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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Choroba jest rzeczą jak najbardziej ludzką, odparł natychmiast Naptha, bo być człowiekiem, to znaczy być chorym. W samej rzeczy człowiek z istoty swej jest chory. Właśnie choroba robi go człowiekiem […].
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a slog of a read. There were several times where I debated putting it down. The plot is interesting, if somewhat inconclusive, but it’s buried under an entire Alps’ worth of philosophizing that make it extremely difficult to understand or follow. It was not for me, but I can understand why others might enjoy it and it’s interesting to see the time capsule elements as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Ableism, Antisemitism, War
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How can I rate this novel anything less than 5 stars? What a feat! - in terms of writing, themes, atmosphere. It's quite ominous and otherworldly at times, insightful and thought provoking at others, and also funny in its irony and absurdity. This novel shares some similar themes with another book I really enjoyed, "The Tartar Steppe," those being: exploring time, loss of time, stagnation, and war. The tone and scope of these two novels do differ, though.
"A human being lives out not only his personal life as an individual, but also, consciously, or unconsciously, the lives of his epoch and contemporaries . . . All sorts of personal goals, purposes, hopes, prospects may float before the eyes of a given individual, from which he may then glean the impulse for exerting himself for great deeds; if the impersonal world around him, however . . . provide[s] him with neither hopes nor prospects, if they secretly supply him with evidence that things are in fact hopeless, without prospect or remedy, if the times respond with hollow science to every . . . question . . . then it is almost inevitable . . . that the situation will have a crippling effect . . . For a person to be disposed to more significant deeds that go beyond what is simply required of him - even when his own times may provide no satisfactory answer to the question why - he needs either a rare, heroic personality that exists in a kind of moral isolation and immediacy, or one characterized by exceptionally robust vitality."
Mann is a genius, and I don't mean that lightly. Not once was I bored during this 706 page, 1924-published novel. While repetition is used, there is a purpose to it, which relates back to the novel's themes: What does it mean to be dead? What does really living mean and look like? How does our experience with death impact us? How can love help or hinder us? What do we do with our time? How does how we experience time define and affect us? How much control do we have over our lives? What does it mean to be sick, to be or not able to be, a "productive member of society?" Do we have a duty to society? Does being chronically ill limit your freedom or increase it? Does illness confer the sick individual more respect, honor, dignity, or the opposite? Do doctors always have our best interests in mind, or do they sometimes do things for a self-serving purpose? What is the relationship between time and space? Why is it important that we learn to think for and make decisions for ourselves instead of adopt others' philosophies? Is it possible - and ethical - to completely detach from society and ignore its problems? The sanatorium is a microcosm of society's ills at the time leading up to World War I.
"WHERE ARE WE? What is that? Where has our dream brought us? Dusk, rain, and mud, fire reddening a murky sky that bellows incessantly with dull thunder, the damp air rent by piercing, singsong whines and raging, onrushing, hellhound howls that end their arc in a splintering, spraying, fiery crash . . . this is war. And we are reluctant shades on the roadside . . ."
The world is sick, and we all are just living in it and trying to survive it.
I know I'll continue to think about this novel.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Slow but nice. Has some nice reflections about life, time, love.