Vicki Baum

"Grand Hotel consigue lo que pocas obras: crear un género. En los más de ochenta años transcurridos desde su publicación las intrigas hoteleras no han dejado de florecer. La propia Baum mantuvo el esquema que le dio la fama en otras dos de sus obras: Hotel Shanghai y Hotel Berlin, 1943. Los imitadores proliferaron entre los años 40 y 50, pero fue sobre todo en los 60 el novelista britanico Arthur Haley quien dio nueva vida al genero reverdeciendo sus laureles con las novelas Hotel y Aeropuerto, ambas llevadas al cine. Puesta al dia, la trama era mas o menos la misma, varios personajes cruzan sus problemas en un confortable espacio de paso e intereactuan con los profesionales a cargo. Y ya en los 80, la serie televisiva Hotel, ambientada en el Saint Gregory de San Francisco (un trasunto del Fairmont de la capital californiana) y protagonizada por James Brolin y Connie Selleca, la proyectaba a la America de Reagan. El hotel, ese espacio donde las obligaciones habituales se desvanecen y cualquier posibilidad parece abierta, no ha dejado desde entonces de alimentar incontables historias cruzadas en libros, cine, teatro y TV. Aunque muchos ignoren que el modelo se debe a la poco recordada Vicki Baum." - Del prologo de Sergio Vila-Sanjuan

A grand hotel in the center of 1920s Berlin serves as a microcosm of the modern world in Vicki Baum s celebrated novel, a Weimar-era best seller that retains all its verve and luster today.Among the guests of the hotel is Doctor Otternschlag, a World War I veteran whose face has been sliced in half by a shell. Day after day he emerges to read the paper in the lobby, discreetly inquiring at the desk if the letter he s been awaiting for years has arrived. Then there is Grusinskaya, a great ballerina now fighting a losing battle not so much against age as against her fear of it, who may or may not be made for Gaigern, a sleek professional thief.Herr Preysing also checks in, the director of a family firm that isn t as flourishing as it appears, who would never imagine that Kringelein, his underling, a timorous petty clerk he s bullied for years, has also come to Berlin, determined to live at last now that he s received a medical death sentence.All these characters and more, with all their secrets and aspirations, come together and come alive in the pages of Baum s delicious anddisturbing masterpiece.

Un voyage époustouflant dans les traditions balinaises du début du siècle, teinté de permanence.Fascinée par des photographies de Bali, Vicky Baum y séjourna en 1935. Elle y fit la connaissance du do

Écrit en anglais par l’auteure exilée et scénariste à Hollywood, ce roman est publié en 1943 aux États-Unis, l’auteure le traduit en allemand ensuite et il sera publié en 1947 à Amsterdam puis dans l

No momento em que a Amazônia clama por socorro, chega A árvore que chora, da escritora austríaca Vicki Baum, um dos mais célebres romances sobre a borracha. A visão da autora é a de quem se situa num

A luxury hotel in 1920s Berlin is a microcosm of modern society in this classic that inspired a hit Broadway musical and the classic film starring Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and John Barrymore.Prefigures Downtown Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs by examining multiple characters from different classes. Shelf Awareness The luxury Grand Hotel is a revolving door for the stray souls of 1920s Berlin. Among the guests is Doctor Otternschlag, a World War I veteran whose face has been sliced in half by a shell. Day after day he emerges to read the paper in the lobby, discreetly inquiring at the desk if the letter hes been awaiting for years has arrived. Then there is Grusinskaya, a great ballerina now fighting a losing battle not so much against age as against her fear of it, who may or may not be made for Gaigern, a sleek professional thief. Herr Preysing also checks in, the director of a family firm that isnt as flourishing as it appears, who would never imagine that Kringelein, his underling, a timorous petty clerk hes bullied for years, has also come to Berlin, determined to live at last now that hes received a medical death sentence.All these characters and more, with all their secrets and aspirations, come together and come alive in the pages of Baums delicious and disturbing masterpiecea Weimar-era bestseller that retains all its verve and luster today.