The Radetzky March

Unlike most “must reads” this is actually a readable story and not at all old fashioned.

To get into the Kindle version of this excellent book you have to skip, skim or plough through a long, tedious and rather pompous introduction by the translator, who turns out to have been to the same school as me. But persevere. The book is not heavy, but it's deeply thought provoking. And I liked its portrayal of the ramshackle anachronistic world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, cobbled together and losing wars with a "silly army and cretinous institutions".In spite of my carping about the translator, the style and prose are good, though it contains more than its fair share of obscure words. It is certainly not sexually explicit, but on occasion mildly and pleasantly sensual. Also it explores human feelings and tragedies without beingunduly sentimental, let alone schmaltzy. Roth himself comes through in it, not least in his affection (as a Jew) for the Roman CatholicChurch and his struggle with alcohol. Indeed, it is crucial to realise his own perspective. For all its faults, the Empire was multi-cultural and liberal. What followed was not. And Roth belonged to that Empire, with its mosaic of nations and religions. Nationalism was not for him.The book contains several well-drawn characters and the events hold your attention. It parallels the decline and fall of a family with that of anEmpire, and in its way it's very sad. Then, of course, sadder still, we have the First World War. I've been criticised elsewhere for describing this ghastly conflict and carnage as futile, and this book (and for that matter All Quiet on the Western Front) adds yet another perspective.The book might not be for everyone. At the risk of being arrogant (moi?) it's useful to have a knowledge of Twentieth Century history and the events leading up to the First World War. But certainly for me it worked. It's an outstanding volume and I'm glad I read it.

The Radetzky March, written some ten years after the fact, chronicles the Habsburg Empire's final slide to disaster. The von Trotta und Sipolje have been ennobled after the first Trotta, the descendent of Slovenian peasants, saves the emperor's life at the battle of Solferino. His son and grandson, a high-ranking civil servant and an army officer, continue both to draw from that lucky charm and to labour under its exacting standard. For all their loyalty and uprightness, though, theirs is a lost cause, the empire they serve doomed to explode under the growing kinetic force of its nationalities. As history, this is backward looking and not hugely original. As fiction, it makes for a very moving book, full of nostalgia for a world that, for all its quirks and military rigidity, emerges as altogether benign. Roth's prose is faultless. His book negotiates the contradictions of masculine friendship, honour, and jealousy, the awkwardness of communication across classes and identities, and it even does that perilous thing in any novel: to render an actual historical character with conviction, here the emperor Franz Joseph. Perhaps The Radetzky March does not provide much by way of romantic interest, but these are somewhat repressed characters, after all, and the point is the tension between their decency and repression. Roth deserves to be more widely read and this novel its gathering applause. For a non-fictional take on the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and beyond, also see Stefan Zweig's autobiographical The World of Yesterday.

This is the personal story of three generations of fathers and sons against the backdrop of the decline of the Austro-Hungarian empire. I was expecting a harsh, agressive book about honour and death and indeed these themes are key to the story but the style is tender, emotive and full of confused regret.The fathers and sons in question have a distant, reticent respect for each other but also a deep and unfathomable love. The youngest von Trotta's life unravels into an out of control heap which mirrors the demise of the empire itself. While his father, the older generation 'going on', can only look on sadly impotent.The clarity of detail and description of the various incidents and events that mark the life of the youngest protagonist are stunningly real. The quality of the writing and the translation is so good that you feel as though you are watching something rather than reading it.Perhaps I'm making this book sound wafty and nostalgic, it is nostalgic but it's vision is razor sharp. I was moved to tears in one chapter when the Trotta's old servant Jacques becomes ill and dies. It's beautifully and intelligently written. Another book I have to ration because it is such a treat to read writing as good as this.

A long and pleasant tale, written and read easily, but with few obvious insights (for me) and more a description of the time. I wouldn’t subscribe to the view that this was “the greatest book of its time”; nonetheless, it’s a story well written and enjoyed.

I am a bit of a speed reader ( like to get to the story etc) but this was one of those rare books where i felt that i was missing something if i was to do that.... I wanted to luxuriate in the proseThe other reviewers are correct - very little happens but what a brilliant sense of the period is painted by the author - a sense of anachronistic decay which is hinted at and glimpsed through the characters who exist in a world which is dancing towards the abyss.My previous read had been the biography of Emperor Franz Joseph by John van der Kiste ( a book i read twice) and the two books together have made my recent reading experience almost delicious... With the benefit of a century after World War One it is obvious that the polyglot Austro Hungarian Empire would not survive the opening decades of the twentieth century but i am in awe of Joseph's Roth's ability to paint the picture as he did in the decade when he did so.I cannot recommend this book enough