Gerhard Jelinek

This book is going back to the library unfinished. I'll keep reading until I leave for the library, but that will leave half of the book unread. (In the end I skimmed the second half.)

The concept isn't bad, although even the author admits that deciding what fits is difficult. I certainly would have chosen different items, and more and more it seems to come down to a bunch of positive anecdotes about Austria in history. Many of the chosen anecdotes don't really seem to have had as much influence as the 'Sternstunden' ought to; others aren't really 'Stunden' but things that happened gradually.

Most of the chapters are too long and don't stay on topic. This is even worse when two chapters are related, as there has been no attempt to avoid repetition. On other occasions mistakes have crept in. Am I sure? How old was Prince Ludwig when he married Maria? On page 32 he is 10, but on page 33 he is 9. Obviously, it doesn't make a lot of difference, but it does raise questions about the author's scholarship. Can I trust other details?… (mere)

Das Buch ist wirklich gut gemacht. Ausgewählte Reden historischer Persönlichkeiten - von Jesus über Hitler bis Obama - werden in Ausschnitten dargestellt und dann in den Kontext der Geschichte gestellt. Für den historischen Laien ist das Buch gut recherchiert und wartet auch mit einigen - zumindest für mich - neuen geschichtlichen Informationen auf. Etwa was den ersten schwulen Politiker in den USA betrifft oder die Frauenrechtsbewegung in England. Das Buch ist zügig und spannend zu lesen, die einzelnen Reden und ihre Interpretationen arten in keinem einzigen Fall zu langweiligen Geschichte-Vorlesungen aus.… (mere)