While visiting Vienna, the Shah of Persia falls for a beautiful countess. The Austrian officials arrange for him to spend the night with the "countess", but unbeknown to the Shah she is a prostitute who merely resembles the countess. From this night follows a chain of ruinous consequences.
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In the spring of the year 18-, the Shah-in-Shah, the great, exalted and holy monarch, the absolute ruler and overlord of all the lands of Persia, began to feel a sense of malaise of a kind he had never experienced before. Read the first page
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In the spring of the year 18-, the Shah-in-Shah, the great, exalted and holy monarch, the absolute ruler and overlord of all the lands of Persia, began to feel a sense of malaise of a kind he had never experienced before. Read the first page
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Laconico
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Utterly compelling with regular moments of great insight this is typical Joseph Roth: deep, concise and entertaining. The difference between him and the way others would portray the superficial and un-redemptive characters of high society Vienna is that his hallmark is playfulness not bitterness. There is still much to be loved in the characters and a sweet, fallible humanity is evident throughout. There is absolutely nothing superficial about the characterisation despite the bizarre claims of another review here. I guess that reviewer just confused the nature of the characters with the author's depiction of them? This is a fun story, masterfully told. Don't be misled, to compare this book with the Radetzky March would be like comparing an apple with an orange.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A.K.Farrar
Format:Paperback
There is a tremendous sense of the decline of an empire here.
An arogant army officer, so out of touch with the real world that he doesn't realise he has become bankrupt - both financially and morally - fathers an illegitimate child, arranges a sordid encounter for the 'Shah of Shahs' and, through a failure to act, not only spirals to his own distruction but takes several other people with him.
The personal tale clearly reflects the state the 'state' is in.
The characters are finely drawn with an economy of words which makes this a very sharp edged tale.
By J. Pierson
Format:Paperback
I first came to Roth with Confession of a Murderer and liked it enough to buy another, choosing arbitrarily The Radetzky March, which is, of course, a masterpiece. I read a few of his slim novels after that and liked them all but nothing seemed quite as good as Radetzky. I had String of Pearls for a year without reading it. It's wonderful. I don't know of another writer who can encompass so much plot, can shift focus from one main character to another and discuss the passage of time, and do it all with such a lightness of touch. The narrative shifts are done so elegantly yet the writing is so pacey and funny and engaging that this elegance seems to be sweeping under the surface like a narrative fairy. You don't even realise it's happening. Taittinger is a classic Roth hero- a tired man out of his depth. The story is moving and funny and enthralling and at his best (and he us certainly at his best here) Roth writes prose as beautiful and captivating as it comes. A lovely book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A melancholy story of decline
A beautifully written (and translated), sad story of failure and deceit at the end of the 19th century in the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2010 by Bluebell
3.0 out of 5 stars
"In this short book there is enough for many books."
This quotation from the introduction by Michael Hofmann, poet and translator of four Roth novels, highlights both the delights and limitations of this book. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2003 by Mary Whipple
4.0 out of 5 stars
Each Pearl a Story
The title fits the structure of the book. Each character involved with the necklace was like a pearl on that necklace. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 1998
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