There is a moment in Joseph Roth’s Radetzky March where the grandson of the great hero of Solferino who had saved the life of the emperor and had consequently received honours that raised the class of the family into minor aristocracy explains his hatred of cards. He is a lieutenant in the army during peace time and spends his time in minor nineteenth century official acts and at the casino. He has a collection of stiff Austro-Hungarian principles, one of which is his hatred of cards and espousal of dominoes. Gentlemen, I recommend to you the game of dominoes, he proclaims. It is upstanding and teaches moderation. This type of principle rules his increasingly empty life in the shadow of his renowned forebear whose presence he forever feels like an icy wind on the nape of his neck.
I find that I too have a number of these principles that I can summon forth when required. Gentlemen, I might say to the virtual casino, you have before you a man who has never seen a Star Wars film. The hush runs through the assembly. Or else. I cannot accept your kind offer of a plate of asparagas for, as you may have heard, out of principle I never eat a vegetable starting with the letter a. I am single-handedly keeping alive the Austro-Hungarian mode.
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