The first few stories were familiar territory - late Habsburg Vienna, cafes, and protocol. The later stories though had very different settings; Ancient Rome, Reformation Flanders and more. What held them altogether was the emphasis on Jewishness - a part of Zweig that I often forget. once more he writes with feeling and compassion and you go along with the story. Heard yesterday that my friend Odgy has passed away. He only found out a few weeks ago he had Cancer, poor guy. I've known him since nursery, although sadly I think we've only met up once or twice in the last 30 years after seeing each other just about every day from the age of 3 to 18. He was married with a son, it's just awful. I went back to Harmondsworth last weekend to dig out some old photos of us, am very glad I found some and could send them on to him.
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