The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler, 1880-1918
July 25, 2011
Harry Kessler (1868â1937) was among the most connected people in the German Empire and indeed in pre-war Europe. A diplomat, writer, philosopher, and patron of the arts with a great breadth of knowledge, Kessler socialized with everyone from Nietzsche to Einstein and the Aga Khan. He kept meticulous diaries spanning over 50 years, documenting Germany at its intellectual, political, and artistic peak, and its descent into the maelstrom of WWI and beyond. This volume comprises half the diaries (believed lost and recently discovered in a lockbox in Mallorca). Easton, Kessler's biographer, has capably translated and culled the voluminous work to give a glimpse into the ferment of aristocratic Europe. That said, Kessler's style is oddly impersonal and often dry. He enjoys passing judgment (English working-class girls were "the most repulsive, vilest creatures that one can imagine as still humanâ) but rarely mentions his personal life or emotions, even as his friends die in WWI. Easton makes much of Kessler's homosexuality, but the diaries give little hint of intimate relationships with men or women. An enlightening view of European high society, notable for its erudition and density of anecdote, for readers strongly interested in European history and culture. 59 photos.
Starred review from September 15, 2011
Take a grand tour through the Belle Epoque without leaving your chair.
Count Harry Kessler's diaries from 1880 to 1918 bring to life the many highly influential artists, royals and politicians who affected the 20th century in myriad ways. A German born in Paris and educated in England and Germany, he was fluent in all three languages by the time he was 18. Kessler knew and dined with all the major players of that period, including writers, sculptors, artists and the royalty of Germany. In this impressive translation and editing job (which includes copious footnotes), Easton (History/California State Univ., Chico, The Red Count: The Life and Times of Harry Kessler, 2002) depicts a voracious reader who, despite claiming that his interests were completely absorbed by art, still managed to capably discuss philosophy, politics, the classics and even the lovely little bits of court gossip. Kessler often mentions his very low impression of the Grand Duke who wished to control all the arts in Germany. In 1890, after viewing an exhibition of the Artistes Independents, he describes the "orgies of hideousness and nerve-shaking combinations of colors I thought impossible outside a madhouse." Only two years later, Kessler became one of Ambroise Vollard's best customers, and he couldn't get enough of Cezanne, Monet, Degas and Renoir. Kessler also published travelogues. Reading his personal journals of his trips—particularly America, Greece and Fiesole, Italy, which he blissfully describes—will convince readers that they must journey there, book in hand, and see these wondrous sights. Kessler's insightful views of the aesthetic freedom that art provides and of the need to reread books to gauge how much the reader has changed are just samples of his astute outlook. He illuminates the innocent world he inhabited in the years before the horrors of World War I destroy the last vestiges of intelligent "civilization."
A hefty tome that may prove daunting for some readers, but this is a classic book for the ages to keep and reread.
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
October 15, 2011
Kessler (18681937) was extraordinarily well connected to the social, artistic, and political circles of imperial Germany. Editing Kessler's journals, Easton, author of Kessler's biography, The Red Count (2002), footnotes scores of then-obscure but subsequently famous artists and politicians whom Kessler recounted meeting. Sometimes as an admirer of artists' works, sometimes as a wealthy financial patron, Kessler interacted with most of the pre-WWI European modernists. If only for the names dropped (Munch, Stravinsky, Rodin), Kessler's diaries should not be missed by art historians or, incongruously as it appears, by military historians. For Kessler was also a patriotic German who participated in two years of WWI combat before seeing out the war as a diplomat engaged in furtive, ultimately futile peace negotiations with France. As for Kessler himself, Easton directs attention to diary passages suggesting he was homosexual, arguing that that underlay Kessler's outsider's posture in his detached but trenchant descriptions of his interlocutors, whether Parisian coquettes or Germany's wartime leaders. Kessler is a distinctively fascinating witness to the feverish creativity of a civilization anticipating a great war.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
Starred review from September 15, 2011
Take a grand tour through the Belle Epoque without leaving your chair.
Count Harry Kessler's diaries from 1880 to 1918 bring to life the many highly influential artists, royals and politicians who affected the 20th century in myriad ways. A German born in Paris and educated in England and Germany, he was fluent in all three languages by the time he was 18. Kessler knew and dined with all the major players of that period, including writers, sculptors, artists and the royalty of Germany. In this impressive translation and editing job (which includes copious footnotes), Easton (History/California State Univ., Chico, The Red Count: The Life and Times of Harry Kessler, 2002) depicts a voracious reader who, despite claiming that his interests were completely absorbed by art, still managed to capably discuss philosophy, politics, the classics and even the lovely little bits of court gossip. Kessler often mentions his very low impression of the Grand Duke who wished to control all the arts in Germany. In 1890, after viewing an exhibition of the Artistes Independents, he describes the "orgies of hideousness and nerve-shaking combinations of colors I thought impossible outside a madhouse." Only two years later, Kessler became one of Ambroise Vollard's best customers, and he couldn't get enough of Cezanne, Monet, Degas and Renoir. Kessler also published travelogues. Reading his personal journals of his trips--particularly America, Greece and Fiesole, Italy, which he blissfully describes--will convince readers that they must journey there, book in hand, and see these wondrous sights. Kessler's insightful views of the aesthetic freedom that art provides and of the need to reread books to gauge how much the reader has changed are just samples of his astute outlook. He illuminates the innocent world he inhabited in the years before the horrors of World War I destroy the last vestiges of intelligent "civilization."
A hefty tome that may prove daunting for some readers, but this is a classic book for the ages to keep and reread.
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)