Very good! I had never read Joseph Roth, but this novella definitely makes me want to explore more.

"Weights and Measures" is set somewhere on the Eastern border of the Habsburg Empire. To please his new wife, the honorable Anselm Eibenschuetz leaves the Austro-Hungarian army to become a scrupulous Inspector of Weights and Measures in a border town where the people view representatives of the state with scepticism. Eibenschuetz is not happy and blames his wife for forcing him to leave his army job. Not long after, she betrays him and Eibenschuetz starts drinking, falls in love with a beautiful gypsy woman and - like the Empire he represents - slowly loses his principles.

The writing is good, but it is the setting that made this so interesting to me.

Always a pleasure to return to the world of Joseph Roth, the bard of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This novella is set in the years before World War One, on the Polish/Russian border, a world far removed from Vienna. The title refers to a government inspector, Eibenschutz, newly appointed after a lifetime of military service, whose upright stance terrorises the shady shopkeepers and publicans who short-change their customers.

Roth charts the inspector’s downfall in a near-straight line. First there’s a woman, then the drink, and finally there’s the confrontation with the antagonist. Roth very clearly sees the ex-military man as an embodiment of all that was inflexible, repressive and ultimately flawed about the Empire, unable to adapt and to find any kind of balance between rules, temptation and indulgence. There’s a great supporting cast including scheming conmen, an alluring woman and loyal sargeants. The Jewish culture of central Europe is always present in Roth, and here there’s a fantastic comically poor but pious shopkeeper.

It’s a great introduction to Joseph Roth’s world, and a couple of hours will see this off like the glasses of schnapps that prove so instrumental in Eibenschutz’s decline and fall.

A short novel written in 1937 set in a border province of Austria-Hungary before the empire's collapse, the novel traces the degradation and fall of an ex-soldier turned inspector for weights and measures. This is a man who as a soldier respected the certainties of life, followed orders exactly and respected authority. Not without a sense of decency, he follows the demands of his job punctiliously, although without pleasure. When he grows to suspect his wife's infidelity and meets the gypsy girl Euphemia, he begins a descent into a drunken intolerance, and loses the ability to distinguish between the law and justice. The reader suspects a bad end, and such a suspicion is rewarded.

An interesting but somewhat dated novel about a man lost in the world. The protagonist leaves his job in the army to take up a new post in the middle of nowhere, among thieves and smugglers, and then pretty much just observes as his life slowly goes downhill. The main weakness of the book unfortunately is all the female characters, who are paper thin at best and unprincipled at worst. I'd recommend to read this nover more as a snapshot of an era than anything else.

Another book which I enjoyed but with no real idea why. The writing is good and I looked forward to picking it up but the tale is quite simple and doesn't appear to have any kind of moral to it.

The plot revolves around Anselm Eibenschutz who becomes an Inspector of Weights and Measures at the insistence of his wife, who didn't like his long absences when he was in the army.

Eibenschutz takes his job seriously but is shocked to learn that his wife is pregnant by his clerk. This begins Eibenschutz's descent as he frequents a tavern and falls in love with the beautiful Euphemia. However, there are obstacles in the way of his love, which he resolves to remove to his own detriment.

Joseph Roth does a fine job of showing how easy it is to fall into bad company and let your responsibilities go. Eibenschutz seems to be a permanently disappointed man who is unable to say what he wants and is pushed around by others' wishes.

As I say I don't know why I liked the book other than the writing but I would definitely read more by this author.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the advance review copy.

Wow! Prior to this book, I was not familiar with Roth’s work, but I would love to read more.

“Most people leave earth without having acquired so much as a grain of truth about themselves.”

Does Eibenschütz learn the truth about himself? We are told that he is a man of honesty, but is he really?

This short novel is so good. Roth seems to pull in his life to this novel in pre-WW2 Europe.

A short, poignant tale about the disintegration and downfall of an essentially upright and honest man, who crumbles under the force of circumstance. When his wife insists, artillery officer Anselm Eibenschutz reluctantly resigns from the Austro-Hungarian army, to which he is deeply attached, and takes up a civilian post as inspector of Weights and Measures in a remote village close to the Russian border. Determined to carry out his duties honestly and effectively, whilst always regretting his army life, events conspire to bring him down. The book offers a glimpse into a soon to disappear world with the advent of WWI and gives an intimate portrait of the small community Eibenschutz finds himself in. An insightful and moving character study and an atmospheric description of a time and place long gone. Beautifully written in a measured and understated prose, it’s a small gem and a delight to read.

De Joods-Oostenrijkse auteur Joseph Roth was vooral bekend van zijn Radetzkymars (1932), maar zijn oeuvre is omvangrijk en binnen dat oeuvre is Weights and Measures (de Nederlandse titel is Het Valse Gewicht) uit 1937 een klein, maar fijn werkje. David Le Vay vertaalde het werk naar het Engels en het komt op 24 oktober uit bij Pushkin Press.

Anselm Eibenschütz verlaat na trouwe dienst het leger en komt te werken als ijkmeester in een klein stadje aan de Oostenrijks-Russische grens. Anselm is een rechtschapen man met een duidelijk moreel kompas en hij begint met duidelijke ideeën van goed en fout aan zijn nieuwe functie. Hij schrikt wanneer hij merkt dat het stadje waar hij zijn intrek heeft genomen, wordt gekenmerkt door wetteloosheid en een plek blijkt waar boeven de dienst uitmaken. Zijn visie op de moraal raakt steeds meer vertroebeld en langzaam maar zeker wordt Anselm zelf net zo’n schimmig figuur als zijn medebewoners.

Verval
Het verhaaltje is misschien wat simpel en heeft niet bijster veel diepgang, maar Weights and Measures is vooral erg goed geschreven en dat zorgt voor veel leesplezier. Roth weet zeer overtuigend het verval van het hoofdpersonage neer te zetten en ondanks dat Anselm vooral een tragisch figuur is, valt er af en toe ook goed te lachen.

Zo is er een groot verschil tussen de grote emoties die Anselm voelt, en wat er uiteindelijk uit zijn mond komt. Wanneer hij verliefd raakt op de vrouw van zijn aartsvijand wil hij haar de liefde verklaren, maar wat hij uiteindelijk tegen haar zegt is zo ongelooflijk duf en vreemd dat het enorm grappig is.

Binding
Er zitten wel meer van dit soort komische momentjes in het verhaal. Ze maken van Weights and Measures een plezierig boek, maar uiteindelijk krijg je als lezer toch nauwelijks binding met de personages en wordt dit nooit het kleine meesterwerk waar je op hoopt. Dit verhaal gaat over een plek en een tijd en over mensen die zo ver van de hedendaagse lezer af staan dat het lastig is om helemaal mee te komen met het vertelde.

Weights and Measures is alleszins onderhoudend en leuk, maar het bezit niet het tijdloze en universele karakter dat bij een klassieker hoort. Toch hebben de komische noten en de scherpe stijl van Joseph Roth mij overtuigd van het feit dat we hier met een goed auteur te maken hebben, waarvan ik nog niet het laatste gelezen heb.

My first Roth book and I am impressed. Written in a way you don't often see nowadays and with a language and prose that captures the imagination and transports you back in time.

The story of a man who likes order, and beyond anything likes being told what to do. Bitter that he has left the army where life was laid out for him and he just had to follow orders he ends up taking a job as an inspector of weights and measures in a small town near the border to Russia. Here life derails in every direction and this once honest man finds himself slipping into depravity.

The book really gives you a sense of the environment, the people and the ambiance of this small town. The snow, the spring, the birds and the stars are all vividly painted for the reader. The language still feels of the time despite being a new translation and it helps envelop you in this world so far gone.

*Weights and Measures* by Joseph Roth is a profound exploration of duty, isolation, and the human condition. Roth's masterful prose and keen insight into his characters create a poignant and timeless story. A deeply affecting novella that lingers long after reading.

This is a beautifully written book. Roth's writing style is so elegant and I loved the prose. The writing is what truly captivated me with this book and made me want to read more by Roth.

First off, my thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the quick and easy access to an e-ARC of this upcoming republication (October 29, 2024) of a Roth novella.
With all 4 grandparents coming over from Slovenia (part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time) in the early 20th C, I do love reading Roth's A-H novels.
Or novella in this case. A lesser known work of his, it is one of his best.
First published in 1934, and translated by David LeVay and published in English in 1982 by the Peter Owens Press. Later available through Penguin, but mostly in Great Britian rather than the US.
Pushkin Press will thankfully be republishing this jewel this Fall.
One of Roth's darker and more bitter works (and that is saying something!), it is the tale of a youngish ex-military man who takes a minor government post in what can only be described as a hellhole outpost on the edge of the empire. Filled with corruption and distrust, pettiness and illicit affairs, crime and ignorance - and drink.
Roth's descriptions (the weather!), and his choice to often repeat phrases over and over again in the same scene, works well here. It is like the pounding a nail to get the point across.
Thank you Pushkin Press for republishing this, and for providing me with the e-ARC.
5 out of 5. I have read "Radetzky March" 3 times, and many (most?) of Roth's many works through the last 15 years. It is really a joy to find somethinjg "new" by him, and this work really stands out!

Weights and Measures is a deceptively simple tale about a man, Austro-Hungarian artillery officer Anselm Eibenschütz, happy with his life in the military nagged by his wife to leave the army and take up a civilian job. The reluctant Eibenschütz takes up a job as a Weights and Measures Inspector on the Russian border. The conscientious Inspector finds himself in a world of corruption and dishonesty,the latter extending to his marriage,as he moves amongst the cheats,crooks, deserters and black marketeers of the edgy border region.

In a satirical piece of commentary about the waning power of the Austro-Hungarian empire Eibenschütz adopts an "if you can't beat them ,join them" mentality as his life spirals downwards and a shrug of the shoulders replaces his initial zealous "zero tolerance" attitude to his work.

This is a very enjoyable little book in a writing style that is almost whimsical at times,with vivid descriptions of winters so cold that birds drop dead from rooftops and Eibenschütz's faithful horse appearing to be the only character that he can fully trust.

Another great book from Pushkin Press who are bringing classic books from all around the world to a new readership,this is another of their gems.

We follow Anselm Eibenschütz in his two lives. We are in Eastern Europe, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Eibenchütz is a decent man, and a soldier in his first part of the life we get to know him as the reader.
With a wife and a child, he takes up a civilian position by the border and meets with the corrupted weights and measures. He tries to remain decent and play it all by the book.
He rages more than cholera.
Plot 3
Characterisation 3.5
Mood 3.5
Setting and themes 3.5
Prose 3.5

It feels like every book by Joseph Roth is a treasure. This short novel follows the rise and fall of Anselm Eibenschütz, an official of limited talents and ambitions. Eibenschütz, is the type of hero that Roth is loved for, he is relatable without being very likeable and he wields his small amount of power carelessly. Roth's writing is excellent as always and there is so much humour in the way he documents Eibenschütz's simple life.