Beware of Pity

Zweig's fictional masterpiece' GUARDIAN

'An intoxicating, morally shaking read... A real reminder of what fiction can do best' ALI SMITH

'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' WES ANDERSON

_______________ The only novel written by one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century

In 1913, young second lieutenant Hofmiller discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance-so begins a series of visits, motivated by pity, which relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope.

Stefan Zweig's unforgettable novel is a devastating depiction of the betrayal of both honour and love, amid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Language: English (Language of text), German (Original language of a translated text)

MEDIA REVIEWS It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this? - Wes Anderson

Zweig's fictional masterpiece - Guardian

It really touched me. I'm not an easy crier, not at all. But this book was one of the few moments that I found myself sobbing. It was a knife to my heart - Shira Haas, star of Netflix hit series 'Unorthodox'

The novel I'll really remember reading this year is Stefan Zweig's frighteningly gripping Beware of Pity, first published in 1939 ... and part of the ongoing, valiant reprinting by Pushkin Press of Zweig's collected oeuvre; an intoxicating, morally shaking read about human responsibilities and a real reminder of what fiction can do best - Ali Smith, TLS Book of the Year 2008

An unremittingly tense parable about emotional blackmail, this is a book which turns every reader into a fanatic - Julie Kavanagh, Intelligent Life (The Economist)

Beware of Pity is the most exciting book I have ever read...a feverish, fascinating novel - Antony Beevor, Sunday Telegraph

Original and powerful - The New York Times

Combines great storytelling with wonderful prose - Jeffrey Archer, Independent

It's a masterpiece. I didn't discover it till I was 16-years-old. He was number one on the bestseller lists in the 1940s. He was a great storyteller and a great writer, amazing combination - Jeffrey Archer, DNA India

Beware of Pity is chillingly resonant in the Trump era... [in Beware of Pity] this sense of creeping decomposition is compulsively alive. It is hypnotic - Simon McBurney, Guardian

I was riveted by it - Colin Firth

Absolutely marvellous - Roy Hodgson

In the novel a character remarks that 'the human tendency to self-delusion likes to declare dangers null and void even when we sense in our hearts that they are real - Evening Standard (review of stage adaptation)

Beware of Pity... is a tale of the past, memory and regret set in a world about to turn - The Stage

One of the most underestimated [novels of all time]... An extraordinary book - Stephen Fry