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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Trzy miesiące zajęło mi jej przeczytanie. Everymanowy Hans Castorp zamienił się w pewną stałą mojego życia, a kłótnie Settembriniego i Naphty ciągnęły się w nieskończoność, kształtując przez ten czas moje myśli. O życiu w Berghofie można byłoby powiedzieć tyle, że toczyło się. Fałszywą sielankę i jej trwałość przerwać mógł chyba tylko ten kończący książkę Grom. Jak będzie bez tej książki, a z tym Gromem, który trwa do teraz?
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Francis Bacon - Study of the Human Head
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Francis Bacon - Study of the Human Head
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Hans Castorp goes to visit his cousin Joachim at a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland. His intention is to stay for three weeks but his own health has its issues and he ends up staying longer. Much longer. At the sanatorium he encounters several characters who (wouldn't you know it) all seem to represent a certain worldview (including Joachim) and like to speak (at length) about these ideas and opinions. The most prominent among them is Settembrini (humanism, liberal democracy, etc) and then later his counterpart Naphta (Commie garbage) and much later (towards the end in fact) Peeperkorn (aristocracy, Dionysian). Then we have the Russian lady Clavdia Chauchat (hot cat!) who, obviously, is a hot throbbing sexpot representation of temptations and lust and so on.
These characters all live in the sanatorium and engage in verbose dialogues that explore the slow destruction of Western civilisation as it succumbs to an era of extremists (which tends to happen when things get boring (see modern day for example)). Castorp (and Mann) can see what's on the horizon and though the book takes place before the first world war, it was obviously written after and yet (despite that war being behind us) Mann can see further problems ahead. He is concerned for the soul of Europe and sees that we are doomed.
My own interpretation of the book is that life at the sanatorium represents the human condition. We take a rest at this place (life) and delude ourselves into thinking that once we are well, healthy and strong, we can go out into the world when, in reality, we are never well, never healthy, and we are simply waiting for death to come. Why get better simply to go and die? There is no getting better. There's just being unwell then death. You're welcome. And Castorp (we assume) does indeed end the book by going off to the war.
So if you like weighty books that explore big themes, you should read this. That being said... I found it rather oppressive and dull. I've read whoppers before and found them engaging. My best comparison being Musil's 'The Man Without Qualities' which I enjoyed a lot. It explored the same big questions but did so by giving us a myriad of characters who push the narrative in different directions with new scenarios. It allows you (the reader) to take a breath as you dig into the next mammoth philosophical debate and adds colour to the proceedings. The Magic Mountain doesn't. It's just the same people at the sanatorium talking endlessly. There are no new environments or developments, only relentless weighty conversations between characters that never really feel entertaining so much as voyeuristic and deliberate. And there's a great deal of pondering from the narrator (Mann) about things such as time (that one is fairly interesting) and life in general. He tends to start each chapter with a few paragraphs of opinion. The amount of investment you must offer for such minor rewards is a heavy ask. I struggled all the way through and never really enjoyed the experience. Sure, it's a great work and well written (though never beautiful in my opinion) but it's less of a book and more of a lecture. You will need to properly invest and frankly, I don't want to (not unless you make it a lot more entertaining).
Would I recommend it? Probably not. If you're going to investigate politics, history, philosophy etc then you should probably do it without the need for a somewhat banal fictional narrative surrounding it. Ultimately, this is a book that should be studied, not read.
These characters all live in the sanatorium and engage in verbose dialogues that explore the slow destruction of Western civilisation as it succumbs to an era of extremists (which tends to happen when things get boring (see modern day for example)). Castorp (and Mann) can see what's on the horizon and though the book takes place before the first world war, it was obviously written after and yet (despite that war being behind us) Mann can see further problems ahead. He is concerned for the soul of Europe and sees that we are doomed.
My own interpretation of the book is that life at the sanatorium represents the human condition. We take a rest at this place (life) and delude ourselves into thinking that once we are well, healthy and strong, we can go out into the world when, in reality, we are never well, never healthy, and we are simply waiting for death to come. Why get better simply to go and die? There is no getting better. There's just being unwell then death. You're welcome. And Castorp (we assume) does indeed end the book by going off to the war.
So if you like weighty books that explore big themes, you should read this. That being said... I found it rather oppressive and dull. I've read whoppers before and found them engaging. My best comparison being Musil's 'The Man Without Qualities' which I enjoyed a lot. It explored the same big questions but did so by giving us a myriad of characters who push the narrative in different directions with new scenarios. It allows you (the reader) to take a breath as you dig into the next mammoth philosophical debate and adds colour to the proceedings. The Magic Mountain doesn't. It's just the same people at the sanatorium talking endlessly. There are no new environments or developments, only relentless weighty conversations between characters that never really feel entertaining so much as voyeuristic and deliberate. And there's a great deal of pondering from the narrator (Mann) about things such as time (that one is fairly interesting) and life in general. He tends to start each chapter with a few paragraphs of opinion. The amount of investment you must offer for such minor rewards is a heavy ask. I struggled all the way through and never really enjoyed the experience. Sure, it's a great work and well written (though never beautiful in my opinion) but it's less of a book and more of a lecture. You will need to properly invest and frankly, I don't want to (not unless you make it a lot more entertaining).
Would I recommend it? Probably not. If you're going to investigate politics, history, philosophy etc then you should probably do it without the need for a somewhat banal fictional narrative surrounding it. Ultimately, this is a book that should be studied, not read.
first book that got me into reading most beautiful words
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Um dos livros mais sensacionais que li na vida! Romance de formação nos prelúdios da Primeira Guerra Mundial. Discussões políticas riquíssimas!
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
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