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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Professor, base your whole college history of pre WW1 Europe syllabus on this novel. Everything is here, including brilliant language, and a lot of coughing.
This book had been sitting, unread, on my bookshelf for some time. It has the reputation like Ulysses. It doesn’t help that I know people who gave up half way into both. But I read Joyce, and with this book, there was a group reading it. So I read it.
And liked it far more than I liked Ulysses.
The two books are somewhat similar – massive, dense, reputations. I always had the impression with Ulysses that Joyce was showing off how smart and clever he was, and that feeling interfered with the enjoyment of the novel. This is not the case with MM. Mann is clever, but he isn’t shoving it down the reader’s throat. He too is puzzling the idea, worrying the bone. Unlike my dog, Mann wants to share his bone, and maybe he and the reader can crack it together.
In many ways, the Magic Mountain is about the undying lands. Those lands that a man (and it is usually a man) travels to, loses himself in, until he leaves and realizes how many years have passed. It’s a version of Rip Van Winkle. The mountain and the sanatorium that occupies it are a modern version of this, travel to not be horse or magic – but by that new romantic travel railroad. It is a Neverland. And like Pan’s home there is a dark edge to it.
In part, this fairy land saps not only the health of those who resides, supposedly to heal; this other world holds time and spends it rashly. It is unreal, but it has its attractions. The feel of putting off death, of not having to deal with life. And that is the danger that always is the danger. It always feels as if it would be nice to get off the ride for a bit.
The awakening, the reader knows, will be rude. The reader knows what comes to the mountain, the war that will change the map of Europe. The post 1950 reader knows even more that the Great War which wrecks the mountain also leads to the Second. A double awakening that Mann was not fully aware of. Knowing how Mann was not received in Nazi Germany makes the book even more powerful. This coming harsh reality even makes the reader at times wish for the timeless of the mountain.
And that would be the point.
It is the sense of the otherworldliness that echoes even in the style. At times the reader despairs of the density, and then the page turns, light shines though the rose window in the dark gothic cathedral and all is beautiful.
Until the cloud comes. But then it goes, and all repeats.
The unreality raises questions. Would Hans’ fate, would Europe or Germany’s fate, had been different if he had not visited his cousin? Which is worse giving up on life, letting past or being told to do it by someone who simply wants your money? Is the phrase for health a mind altering trick or a prophecy?
The answer to the above, to all questions that the novel raises and poses is the Holy Grail that Mann speaks of his in afterword. The Grail that we all, Mann, the reader, all search for.
And liked it far more than I liked Ulysses.
The two books are somewhat similar – massive, dense, reputations. I always had the impression with Ulysses that Joyce was showing off how smart and clever he was, and that feeling interfered with the enjoyment of the novel. This is not the case with MM. Mann is clever, but he isn’t shoving it down the reader’s throat. He too is puzzling the idea, worrying the bone. Unlike my dog, Mann wants to share his bone, and maybe he and the reader can crack it together.
In many ways, the Magic Mountain is about the undying lands. Those lands that a man (and it is usually a man) travels to, loses himself in, until he leaves and realizes how many years have passed. It’s a version of Rip Van Winkle. The mountain and the sanatorium that occupies it are a modern version of this, travel to not be horse or magic – but by that new romantic travel railroad. It is a Neverland. And like Pan’s home there is a dark edge to it.
In part, this fairy land saps not only the health of those who resides, supposedly to heal; this other world holds time and spends it rashly. It is unreal, but it has its attractions. The feel of putting off death, of not having to deal with life. And that is the danger that always is the danger. It always feels as if it would be nice to get off the ride for a bit.
The awakening, the reader knows, will be rude. The reader knows what comes to the mountain, the war that will change the map of Europe. The post 1950 reader knows even more that the Great War which wrecks the mountain also leads to the Second. A double awakening that Mann was not fully aware of. Knowing how Mann was not received in Nazi Germany makes the book even more powerful. This coming harsh reality even makes the reader at times wish for the timeless of the mountain.
And that would be the point.
It is the sense of the otherworldliness that echoes even in the style. At times the reader despairs of the density, and then the page turns, light shines though the rose window in the dark gothic cathedral and all is beautiful.
Until the cloud comes. But then it goes, and all repeats.
The unreality raises questions. Would Hans’ fate, would Europe or Germany’s fate, had been different if he had not visited his cousin? Which is worse giving up on life, letting past or being told to do it by someone who simply wants your money? Is the phrase for health a mind altering trick or a prophecy?
The answer to the above, to all questions that the novel raises and poses is the Holy Grail that Mann speaks of his in afterword. The Grail that we all, Mann, the reader, all search for.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent
«Волшебная Гора», «Берггоф», элитный туберкулезный санаторий в швейцарских Альпах, который становится местом духовных страстей. Я намеренно избегаю имён героев, это больше, чем рассказ о молодом немце, символе своей эпохи и своей великой и растерзанной страны. У этого произведения существует множество слоев и прочтений, некоторые раскрываются постепенно, иные видимы только в перспективе, после прочтения. Это и роман взросления, так как герой из мальчика постепенно превращается в мужчину; и антипод романа воспитания… антипод, потому что герой «разрывается», мечется от одного морального авторитета к другому. Это роман философский, а также роман исторический.
Томас Манн удивительным, роскошным, сложным языком конца XIX - начала XX века описывает на страницах романа жизнь «Волшебной Горы», туберкулезного санатория, из которого, однажды приехав, невозможно убежать. Это символ замкнутого общества Европы накануне Первой Мировой войны, символ разрушения «прекрасного века» со всей его философией, искусством, романтизмом и реализмом, материализмом и христианской духовностью, наивностью и достоинством. Герои романа, многие из которых безнадежно больны, другие совершенно здоровы, будто не хотят расставаться с этим миром, волшебным миром прекрасного, миром условностей и чести. Мы увидим тут философов, богословов, врачей, военных, людей всех психологических типажей, также типажей сугубо национальных. Французы, немцы, русские, поляки, евреи, итальянцы… здесь представлены все, и удивительно, насколько точно и с юмором автор изобразил национальные особенности, так, что они актуальны и теперь, в веке XXI-м.
Финал этого очень долгого романа поражает своей логичностью и грустной красотой. Это тот случай, когда девятьсот страниц книги это золотые девятьсот страниц.
Томас Манн удивительным, роскошным, сложным языком конца XIX - начала XX века описывает на страницах романа жизнь «Волшебной Горы», туберкулезного санатория, из которого, однажды приехав, невозможно убежать. Это символ замкнутого общества Европы накануне Первой Мировой войны, символ разрушения «прекрасного века» со всей его философией, искусством, романтизмом и реализмом, материализмом и христианской духовностью, наивностью и достоинством. Герои романа, многие из которых безнадежно больны, другие совершенно здоровы, будто не хотят расставаться с этим миром, волшебным миром прекрасного, миром условностей и чести. Мы увидим тут философов, богословов, врачей, военных, людей всех психологических типажей, также типажей сугубо национальных. Французы, немцы, русские, поляки, евреи, итальянцы… здесь представлены все, и удивительно, насколько точно и с юмором автор изобразил национальные особенности, так, что они актуальны и теперь, в веке XXI-м.
Финал этого очень долгого романа поражает своей логичностью и грустной красотой. Это тот случай, когда девятьсот страниц книги это золотые девятьсот страниц.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Prolixo, desnecessário, lento e sem foco.
Reflexivo, bonito, bem escrito e sufocante.
Essa é a experiência desse livro, que nos mostra, a doença, a falta de perspectiva, a tolice, a credibilidade e a amizade.
Um belo e difícil livro sobre a morte e a vida.
Reflexivo, bonito, bem escrito e sufocante.
Essa é a experiência desse livro, que nos mostra, a doença, a falta de perspectiva, a tolice, a credibilidade e a amizade.
Um belo e difícil livro sobre a morte e a vida.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes