar." - I was hooked on this marvellous book from the first sentence. The Vienna of the 1920's, with its social decay, is the setting for this humiliating relationship between a poor Jewish intellectual and an Austrian baroness, also Jewish. Of particular note (to me) is their lack of religious observance, demonstrating how both the Austrian and the German Jews had thought themselves to be assimilated and, mistakenly, assumed themselves to be Austrians, or Germans, to whom, however, they were just 'Jews'. We are exposed to many interesting and disturbing characters and poignant and heart-rending sketches, portraying both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The deterioration of the marriage of the protagonist and his wife is disturbing and the degradation to which he is subjected could be seen to be a prediction of what is to come in the next decade in Vienna and war-torn Europe. This is not a book to be missed - I could hardly bear to put it down!
It is sad to note that the author himself, a Jew, David Vogel, was first detained by the French as an Austrian enemy alien, until France was occupied; he was later deported to a concentration camp in 1944 where it was assumed that he died.
This book was found buried after the Shoah - it was apparently the only one the author wrote.
It is sad to note that the author himself, a Jew, David Vogel, was first detained by the French as an Austrian enemy alien, until France was occupied; he was later deported to a concentration camp in 1944 where it was assumed that he died.
This book was found buried after the Shoah - it was apparently the only one the author wrote.
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