Looking for a novel to read about Switzerland/Austria
 

I'll be in Europe this summer and would love to hear some book suggestions for the long plane and train rides I'll be taking! I like reading books that take place in the regions I'm visiting - in this case, primarily Switzerland and Austria. I'm open to anything, though I love historical fiction, and since I'll be gone for a while, a longer book (500+ pages) would be ideal. (I loved Mark Helprin's <i>Soldier of the Great War</i> and Hemingway's <i>Farewell to Arms</i> to name a few.)

Any recommendations would be much appreciated!!

I lived in Zurich for a while, and actually could not find that many novels set in Switzerland or even Swiss authors (at least not that have been translated into English). Some to try would be:

<i>Magic Mountain<i/> by Thomas Mann. It is set in Davos
<i>Anita Brookner</i>, Hotel du Lac
There is of course <i>Heidi</i> by Johanna Spyri

There is a book called <i>Why Switzerland?</i> by Giovanni Orelli, it is a bit dry and academic, but overall is an interesting discussion of how the Swiss got to be what they are.

Herman Hesse is Swiss but I can’t really understand him. James Joyce apparently worked on <i>Ulysses</i> while he lived in Zurich (he is also buried there), maybe that counts.

If you are in Zurich, you might also go to the Orell Füssli bookstore at Bahnhofstrasse 70, this is their English bookshop and they have a selection of Swiss books and Swiss authors that you might find interesting. See http://www.books.ch/shop/action/maga...07790&nav=5853, perhaps the website has some listings as well.

I don’t have too many suggestions for Austria, besides Freud and Kafka (and then just kill yourself); but there are biographies of the various Hapsburgs, you might search for those, esp on Maria Theresa (a formidable woman) and Marie Antoinette. There is also Graham Greene’s <i>The Third Man</i> which is set in Vienna, but which I have to admit is probably my least favourite of his novels. You might want to read the memoirs of the actual Von Trapp mother, as opposed to the Sound of Music version. I have not read it, but it is called The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp. I am not sure it is still in print.

You might also try something like Barbara Tuchman’s <A Distant Mirror</i> which is a history of medieval Europe focusing on major various events across the continent (the crusades, the plague, etc). It’s good general background and very interesting and well written. She also wrote some very good books on WWI (and some great US history books too).

I liked The Third Man, mainly because it was set in Vienna after the war.

It's possible that the reason it's not as good as his other novels because he wrote it for the movie, not as seems more normal, where the movie is adapted from the book.

Hi Jess M,

Set at the Lake Geneva region -- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the short story Daisy Miller by Henry James.

If I can think of others, I'll post again.

s

Neither historical or fiction, The Beckoning Silence by Joe Simpson might be worth a look

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, The Final Problem, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has at least one scene set in Switzerland. not sure about the entire book

"Heidi". Seriously. It's a great way to understand the older Swiss culture.

If you look at the home page of Bergli.ch (an English bookstore in Basel) you'll see a whole row of books dealing with Switzerland on a humourous but quite accurate level.

http://www.bergli.ch/

Dear old Mark Twain's travel report about Southwest Germany and Switzerland, half fact and half fiction: "A Tramp Abroad". Hilarious!!!

Wow thanks everyone!! I just ordered Heidi on paperbackswap.com (has anyone used it? it's a really neat book-swapping Web site, though it might only be available in the U.S.) Both <i>The Magic Mountain</i> and <i>A Tramp Abroad</i> sound really interesting, and I already have <i>Frankenstein</i> on my shelf to read, and I'll be staying in Geneva, so I will definitely take a look at that one.

Unfortunately I'm only stopping in Zurich on a train ride so won't have time to explore the book shop you mentioned Cicerone. I will just have to get back there another time and do some more book hunting!

All these books offer great insights on Switzerland. For more info, http://www.bergli.ch/publications/publicationBox/titles

At Home - a selection of stories by Franz Hohler
Swiss Cookies - Biscuits and Bakes for Christmas and All Year Round
Ticking Along with Swiss Kids
Hoi - Your Swiss German Survival Guide
Hoi Zäme - Schweizerdeutsch leicht gemacht
Hoi! Et après - Manuel de survie en suisse allemand
Beyond Chocolate - Understanding Swiss Culture
Schokolade ist nicht alles - Ein Leitfaden zur Schweizer Kultur
Laughing Along with the Swiss
Ticking Along with the Swiss
Ticking Along Too
Ticking Along Free
Swiss Me
Once Upon An Alp
A Taste of Switzerland
The Surprising Wines of Switzerland
Lifting the Mask - Your Guide to the Basel Fasnacht
pfyffe ruesse schränze - eine Einführung in die Basler Fasnacht
Climbing the Rigi / Rigi-Besteigung
Climbing the Riffelberg / Riffelberg-Besteigung
Holiday in Lucerne / Ferien in Luzern
Cupid's Wild Arrows - Intercultural Romance and its Consequences
Culture Smart! Switzerland
Berne - A Portrait
Inside Outlandish
ANNAtomy

"The Visit of the Old Lady", Dürrenmatt, a lot more insight then you expected.

How could I forget <i>A Tramp Abroad?!</i> I would put that on the list for sure too!

I was going to suggest Heidi but schuler beat me to it. Glad I'm not the only one who thought of it!

Henry James' Midnight Song, by Carol De Chellis Hill

For Austria try The Fig Eater by Jody Shields and, if you are brave, The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil.

I suggest that you read the lovely short novel that takes place in Swizerland,"La Bise: A Novel in Lucerne" by Lisa R. Hurley.

A fairly recent book I enjoyed which is set partially in Vienna: The Hare with the Amber Eyes