lovelybookshelf's Review of 1913

by Florian Illies

A witty yet moving narrative worked up from sketched documentary traces and biographical fragments, 1913 is an intimate cultural portrait of a world that is about to change forever.

The stuffy conventions of the nineteenth century are receding into the past, and 1913 heralds a new age of unlimited possibility. Kafka falls in love; Louis Armstrong learns to play the trumpet; a young seamstress called Coco Chanel opens her first boutique; Charlie Chaplin signs his first movie contract; and new drugs like cocaine usher in an age of decadence.

Yet everywhere there is the premonition of ruin - the number 13 is omnipresent, and in London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Trieste, artists take the omen and act as if there were no tomorrow, their brief coincidences of existence telling of a darker future. In a Munich hotel lobby, Rilke and Freud discuss beauty and transience; Proust sets out in search of lost time; and while Stravinsky celebrates the Rite of Spring with industrial cacophony, in Munich an Austrian postcard painter by the name of Adolf Hitler sells his conventional cityscapes.

Told with Illies's characteristic mixture of poignant evocation and laconic irony, 1913 is the story of the year that shaped the last century.

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall:

1913 is a nonfiction history book...and it was spectacular! Classical music concerts inciting pandemonium and near-riots. Mervyn O'Gorman's incredible autochrome photographs (no photos in the book, just enticing descriptions which made me look them up - take a look and remember, these were taken in 1913!?!). There was even a little bit of mystery, as we wonder from month to month, where is the Mona Lisa?

I loved Florian Illies's slightly mischievous sense of humor and gift of storytelling, which reminded me of the late Paul Harvey's style of sharing the news.

"We can't forget Kafka, or his bride! So how did Felice Bauer react to the most preposterous marriage proposal of all time?"

"So: worries about worries in Augsburg. Was anyone in a good mood in May 1913? Plainly not."

I also found that some ideas and actions aren't quite as modern as I might consider them to be: men walking around with their trousers hanging low (painter Oskar Kokoschka), worries that technology will destroy nature, and more seriously, school shootings.

1913 does put a heavy focus on figures and events in European nations, especially France and Germany. But the abundant cast and their fascinating stories kept me clicking over to Google to research more. That made for a slightly slower read, but I was enthralled from beginning to end. This is exactly the kind of non-fiction read that keeps readers engaged and brings history to life! Loved it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

1913

by Florian Illies

Reviewed by lovelybookshelf on Oct 21, 2013

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