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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was one of those books that felt like it had the whole world inside it. I still go back and forth between feeling like it was OK and like I really liked it. At the least, it made an impression on me. There were times when it dragged, which may have been part of Mann's intent in his project to portray the passage of time. But there were also extremely powerful sections--in particular, I was very moved by the section called "Snow". Although I was reading it in translation (obviously), I think it's still fair for me to say that I don't think Mann is a particularly good prose stylist, which is definitely a precondition for me to consider a book one of my very favorites. I do think that I will keep reading his work, and I'm pretty interested in his retelling of the Faust story. I imagine I will also want to read TMM again (as Mann suggests) at some point. But not for a while.
This just wasn’t a read I was willing to endure any further.
challenging
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:
Yes
challenging
funny
reflective
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
What were you hoping for?
Mostly to have whatever precursor to better understand Tokarczuk's Empusium. But also to get a sense of great German literature?
First impressions?
Wishing that the main character would not just end up reflecting everything I cringe about in myself.
What is it about?
Movement of time (or lack thereof). Health (or lack thereof). Love and honor and formality (or lack thereof). Some politics and philosophy (contradictions and all). And mountains and snow and removing yourself from a world that will definitely(?) kill you.
Most memorable moment?
The excursion into the snow: attempting to make the way back and end up moving an hour in a circle; to fall asleep for what feels like hours but is really just minutes.
Good physical presence?
Yeah ... definitely a hefty book, but this version was readable/carryable.
Best thing about it?
Its more than this, but I appreciated the sense of humor and satire. There is a love for some of the characters, but the novel doesn't shy away from their ridiculousness.
Would you recommend it to your friends?
Probably not. It's a bit long, and I'm not sure completely work it (maybe in German it's better?). But I wouldn't dissuade someone from going for it.
Describe in three words.
Dialectical time-romance.
What do you think it made of you as a reader?
Generally I think it was kind to the read, but there were times in the middle of arguments or meditations where I couldn't tell if it was expecting me to follow along, or really just start to glaze over. (I think, actually, there's moments where it does want me to glaze over, but maybe not in all the places I did...)
Any sidetracks it took you down?
Well, my listening to the Revolutions podcast on a lot of European history has been useful. But also, looking up sanatoriums and if they actually were helpful. (Also, visiting Davos a while ago was a pleasant pre-sidetrack.)
And ... did it make you cry? Or laugh out loud?
No ... though did chuckle at some of the ridiculous pomposity.
If you could change one thing about the book, what would it be?
Perhaps a little more structure and character development? I'm ok with a book where largely nothing happens, but it comes across as more a vehicle for a number ideas rather than a story that's fully infused with them.
Marks out of 5?
3. Was leaning 2 for a while, but once we got out of the love obsession and into the Settembrini vs. Naptha debates and the section on snow, it salvaged itself.
Would you read it again?
No, though I'm sure I'll want to read a little bit more about the book. And something shorter from Mann? I'd probably try.
No, though I'm sure I'll want to read a little bit more about the book. And something shorter from Mann? I'd probably try.
If you like listening to stuck-up, leisure-class windbags have pissing contests with each other, then this is your book. Also if you prefer that every female character exist just to serve or titillate men. And bonus points if you prefer all disabled people or people of color to be relegated to roles as humble, faithful servants.
In addition to the above, Mann just isn't a very good writer (there, I said it). He gives a character a specific hand gesture and then mentions that hand gesture on every- single- page where the character appears. Yeah, we get it. He has a hand gesture.
There are two main characters who have the same circular argument about abstracts over and over and over and over again across hundreds of pages, and then, right near the end, it finally boils over into something real. But what it boils over into is done in a few pages. Hundreds of pages of endless repetition and then you're in a hurry once something actually happens?
There's a love affair that feels like it's supposed to become a thing, but it never really does. One of the people involved leaves, then comes back again with a new lover who is removed in one of the more interesting parts of the book, but then the lover just leaves again. Huh, I guess that's that.
Near the end of the book, a character is introduced who supposedly has some links to a supernatural agent. This is the first interaction we've had with mystical realms, but the character provokes one, isolated scene and then is forgotten. For... why? I mean, it's vaguely related to things that happened before, but not enough to introduce a whole new character (and, honestly, one of the most interesting characters) as well as a whole new realm of possibilities, and then drop both as soon as the scene is over.
He also does the thing where the narrator suddenly steps away to comment on why they're telling the tale the way they are. It's a tricky thing to do in a piece that's taking itself so seriously, and it comes off as pretentious and self-aggrandizing. A couple times, the narrator goes so far as to pat themself on the back for not making the book so long that it's boring. I would heartily disagree.
I gave it two stars because there is one really well-written scene, about being caught in a potentially fatal snowstorm. The last few pages are well-done. And I got one good phrase out of the book. Mann says that the main character has "an arrogrant preference for seeing shadows as things, and things as mere shadows..." I might say the same about the people who gave this longwinded show-off of a book a Nobel Prize.
In addition to the above, Mann just isn't a very good writer (there, I said it). He gives a character a specific hand gesture and then mentions that hand gesture on every- single- page where the character appears. Yeah, we get it. He has a hand gesture.
There are two main characters who have the same circular argument about abstracts over and over and over and over again across hundreds of pages, and then, right near the end, it finally boils over into something real. But what it boils over into is done in a few pages. Hundreds of pages of endless repetition and then you're in a hurry once something actually happens?
There's a love affair that feels like it's supposed to become a thing, but it never really does. One of the people involved leaves, then comes back again with a new lover who is removed in one of the more interesting parts of the book, but then the lover just leaves again. Huh, I guess that's that.
Near the end of the book, a character is introduced who supposedly has some links to a supernatural agent. This is the first interaction we've had with mystical realms, but the character provokes one, isolated scene and then is forgotten. For... why? I mean, it's vaguely related to things that happened before, but not enough to introduce a whole new character (and, honestly, one of the most interesting characters) as well as a whole new realm of possibilities, and then drop both as soon as the scene is over.
He also does the thing where the narrator suddenly steps away to comment on why they're telling the tale the way they are. It's a tricky thing to do in a piece that's taking itself so seriously, and it comes off as pretentious and self-aggrandizing. A couple times, the narrator goes so far as to pat themself on the back for not making the book so long that it's boring. I would heartily disagree.
I gave it two stars because there is one really well-written scene, about being caught in a potentially fatal snowstorm. The last few pages are well-done. And I got one good phrase out of the book. Mann says that the main character has "an arrogrant preference for seeing shadows as things, and things as mere shadows..." I might say the same about the people who gave this longwinded show-off of a book a Nobel Prize.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
Trying to summarize the plot of this book would be missing the point, which is that Thomas Mann is an Intellectual and doesn’t tire of reminding his readers of that fact—not for (in my German edition) 982 pages. Unfortunately, I very much tired of being reminded and had to force myself to finish the book. Two stars because there are some genuinely affecting and beautifully written scenes, but I’m glad to be done with it.
Maybe this is one of those books best learned as part of a school lit class. It’s odd. I did get through it. My experience was not one of total torture. At first, I thought it might be a type of mystery, in a sense. Was the regime of the sanatorium fooling the residents into thinking they were really sick? But, that really wasn’t a main interest of the novel. Then, I thought it was a psychodrama - how easily the power of suggestion can make one descend into hypochondriasis. Again, not the real point. I would say that the writing was very skilled. I tend to have a problem with novels that lack someone to root for. And, this was the case for me. Also, if I don’t see much character growth over 700 pages, that’s going to be pretty unsatisfying for someone like me. Many, many pages with no dialogue can be tough too. Magic Mountain has been considered part of the canon. I don’t regret reading it, but I won’t miss it.