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Original poster

Books set in Vienna or about Vienna

27 replies

JeromeKJerome · 12/08/2024 20:30

I've just booked a trip to Vienna for October half term and would read some books set in or about Vienna in preparation.

Looking for either historical fiction or non fiction.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

OP posts:
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FortunataTagnips · 23/08/2024 15:52

NowyouhaveDunnett · 23/08/2024 14:49

I love his work, he evokes the end of days (for the empire) melancholy so well.

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He does! I love the way some of the same slightly louche, lost characters meander through his books.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 23/08/2024 15:01

Ah brill. We're in Vienna at the moment. These will give me something good to read when we get home. I'd forgotten about John Irving's Vienna connection.

Also, oldie but goldie - Graham Greene's The Third Man.

NowyouhaveDunnett · 23/08/2024 14:49

FortunataTagnips · 21/08/2024 22:15

I was also thinking Joseph Roth, though couldn’t remember which, if any, of the books focuses specifically on Vienna. But for a good wallow in 19th-century Austria-Hungary, he can’t be beaten.

I love his work, he evokes the end of days (for the empire) melancholy so well.

Nyx · 21/08/2024 22:39

Jonathan Carroll loves Vienna and reading his novels based there always made me want to go. The first one I read was Sleeping in Flame, I think. It's magic realism, fairy tale, I liked it a lot. I think he still lives in Vienna.

SoloSofa24 · 21/08/2024 22:24

Another recommendation for The Flames, by Sophie Haydock. based on the women in the life of Egon Schiele, mostly set in Vienna.

You should definitely also watch The Third Man.

Other modern classics set in Vienna are Auto da Fé by Elias Canetti, and The Man Without Qualities, by Robert Musil (in three volumes, unfinished) but they are both pretty dense and heavy-going, so possibly not ideal pre-holiday reading.

Xiaoxiong · 21/08/2024 22:17

Highly recommend Danubia by Simon Winder. I read it on the train from Zurich to Vienna and learned so much about the history of that whole area and then when we got to Vienna it all made much more sense! (And he's such a funny writer.)

FortunataTagnips · 21/08/2024 22:15

I was also thinking Joseph Roth, though couldn’t remember which, if any, of the books focuses specifically on Vienna. But for a good wallow in 19th-century Austria-Hungary, he can’t be beaten.

NowyouhaveDunnett · 21/08/2024 21:42

Bit late but I enjoyed Vienna Passion by Lilian Faschinger and The Fig Eater by Jody Shields.

My favourite about the Hapsburg Empire though is The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth.

decluttering · 15/08/2024 12:06

Kornvallmo · 14/08/2024 20:42

What??? Really? I feel I grew up on John Irving and can't remember a thing about Vienna in his books - time to re-read them I guess.

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Yep, enjoy re-reading!

Illegally18 · 14/08/2024 22:49

Many years ago I read a book called 'Vienna 1900'. Also 'Beware of Pity'. Both very good books but not a larf a minute

Megjobethamy · 14/08/2024 22:35

The Third Man is a spy movie set in post war Vienna, written/ produced by Graham Greene and Orson Welles. It is of the film noir genre.There are tours related to the movie in Vienna.

mambojambodothetango · 14/08/2024 21:33

The Flames (I think) is about Egon Schiele and his various exploits in Vienna.

Kornvallmo · 14/08/2024 20:48

Ooops sorry OP, Graham Greene's The Third Man; A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré.

Kornvallmo · 14/08/2024 20:42

decluttering · 13/08/2024 07:32

John Irving lived in Vienna for a while and quite a few of his books are set/ partially set there. Setting Free the Bears, Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp etc.

What??? Really? I feel I grew up on John Irving and can't remember a thing about Vienna in his books - time to re-read them I guess.

Geppetto · 14/08/2024 20:39

Snow Country - Sebastian Faulks.
A beautiful book...

sakura06 · 14/08/2024 20:11

'Waiting for Sunshine' by William Boyd is set in Vienna. Enjoyed it, but not the best book I've ever read. You might enjoy it if you have a particular interest in psychology as it features prominently.

Attictroll · 13/08/2024 08:42

Do either watch or read Vienna Blood. Love the tv show for Vienna pre war tensions.

decluttering · 13/08/2024 07:32

John Irving lived in Vienna for a while and quite a few of his books are set/ partially set there. Setting Free the Bears, Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp etc.

FortunataTagnips · 12/08/2024 21:58

Looks like it’s out of print but available second-hand - Last Waltz in Vienna, by George Clare.
The true story of the author’s well-to-do Jewish family and the Holocaust.

MJOverInvestor · 12/08/2024 21:45

Oh yes, definitely Hare with the Amber Eyes...

PatriciaHolm · 12/08/2024 21:44

The Liebermann novels by Frank Tallis (televised as Vienna Blood)

Original poster
JeromeKJerome · 12/08/2024 21:37

Thank you. Some really helpful suggestions and a great webink.

OP posts:
weebarra · 12/08/2024 20:53

Yes, I immediately thought of Eva Ibbotson!

Gininvolved · 12/08/2024 20:50

Hare with Amber eyes