THE HOUSE OF WITTGENSTEIN: A FAMILY AT WAR

Book ID/图书代码： 00200007B17943

English Summary/英文概要： In one of the first Australian assaults on Poland during the Great War, Paul Wittgenstein was shot in the arm by a Russian sniper bullet. His right arm was amputated five inches above the elbow. Despite his crippling disability, he was determined to succeed as a concert pianist - using only his left hand. Undeterred, he commissioned Strauss, Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten to write concertos exclusively for the left hand. Paul Wittgenstein was the fourth son of the Jewish Austrian billionaire, Karl Wittgenstein, and his story is every bit as extraordinary as that of his family’s. Three elder brothers had committed suicide, his younger brother, Ludwig, was the precocious but difficult philosopher, both his mother and wife, Hilde, were blind, and his mentally unhinged son attempted to murder Hilde with a carving knife.Against the unfolding drama of this dysfunctional family is the brooding backdrop of Austria during the upheaval of two world wars. When the Nazis seized Vienna, the Wittgensteins found themselves in the life-threatening situation of being branded as Jews. In fretful desperation, the Wittgenstein sisters attempted to bargain with the Nazis, signing over millions of dollars and gold bars in exchange for being reclassified as Mischling (half-breeds). Persecuted by the Nazis and plagued by madness, blindness, suicide, and bitter betrayal, the Wittgensteins could only stand and watch as their palace was destroyed by Allied bombs. Alexander Waugh documents the dramatic fall of the phenomenally rich, extraordinary talented, and incredibly eccentric House of Wittgenstein.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 世界大战中澳大利亚首次对波兰发对的袭击中，保罗•维特根斯坦被一名俄国狙击兵击中右臂。并从手腕向上5公分被截肢。尽管因此而致残，他仍然坚持并成功成为一名音乐会钢琴师------仅仅用他健全的左手，他委托施特劳斯，拉威尔，普罗科菲耶夫，布里顿编写只用左手弹奏的协奏曲。保罗•维特根斯坦是奥地利犹太亿万富翁卡尔•普罗科菲耶夫的第四个儿子，他的故事和家族的其他人相比，也是独具一格的。
三个哥哥自杀身亡，他的弟弟路德围格，早熟且是一个难缠的哲学家，他的妻子希尔妲和母亲都是盲人，他精神错乱的儿子企图用切肉刀谋杀希尔妲。以这样一个世界大战中奥地利戏剧化发展的家庭为背景。当纳粹占领维也纳，维特根斯坦一家发现自己作为犹太人，正处于一个非常危险地处境。无比绝望中，维特根斯坦的姐妹们试图与纳粹讨价还价，用上百万的美元和金条作为交换，得以被重新划分为混血儿。被纳粹迫害，并饱受疯狂，失明，自杀，背叛的痛苦，维特根斯坦只能眼睁睁的看着自己的家园被同盟军的炮弹所摧毁……(zh)

Awards/获奖情况：2009BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction longlist

`This book has a wonderful subject and Alexander Waugh, with originality and panache, soon engages us with it at numerous levels ...’---Daily Telegraph

`This is a magnificently refreshing and invigorating volume which deserves a wide readership’---Independent

About the Author/作者介绍： Alexander Waugh was born in 1963. After reading Music at Manchester University he worked for two years as an impresario and concert agent. He was the Chief Opera Critic of the Mail on Sunday (1990-91) and at the Evening Standard (1991-1996) and has written many books on music including the best-selling Classical Music, A New Way of Listening (1995) which was translated into fourteen foreign languages. He reviews books regularly for most of the major British newspapers and has contributed cartoons to the Literary Review and the Daily Telegraph. His books Time (1999) and God (2002) were published to worldwide acclaim while his biography Fathers and Sons (2004) a portrait of the male relations in his own family, was made into 90-minute documentary film by BBC 4. In 2006 he presented another documentary called The Piano – a Love Affair also for BBC 4. His theatre piece Bon Voyage! (co-written with his brother Nathaniel) won the 12th Vivian Ellis Award for Best New Musical. As a classical record producer he has been responsible for a host of prize-winning discs including five MRA Awards and a French Grand Prix du Disque. As a publisher of the innovative fold-up Travelman Short Stories he won the Design Council Millennium Award for 2000. His new bookThe House of Wittgenstein will be published in 2008.
亚历山大•沃（Alexander Waugh），生于1963年，在曼彻斯特大学念完音乐后，做了两年的音乐会经纪人工作。他写了很多关于音乐的书，包括畅销书Classical Music, A New Way of Listening（1995），并已被译为十四国文字。他的另外两部Time（1999）和God（2002）一经出版便得到全球的广泛赞誉，而他的自传Fathers and Sons（2004）则被英国广播公司制成一部长达九十分钟的纪录片。他的剧作Bon Voyage！，赢得第十二届维维安•埃利斯奖的最佳新音乐奖。他的新书The House of Wittgenstein将于2008年出版。

Format:TRADE PAPERBACK

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

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