I do wonder if this coldness is particular to Vienna, or also Austria in general - or whether it's super-concentrated in Vienna? Definitely a fantastic selection of place for this tale of intrigue (or just particularly well-woven in your hands, Kate... :)
Good question, and of course it’s all perspective! However, I did find that Austrians I knew from elsewhere felt this coldness. I think to some extent we can get this anywhere as “foreigners” but there is something unique here and I mean no harm to the many lovely Viennese that I know. It doesn’t feel like a snobbiness that many pin on Parisians (I disagree, I think it is simply pride and I like it). Instead it feels like some sort of fear.
I could be wrong but apparently Alexander felt it, too!
"There was an icy formality to everything and a distance between everyone." - I felt that coldness. I also learned a new word - nonsequitur! I definitely know a few people who talk like this lol.
Having lived in Vienna as a Bavarian, I guess I had the advantage of dialect but the cool reservedness is real and you capture it aptly. I continue to enjoy this trip through the Viennese landscape, following along as Marie heads towards the inevitable. Great work, Kate.
Another great chapter, Kate. This is all really enjoyable and so well written. I love the way your characters take the scene and interact. I laughed at this one, and thought it was brilliant: "I was impressed but didn’t know what to say, so I changed the topic: ‘Is your husband here?’ She laughed, ‘Finn?’ (as if there were another one)".
Haha, thanks Silvio. It is not really a “funny” story but some things made me laugh as I wrote them down. I’m happy it made its way to you!! I like unexpected humour.
Another superb read Kate, and once again I find myself immersed in the seemingly cold and alienating world of this high social life Viennese society you have painted. (I would also like a champagne ...)
The air that Marija gives off...! Is Marie just her plaything? Is there a need to control her? Even the note to come correctly attired holds a lot of subtext.
"We clinked glasses and I felt like I could drift into her sphere. ‘Do you want to have children, Marie?’ I had noticed in the past month that her conversations were often filled with nonsequiturs." -- the best line! So blunt. So imaginable. It really adds to the character of Marija you have painted.
So blunt! Yes. I enjoy this aspect of certain Eastern European cultures and Germanic people in general (obviously not always). Thanks so much, Nathan. 🥂
Im starting to feel that alienation (or maybe just isolation) that Marie is experiencing at all turns in Vienna. Her continued attempts to integrate, or at least infiltrate, the barriers to even the basic human connection consistently comes through her experience of the world she is now engaged with. There is also this sense that the well to do have a type of Victorian type of flirtatiousness or play on the borders of propriety relative to sex and sexual desire with boundaries that are seemingly not exceeded; i wonder how Maria will respond???…(reminds me of Chopin…and we all know how that little walk out into the ocean worked our for Edna—or at least we assume how it worked out…). There this sense that Marie is experiencing a loneliness that is building with each scene and wonder how she is going to respond over the whole story. Keep it up DKW! Really enjoying reading!
Ohhhh Chopin! I hadn’t thought of that connection. Love it. Thanks a lot, Brian. Yes, the sex / sexual part of it I think can tell us so much about boundaries. I’m always thinking of Foucault and power, wondering how it manifests.
I do wonder if this coldness is particular to Vienna, or also Austria in general - or whether it's super-concentrated in Vienna? Definitely a fantastic selection of place for this tale of intrigue (or just particularly well-woven in your hands, Kate... :)
Good question, and of course it’s all perspective! However, I did find that Austrians I knew from elsewhere felt this coldness. I think to some extent we can get this anywhere as “foreigners” but there is something unique here and I mean no harm to the many lovely Viennese that I know. It doesn’t feel like a snobbiness that many pin on Parisians (I disagree, I think it is simply pride and I like it). Instead it feels like some sort of fear.
I could be wrong but apparently Alexander felt it, too!
"There was an icy formality to everything and a distance between everyone." - I felt that coldness. I also learned a new word - nonsequitur! I definitely know a few people who talk like this lol.
Thanks Nadia 😁
'tis a great word.
I think it's a whole genre of jokes, too.
Is it a genre of jokes!?? British humour?
I mean, I could have made that up 🤣 I'm sure it's a whole categy/genre though!
Haha likely! If not, we could start it 😆
Having lived in Vienna as a Bavarian, I guess I had the advantage of dialect but the cool reservedness is real and you capture it aptly. I continue to enjoy this trip through the Viennese landscape, following along as Marie heads towards the inevitable. Great work, Kate.
Thanks so much, Alexander! You are truly a culture-marker test. So interesting to hear different people’s feelings in Vienna.
Yikes.
Marie alone again…and in the context of a Viennese ball, something which fills my heart with dread.
Dread is good :) Thanks Nicolas! And thanks for picking up that grammar point I’m coming back to.
I just finished Chapter 12, and am thoroughly impressed again! You have managed to maintain a high level throughout, great read.
Thanks so much, Jon! Appreciate these words from such a great writer yourself.
PS I’m way behind on my reading until we return to Basel…
Another great chapter, Kate. This is all really enjoyable and so well written. I love the way your characters take the scene and interact. I laughed at this one, and thought it was brilliant: "I was impressed but didn’t know what to say, so I changed the topic: ‘Is your husband here?’ She laughed, ‘Finn?’ (as if there were another one)".
Haha, thanks Silvio. It is not really a “funny” story but some things made me laugh as I wrote them down. I’m happy it made its way to you!! I like unexpected humour.
Appreciate the kind words ☺️
Another superb read Kate, and once again I find myself immersed in the seemingly cold and alienating world of this high social life Viennese society you have painted. (I would also like a champagne ...)
The air that Marija gives off...! Is Marie just her plaything? Is there a need to control her? Even the note to come correctly attired holds a lot of subtext.
"We clinked glasses and I felt like I could drift into her sphere. ‘Do you want to have children, Marie?’ I had noticed in the past month that her conversations were often filled with nonsequiturs." -- the best line! So blunt. So imaginable. It really adds to the character of Marija you have painted.
So blunt! Yes. I enjoy this aspect of certain Eastern European cultures and Germanic people in general (obviously not always). Thanks so much, Nathan. 🥂
Im starting to feel that alienation (or maybe just isolation) that Marie is experiencing at all turns in Vienna. Her continued attempts to integrate, or at least infiltrate, the barriers to even the basic human connection consistently comes through her experience of the world she is now engaged with. There is also this sense that the well to do have a type of Victorian type of flirtatiousness or play on the borders of propriety relative to sex and sexual desire with boundaries that are seemingly not exceeded; i wonder how Maria will respond???…(reminds me of Chopin…and we all know how that little walk out into the ocean worked our for Edna—or at least we assume how it worked out…). There this sense that Marie is experiencing a loneliness that is building with each scene and wonder how she is going to respond over the whole story. Keep it up DKW! Really enjoying reading!
Ohhhh Chopin! I hadn’t thought of that connection. Love it. Thanks a lot, Brian. Yes, the sex / sexual part of it I think can tell us so much about boundaries. I’m always thinking of Foucault and power, wondering how it manifests.
Just beautiful
Thanks Jeffrey!