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mmcbride's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
juliacecil's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
amysbrittain's review against another edition
Left off page 131--want to finish in the winter. A dig-in kind of book that requires going down the rabbit hole a little bit with the characters at the Alpine sanatorium where some spend many eerie years in the early 20th century.
j_m_alexander's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A beautifully written philosophical slog of a novel exploring the ideas of humanism, nihilism, perceptions of time, and reason set in a hermetic environment, an allegory for pre-World War I Europe.
“It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting his whole self into it, quite unawares, presenting as if in allegory the basic themes and problems of his life.”
Indeed, it is remarkable, Herr Mann - how one can bob and weave one's argument around and around one's self, twisting into an allegorical knot of philosophical debates, saying so much with so many finely rendered words and yet before you know it undercut the previous statements with further statements of similar sentiment without casting off or swearing off of those previous, all is relevant and adds to the former, as well as the latter, and yet the sum of the elaborate equation may very well be null. My head swims with it all. I get lost in the words, am convinced of some meaning in them and then it slides out of my grasp.
“Consciousness of self was an inherent function of matter once it was organized as life, and if that function was enhanced it turned against the organism that bore it, strove to fathom and explain the very phenomenon that produced it, a hope-filled and hopeless striving of life to comprehend itself, as if nature were rummaging to find itself in itself - ultimately to no avail, since nature cannot be reduced to comprehension, nor in the end can life listen to itself.”
The most dwelled upon theme was probably that of time, a cyclical pondering on our own immeasurable perceptions of time. Mann excelled in showing the reader how time can slow to an imperceptible crawl with a good 500+ pages of regulated, repetitive writing on barely changing routine, before introducing some sudden catalysts of change that thus propulsively hurdled the reader to a close of the book. I would say that Mann first told us then showed us - touché, Herr Mann, touché.
“Time drowns in the unmeasured monotony of space. Where uniformity reigns, movement from point to point is no longer movement; and where movement is no longer movement, there is no time.”
There is much to value in these pages, but (1) I think I am likely not clever enough to pick up on all of the threads, and (2) simply did not care quite enough to work at it at this time (there it is again, time [let's not even talk about free will]). An impressive book that requires some dedication and work from the reader. I can appreciate it without loving it. A clever book of ideas that also manages to hide humor in irony aplenty, but is it worth the slog? I honestly do not know... I am not sure that I know anything... or that anything matters (damn you Naphta).
bigolscrewup's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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
4.25
alisonlacivita's review against another edition
5.0
If anyone wishes to convince me of the merit of this book, please do - I think I missed something. Or several somethings.
o_htz's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
martaltg_'s review against another edition
4.0
Volevo dare 5 stelle a questo romanzo, ma le ultime 200 pagine (di 700) mi hanno messo in difficoltà. Mi sono parse un po' fuori luogo, confuse, di un racconto che veniva allungato quando era già giunto al capolinea. Forse è esattamente così che devono apparire: il protagonista, Hans Castorp, aveva esaurito il suo tempo di ricerca e rimaneva al sanatorio temporeggiando, alienato anche dalla vita che aveva condotto fino allora lassù.
L'autore consiglia di leggere il romanzo due volte. Forse la seconda troverò un significato anche ai vaneggiamenti finali, che ad ogni modo non mi impediscono di considerare questo romanzo uno dei migliori che abbia mai letto.
L'autore consiglia di leggere il romanzo due volte. Forse la seconda troverò un significato anche ai vaneggiamenti finali, che ad ogni modo non mi impediscono di considerare questo romanzo uno dei migliori che abbia mai letto.
sock_mouse's review against another edition
3.0
After months and months of trekking up the Magic Mountain, I've finally descended from its peaks and will attempt to resume my life in the flatlands. More than I can say for the hero, Hans Castorp. Hmmm.
I've got mixed opinions about Mann's The Magic Mountain. Admittedly, if I hadn't read this book with other literary-minded friends I wouldn't have finished the book. It's a trying read.
Mann is definitely challenging us here. However, I think he's plenty aware of the task he sets at our feet. He is playing the Settembrini or Naphta to the reader's Hans and giving us more than we want, simply because it's "good" for us to grow in this way. "Good" though his lessons are, Mann doesn't make it easy for us. The contemporary reader will definitely have his or her hands full with what Mann wants to say in this book. I know I did.
While I appreciated the challenge, I found that the tedium of reading through Settembrini and Naphta's tete-a-tete's to be trying. Very trying. The logic of their arguments is more convoluted than a contortionist, and half as interesting.
The best moments of the book are, in my opinion, when the plot resumes itself and you see these characters trying to connect with each other on a personal, dare I say human, level. It usually involves the scandalous use of personal pronouns! You would think that in such an isolated environment the denizens of the Berghof would be a little less formal with one another. Because they aren't, these scenes are often poignant, hilarious, and a touch melancholy.
And, though it is far too short for my liking, I particularly enjoyed the change in tone at the very end. After Mynheer Peeperkorn exits the book, the narrative takes a dramatic turn and you see the Mountain -- and the world -- though a fatalistic lens. Perhaps Mann lays it on a bit too thick. Perhaps. You throw up your hands and say "Okay already. World War I is about to start. Let's get on with it!" I liked it. The descent was long awaited.
If you're in the thick of it, I say keep trudging on! The chapters "Walpurgis Night", "Snow", "A Good Solider", "The Great Stupor" and "The Great Petulance" will be your reward.
In the end you may find yourself, like me, done with the book, but left with an eerie feeling that you might return to the Mountain one day (if you haven't ever left!). (Perhaps the American equivalent would be a novel, of equal length and density, entitled "Hotel California"??)
I've got mixed opinions about Mann's The Magic Mountain. Admittedly, if I hadn't read this book with other literary-minded friends I wouldn't have finished the book. It's a trying read.
Mann is definitely challenging us here. However, I think he's plenty aware of the task he sets at our feet. He is playing the Settembrini or Naphta to the reader's Hans and giving us more than we want, simply because it's "good" for us to grow in this way. "Good" though his lessons are, Mann doesn't make it easy for us. The contemporary reader will definitely have his or her hands full with what Mann wants to say in this book. I know I did.
While I appreciated the challenge, I found that the tedium of reading through Settembrini and Naphta's tete-a-tete's to be trying. Very trying. The logic of their arguments is more convoluted than a contortionist, and half as interesting.
The best moments of the book are, in my opinion, when the plot resumes itself and you see these characters trying to connect with each other on a personal, dare I say human, level. It usually involves the scandalous use of personal pronouns! You would think that in such an isolated environment the denizens of the Berghof would be a little less formal with one another. Because they aren't, these scenes are often poignant, hilarious, and a touch melancholy.
And, though it is far too short for my liking, I particularly enjoyed the change in tone at the very end. After Mynheer Peeperkorn exits the book, the narrative takes a dramatic turn and you see the Mountain -- and the world -- though a fatalistic lens. Perhaps Mann lays it on a bit too thick. Perhaps. You throw up your hands and say "Okay already. World War I is about to start. Let's get on with it!" I liked it. The descent was long awaited.
If you're in the thick of it, I say keep trudging on! The chapters "Walpurgis Night", "Snow", "A Good Solider", "The Great Stupor" and "The Great Petulance" will be your reward.
In the end you may find yourself, like me, done with the book, but left with an eerie feeling that you might return to the Mountain one day (if you haven't ever left!). (Perhaps the American equivalent would be a novel, of equal length and density, entitled "Hotel California"??)
karlijnvc's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5