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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Das Lesen hat mich teilweise echt fertig gemacht. Man muss definitiv konzentriert und aufmerksam lesen, einige Stellen auch mehrfach.
Kurios, aber die Symbolik gefiel mir. Jedoch kann ich mich nicht entscheiden, wie mir die Thematik und das Ende gefallen haben.
Kurios, aber die Symbolik gefiel mir. Jedoch kann ich mich nicht entscheiden, wie mir die Thematik und das Ende gefallen haben.
book #24 of 2020: Faust I & II by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I waited far too long to finally read (listen to) this wondrous, rapturous poem of a play. I heard, within its verses, the plots and devices of so many later authors: Mary Shelley, Charles Dickens, maybe Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as quotes and allusions from previous texts: Sophocles, the Bible, and, most of all, Greek mythology. what a delicious literary treat I finally got to savor. (how I got a lit degree without having read it first is beyond me: i did get a full year of Shakespeare, though.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
I read this when I was 16, and I believe I was too young to appreciate it.
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
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
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
The term “Faustian bargain” means a deal with the devil, but if you’d have asked me what was the actual deal Faust made with the devil, I would have been light on the details, having not read Goethe’s Faust. Finally caved and got the Naxos audiobook version with Samuel West as Faust and Toby Jones as Mephistopheles.
Part I
This part contains the actual Faustian deal; Mephistopheles has to do whatever Faust wants until Faust dies and Faust will die if he experiences a moment so wonderful that he doesn’t want it to end. It is Faust (and not the devil) who comes up with the exact terms of this deal, because Faust knows that he’s too busy grasping for the next pleasurable moment to fully enjoy any given moment. Faust is a pretty self-aware guy.
Gretchen catches Faust’s eye and, in rapid succession, she loses her mother, her brother and her place in society, all culminating in an Ophelia-like mad scene in Gretchen’s jail cell as she awaits execution for infanticide. Gretchen's tragedy the most story-like part of the entire poem; it has the clearest narrative for Gretchen, but it's hard to say what it actually did for Faust.
Faust wants Gretchen. It starts off slowly with gifts of jewels, the first of which is rejected and donated to the church, and the second offering is secretly accepted by Gretchen. Then the pace picks up and Faust gets her to give her mother a sleeping potion, so he can visit her at night. The potion turns out to be poison. Things spiral towards their tragic conclusion quickly afterwards. It's entirely unclear just which moment during this whole ordeal could have been a candidate for the Faustian moment (ie the moment referred to in the Faustian bargain).
Part II
… what did I just listen to?
Part I
This part contains the actual Faustian deal; Mephistopheles has to do whatever Faust wants until Faust dies and Faust will die if he experiences a moment so wonderful that he doesn’t want it to end. It is Faust (and not the devil) who comes up with the exact terms of this deal, because Faust knows that he’s too busy grasping for the next pleasurable moment to fully enjoy any given moment. Faust is a pretty self-aware guy.
Gretchen catches Faust’s eye and, in rapid succession, she loses her mother, her brother and her place in society, all culminating in an Ophelia-like mad scene in Gretchen’s jail cell as she awaits execution for infanticide. Gretchen's tragedy the most story-like part of the entire poem; it has the clearest narrative for Gretchen, but it's hard to say what it actually did for Faust.
Faust wants Gretchen. It starts off slowly with gifts of jewels, the first of which is rejected and donated to the church, and the second offering is secretly accepted by Gretchen. Then the pace picks up and Faust gets her to give her mother a sleeping potion, so he can visit her at night. The potion turns out to be poison. Things spiral towards their tragic conclusion quickly afterwards. It's entirely unclear just which moment during this whole ordeal could have been a candidate for the Faustian moment (ie the moment referred to in the Faustian bargain).
Part II
… what did I just listen to?
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes