Even today, he continues to delight and infuriate in more or less equal measures.
As the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo murders continues to unfold, French readers are turning to the magazine’s latest cover star, with Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission racing to the top of bestseller lists at Amazon.fr. But is France’s most celebrated controversialist offering a splenetic vision of the Muslim threat to Europe or a spineless “submission” to gradual Islamic takeover? Actually, neither. It’s much more interesting than that.
A few weeks ago, the London Review of Books published a review of Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday by Michael Hofmann. It wasn't just a review of the book; it was a splenetic, infuriated attack on Zweig's writings in general, on Zweig the man and, I couldn't help noticing, on those who praise him. ". . . Now again book of the week here, rediscovery of the century there, and indulgently reviewed more or less everywhere . . ." writes Hofmann, and as I rashly made The World of Yesterday my pick of the week when I reviewed it – as well as a few others by him over the last few years – I can't help feeling as though he has me, among others, in his sights.
infuriate
verb
past tense: infuriated; past participle: infuriated
ɪnˈfjʊərɪeɪt/
- make (someone) extremely angry and impatient."I was infuriated by your article"
rash
[形]〈人が〉向こう見ず［軽率］な；〈言動が〉無分別な, 思慮の足りない, せっかちな
a rash decision
性急な決定
性急な決定
It would be rash of you ［＝You would be rash］ to go just now.
今すぐ行くのはむちゃだ.
今すぐ行くのはむちゃだ.
splenetic, -ical[sple・net・ic, -i・cal]
- 発音記号[splinétik, -kəl]
Line breaks: splen|et¦ic Pronunciation: /splɪˈnɛtɪk /ADJECTIVE
Origin
late Middle English (as a noun denoting a person with a diseased spleen): from late Latin spleneticus, fromGreek splēn (see spleen).
[形]
1 ((文))気難しい, 怒りっぽい；意地の悪い.
2 脾臓(ひぞう)の.
━━[名]怒りっぽい［意地の悪い］人.
sple・net・i・cal・ly
[副]
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