'Journey Into the Past' - Stefan Zweig

[bookgazing]

The blurb on the Pushkin Press version of ‘Journey into the Past’ by Stefan Zweig makes this novel sound like a simple, yet passionate, romantic affair. Torn apart by WWI two lovers reunite to find themselves much changed. ‘Confronted with an uncertain future, and still haunted by the past, they discover whether their love has survived hardships, betrayals, and the lapse of time.’ the blurb says, which seems to settle what the book is really about. However, in ‘Journey into the Past’ Zweig seems to deliberately impose complications on his narrative that allow the reader to frame his narrative in a completely different way.

There’s no denying that the first part of ‘Journey into the Past’ when Ludwig first meets his romantic interest is passionate. The romantic phrases used to describe Ludwig’s feelings for the unnamed wife of his employer are ‘sweep you off your feet’ style proclamations that clearly show the extent of his love. The pace of the writing ushers the reader along in a sweep of emotion and the words used to describe the thoughts of the main character Louise resonates with real love.

I do think that if this book was rejacketed like a typical romance novel and Zweig was given a pen name literary critics would be aiming more snark at ‘Journey Into the Past’. Take for example a passage like this:

‘And only then was he overwhelmed by the realization that this woman, the woman he loved, must have loved him in return for a long time, for weeks, months, years, keeping tenderly still, glowing with maternal feeling, until a moment such a this struck through her soul. The incredible nature of the realization was intoxicating. To think that he was loved, loved by the women he had though beyond his reach – heaven opened up, endless and flooded with light. This was the radiant noon of his life.’

Now there’s nothing flawed in this passage. It’s a little overly rapturous, a bit overblown in its sentiments, but that’s just my own subjective assessment and as Ana says, ‘one person’s unintentional comedy is another’s beautiful prose’ . The word choice is full of complexity and the rapid pace fits the fervent emotional tone, but this is definitely the kind of language that is typically absolutely slated if it appears in romantic genre fiction.

Last year ‘The Post Office Girl’ by Stefan Zweig made my list of top ten adult books in 2010 and it’s a book I’ve added to my mental list of books I must re-read...sometime. I’m sure if I examined ‘The Post Office Girl’ again I’d find similarly enthusiastic declarations of emotion and the same kind of fast pace brought in to suggest high emotion. The difference between the two books is that ‘The Post Office Girl’ uses these devices to enhance the detailed knowledge the reader gains about Christine’s thoughts and inner life, whereas ‘Journey into the Past’ uses them as a supplement for giving the reader a decent amount of detail about the characters who are supposedly madly in love. There is a difference between stylistic brevity and a hollowness in your text. If you listen you may hear a faint ringing sound from inside the characters and histories of ‘Journey into the Past’.

And if this book is viewed as a straightforward story of romance battling circumstances and losing that hollowness of creation extends throughout the whole novel. The object of Ludwig’s affections is impossibly idealised in his thoughts and never granted a first name. Her own identity is non-existent. It’s hard not to view this kind of incomplete love interest, who is really supposed to be a main character, as an artistic failing if the book is intended to be read as a story that seeks to explain how love really manifests. To view ‘Journey into the Past’ as a novel that mourns romantic feeling that has been unfortunately frustrated seems a little odd, as the relationship presented in its pages (at least in the second half of the book, after Ludwig has been isolated in Mexico by the sudden arrival of war and returns after nine years) is so far away from a realistic, or desirable love affair.

I question whether this book intends to celebrate, mourn, or even speak of real romance. In my opinion ‘Journey into the Past’ is a novel that critiques the idealisation of love and Ludwig’s desperate attempts to gain what was denied him by circumstances. Coming from an author who wrote such a perceptive novel about young woman’s experiences I find Ludwig’s love interests lack of personality highly suspicious, almost as if Zweig intends to make a deliberate point about Ludwig’s character and limited perspective by giving so little substance to the woman he desires.

During the initial affair descriptions make it seem as if both partners are actively participating in the affair, as ‘The two of them spent he ten days until his departure in a constant state of wild, ecstatic frenzy.’ Although this woman will not go all the way and sleep with Ludwig before he goes to Mexico, her refusal seems quite natural for the context. She is a married woman after all and women of her generation might be quite conflicted about sex. But when Ludwig returns to meet his lover after many years she is described as taking an extremely inactive part in rekindling the affair. In fact her reaction to Ludwig’s renewed affections is one of reluctance, or almost of fear. This is especially apparent when she and Ludwig arrive at a hotel where he believes they will finally, happily consummate their relationship:

‘Her lips moved, trying to say something – perhaps the same words she had said ten years ago, that distressed, “Not now! Not here.”
But then she saw his gaze turning to her, anxious, disturbed, nervous. And she bowed her head in silent consent, and followed him, with small and daunted steps, to the entrance.’ .

Her reaction to Ludwig’s proposal that they go away together is not exactly active. What she actually says is ‘I could never have denied you anything’ which to me speaks of an attachment built on an unhealthy, obsessive link, rather than a cherished relationship reawakening. It seems as if by portraying her reluctance alongside Ludwig’s interpretation of her actions Zweig hopes to highlight the flaws in this relationship.

The conclusion I draw is that ‘Journey into the Past’ is a novel about the dangers of nostalgia, as some other reviews point out. I’d put more of an emphasis on the danger part of that phrase, to bring into sharp focus the tone of fear and violence that pervades the couple’s return to their relationship. To be compelled by old ties is unhealthy in this novel. It leaves causes Ludwig to disregard the real woman he has in front of him and to compel her to actions she really doesn’t want to take. The woman appears to fear what is to come, but cannot resist going with Ludwig. It might be a stretch, but the appearance of a nationalist parade just as they enter the town they’ve travelled to could be representative of the dangerous nature of looking to the past, as the desperation to recapture the honour of old Germany after WWI contributes to people’s nationalistic enthusiasm for Hitler’s party. The glimpse of the march certainly adds to the malevolent feel of the couple’s arrival at the hotel:

‘And again and again, from troop to troop, the drumbeat hammered out, its monotony doubly inflaming feelings, keeping the marchers’ backs straight, their eyes hard, forging war and vengeance by their invisible presence here in a peaceful square, under sky with soft clouds sweetly passing over it.’

I read ‘Journey into the Past’ as a novel primarily invested in critiquing flaws in people’s perception of their lives, specifically commenting on the idea of an idealised female love interest, rather than a story of reciprocated love that is thwarted by circumstances. Unfortunately Zweig’s critique still involves presenting a woman through the male, idealising gaze, which makes her a rather dull character to read. I’ll take Zweig’s attempt at critiquing the male gaze, but I’d rather I was given this woman’s own perspective so I could see her actively refute her idealisation. It’s always satisfying to hear a woman speak for herself.