Reviews - Las desventuras del joven Werther

2.11k reviews for:

Las desventuras del joven Werther

Werther's unrequited love, teenage angst, and unbridled Romanticism are by turns seductive and repugnant. To my eternal benefit I was unable to take my own angsty feelings so seriously after reading a series of e-mails from poor self-obsessed Werther. I strongly recommend reading the story by periodic e-mail for anyone who reads it at all. The letters themselves can be tedious, but their effect on me at least was worth the effort.

Notably, Frankenstein's monster reads the book and uses it (along with a few other books) as his basis for understanding the human condition. In my opinion the monster's angst and Romanticism are generally more readable than Werther's, and Shelley offers a more mature perspective on the Romantic philosophy to boot.

fragrantwoodshavings's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

natinoce's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad medium-paced

hannamaria811's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

eta's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Reading the first few pages almost automatically transported me back to my hometown's tennis court, when I was sitting on the tall referee chair back in September 2008, reading Werther for school for the first time. Or to a late April evening in 2010, right before my graduation day, when instead of writing the section about Werther for my final presentation, I ended up watching "Pride and Prejudice" to put myself in more of an "inspired-writing mood". Even though Werther is virtually impossible to sympathize with, he is a quintessential romantic hero, and the text itself is so, so important in terms of Romanticism. It set precedent for other romantic literature around the world. It was also extremely impactful in the cultural sense, causing a so-called "Werther Fever" in its readers at the time. They were so passionate about the book that they would try to recreate the conclusion of the story. I've always been extremely intrigued and fascinated by any piece of literature that could produce such extreme reactions in people. Love it, love it, love it, even 14 years later.

Content Warnings

bababa's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

virginiasantoz's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

A prosa é TÃO linda e tão poética que dá prazer em ler. Wether é personificação do 8 ou 80, mas é lindo e triste demais ler sua história. Agora eu entendi porque é um clássico.