I read this last year for the first time, and I still think of it constantly. One of the greatest novels I've ever read! I can't remember if I've commented before, but I love your channel. Keep it up!
Mann’s commentary on World War I and how it destroyed Europe’s youth in the last two or three pages was heartbreaking. The tragedy of a lost generation :(.
I just finished reading The Magic Mountain. It took me two months. I cannot say I enjoyed it. Naptha and Settembrini's constant debates bored me stupid. Hans Castorp's total introversion irritated me beyond words. The methodology of the institution seemed like some version of 'Carry on Up the Consumption'. But... It is probably one of the most significant books I have ever read, after Don Quixote and Proust. It requires a lot of perseverance.
Hans would’ve recognized the helmet the Germans wore at the beginning of the war, as it had been the Prussian helmet for a long time. Bismarck wore one. The description of what Joachim is wearing - & you can tell by the way he says it looks like a military cooking pot - is of the helmet they switch to later in the war, basically the same as WW2 and what most militaries model theirs after even today. Anyway, for me it’s the most eerie and sad and cryptic scene in the whole book and I was deeply moved by it. Great review/analysis. Got a lot out of it and the one you did on “Demons.” Whatever I read next, hope you got a critique for it.
Chauchat was also the name of French machine gun produced and used during World War I. I haven't read _The Magic Mountain_ and I'm not sure I will, but I enjoyed your review and analysis.
Excellent, as always. I appreciate the reading guide recommendation. I bumped through a first reading several years ago with friends, but as you and Nabokov point out, rereading is key here.
i read Norwegian woods by Murakami and in it the main character always rereads the magic mountain and that's what lead me to it honestly , i read death in Venice and it was short and good i'm gonna have to get down to reading the magic mountain this winter hopefuly !
I just experienced this book ...... Mann grabbed my attention with Tonio Kruger .... But this one has me " playing king" all day...now ..off to my horizontal rest cure...
i just finished, after alot of pauses in between, mainly bec of the Settembrini/Naphta dialogues because they were so difficult. but I did it. this book is so so good.
This novel blew me away. It helped me get through Covid. I took my time and found it to be an experience rather than an entertainment. So many other allegedly great novels pale in comparison. I didn't mind that "nothing happened" because for me, most days, nothing indeed does happen. Yet I happen. As do the others around me.
OMMMMMGGGGG You're back! UGH! I've missed your videos so much! Weirdly, this is a book I haven't heard of, so that makes me super intrigued. Maybe I'll make comments after watching....but if I don't I'm so glad you're back
Ok, a few thoughts. This book will go over my head...I've read some great and challenging literature(The Brother's Karamazov, Crime and Punishment are the two most challenging recently)but if this is in the vein of Proust and Joyce, well, I'm not smart enough for that...however, Proust is the most readable you said, so maybe I should start there. I do find it interesting about Mann's thoughts on death 12:01 I'm 47 but have had a chronic disease for 10 years and 7 of that 10 were spent in agony. I lost my beloved job, my marriage became incredibly difficult and I thought of suicide many times, too many to count. During this same time, my husband was diagnosed with late-stage cancer and I nearly lost him to it. It was an unbelievably awful time....but I remember as I went through those experiences, one thing really stuck out...it wasn't an obsession, really, but a deep-dive into what suffering and death looks like up close....they were my companions for years. I felt as if they were shadows that were always there...and because of that, I had to look hard at it all and once you do that(especially once you contemplate taking your life, or your husband nearly dies) you can't really go back to rosy days and a carefree existence...though I have tried. It's almost like when you look dead center into those things that NO ONE likes to think about, it changes you forever. And it's a lonely place to be because almost no one talks about it the way I wanted to talk about it. You realize that everyone is avoiding the one topic that has overtaken your mind and heart. I certainly understand it as it's a grisly subject. And in our society with an obsession with looking young, plastic surgery etc...to me, that's just the person knowing death is coming, age is coming and it is truly out of our control. Doing things to make ourselves look younger is a way of taking back some control. THIS is also the deepest lesson our ruminating on death (for me, at least) can teach us: we have almost no control on our lives and that's terrifying. I'm sorry...I kind of went off here on a tangent but Mann's words about death and his fascination of it intrigues me..."All interest in disease and death is only another expression of interest in life". I understand this quote very well....Maybe I should give this book a try....though it seems like an Infinite Jest 2.0 and that book terrifies me....Ulysesses does also.
I'm sorry, I think I stated that part too quickly - The Magic Mountain is considered the most readable of the three. You're totally right, Joyce and Proust are intimidating to me, too. I've tried reading both Ulysses and In Search of Lost Time and gave up. This one was a struggle for me, I mostly am able to keep going through the big reads by listening via audible, but I found it very rewarding even if I'd rather it a little less brain and a little more heart. I am so sorry to hear about your illness, Nikki and your husband's as well. Though I have been fortunate in my physical health, I was very depressed for the first thirty years of my life and thought of ending things at times too, and my heart goes out to you. I am lucky things are better now, but my best friend was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years ago, and I think experiences like these definitely make you more receptive to accepting and contemplating the darker side of life. What you said about sadness and pain becoming companions is something I experienced too, though I can't say my feelings were tied to anything remotely like what you and your husband have been through. Anyway, big internet hugs. Very big hugs.
@@thepearlreview9236 You are a fellow traveler on the hard road of life....for you, decades of depression is something I can't wrap my mind around. I am glad you are better, my friend and I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's incredible challenges, as well. I pray for better days for all of us. I must have misheard you because I thought you said Proust was the most readable....hmmm, typical Nikki, not paying attention lol. Also, I am currently reading A Moveable Feast based on your review of it. It's been on my shelf for years, but after watching your review it made it into my hot little hands right now. It's quite good. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I'm 30 pages in and really enjoying it. Thanks for doing what you do, even as sparse as it is. I'll eagerly await whatever you bring us. And, I hope you are reading Stegner and enjoying him. Fingers crossed! Another book I read and thought to recommend is Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. I don't know why, but I think it's up your alley...maybe....I hope so. Thank you, as always!
Stick with Ulysses . At least Joyce had a sense of humour and , unlike Mann, appears to actually have met real people . Mann appears to have spent his whole life in an academic Ivory Tower.
I am re-reading it for insight into the role and treatment of TB before the use of antibiotics. The treatment is interesting to me. But also the role of the disease, whether it is worthwhile to seek treatment or better to go off to work or war or family life; you might die of TB or of something else anyway.
Awesome review; I discovered this book through an album that I believe takes inspiration from the book: Misery is a Butterfly by Blonde Redhead. Highly reccomend!!!
Incredible book. Incredibly deep, I feel like I haven't quite comprehended it yet butbI just finished it. One trend I might have spotted is how Hans moves towards irrationality. From reading books on natural science to practicing voodoo magic and suddenly believing he experienced a miracle which woken him up from his 7 years of flowing with time at the sanatorium.
read it earlier on this year honestly kinda dreading rereading it cuz it took me basically a month. i cannot stop thinking about it though... amazing. hated all the character and yet deep down i kinda love them at the same time
It was one of most boring books I have read, along with Moby Dick and Ulysses. Bla, bla, bla in intelectual high speech.I have graduaded in Germanistik and read it in original and it not helped.Why the critics like boring books?Anyway, the video is great, thank you!😊
I read this last year for the first time, and I still think of it constantly. One of the greatest novels I've ever read! I can't remember if I've commented before, but I love your channel. Keep it up!
Thank you so much! This one definitely has its place among the greats, I was so impressed with how rich it was.
Mann’s commentary on World War I and how it destroyed Europe’s youth in the last two or three pages was heartbreaking. The tragedy of a lost generation :(.
A great novel Thank you very much indeed for a very clear and balanced analysis ❤
I just finished reading The Magic Mountain. It took me two months. I cannot say I enjoyed it. Naptha and Settembrini's constant debates bored me stupid. Hans Castorp's total introversion irritated me beyond words. The methodology of the institution seemed like some version of 'Carry on Up the Consumption'. But...
It is probably one of the most significant books I have ever read, after Don Quixote and Proust. It requires a lot of perseverance.
Did you like Cervantes and Proust?
Hans would’ve recognized the helmet the Germans wore at the beginning of the war, as it had been the Prussian helmet for a long time. Bismarck wore one. The description of what Joachim is wearing - & you can tell by the way he says it looks like a military cooking pot - is of the helmet they switch to later in the war, basically the same as WW2 and what most militaries model theirs after even today. Anyway, for me it’s the most eerie and sad and cryptic scene in the whole book and I was deeply moved by it.
Great review/analysis. Got a lot out of it and the one you did on “Demons.” Whatever I read next, hope you got a critique for it.
Chauchat was also the name of French machine gun produced and used during World War I.
I haven't read _The Magic Mountain_ and I'm not sure I will, but I enjoyed your review and analysis.
Thank you! Yes I realize that as I was finishing up the review and looking for clips, how clever of Thomas Mann.
Excellent, as always. I appreciate the reading guide recommendation. I bumped through a first reading several years ago with friends, but as you and Nabokov point out, rereading is key here.
Thank you! Yes I have definitely improved my reading experience by rereading, Nabokov was definitely onto something.
i read Norwegian woods by Murakami and in it the main character always rereads the magic mountain and that's what lead me to it honestly , i read death in Venice and it was short and good
i'm gonna have to get down to reading the magic mountain this winter hopefuly !
Hope you'll enjoy the book! I read Norwegian Wood several years ago and completely forgot about that, thank you for reminding me.
I just experienced this book ...... Mann grabbed my attention with Tonio Kruger .... But this one has me " playing king" all day...now ..off to my horizontal rest cure...
"play king" was IMHO an unfortunate choice. Mann used "govern". Both Spanish translations use that verb also. HLP translated it as "take stock".
i just finished, after alot of pauses in between, mainly bec of the Settembrini/Naphta dialogues because they were so difficult. but I did it. this book is so so good.
Thank you for that recommendation. Since I'm German I'll read "Der Zauberberg" in German.
This novel blew me away. It helped me get through Covid. I took my time and found it to be an experience rather than an entertainment. So many other allegedly great novels pale in comparison. I didn't mind that "nothing happened" because for me, most days, nothing indeed does happen. Yet I happen. As do the others around me.
This is a great comment.
OMMMMMGGGGG You're back! UGH! I've missed your videos so much! Weirdly, this is a book I haven't heard of, so that makes me super intrigued. Maybe I'll make comments after watching....but if I don't I'm so glad you're back
Ok, a few thoughts. This book will go over my head...I've read some great and challenging literature(The Brother's Karamazov, Crime and Punishment are the two most challenging recently)but if this is in the vein of Proust and Joyce, well, I'm not smart enough for that...however, Proust is the most readable you said, so maybe I should start there. I do find it interesting about Mann's thoughts on death 12:01 I'm 47 but have had a chronic disease for 10 years and 7 of that 10 were spent in agony. I lost my beloved job, my marriage became incredibly difficult and I thought of suicide many times, too many to count. During this same time, my husband was diagnosed with late-stage cancer and I nearly lost him to it. It was an unbelievably awful time....but I remember as I went through those experiences, one thing really stuck out...it wasn't an obsession, really, but a deep-dive into what suffering and death looks like up close....they were my companions for years. I felt as if they were shadows that were always there...and because of that, I had to look hard at it all and once you do that(especially once you contemplate taking your life, or your husband nearly dies) you can't really go back to rosy days and a carefree existence...though I have tried. It's almost like when you look dead center into those things that NO ONE likes to think about, it changes you forever. And it's a lonely place to be because almost no one talks about it the way I wanted to talk about it. You realize that everyone is avoiding the one topic that has overtaken your mind and heart. I certainly understand it as it's a grisly subject.
And in our society with an obsession with looking young, plastic surgery etc...to me, that's just the person knowing death is coming, age is coming and it is truly out of our control. Doing things to make ourselves look younger is a way of taking back some control. THIS is also the deepest lesson our ruminating on death (for me, at least) can teach us: we have almost no control on our lives and that's terrifying.
I'm sorry...I kind of went off here on a tangent but Mann's words about death and his fascination of it intrigues me..."All interest in disease and death is only another expression of interest in life". I understand this quote very well....Maybe I should give this book a try....though it seems like an Infinite Jest 2.0 and that book terrifies me....Ulysesses does also.
I'm sorry, I think I stated that part too quickly - The Magic Mountain is considered the most readable of the three. You're totally right, Joyce and Proust are intimidating to me, too. I've tried reading both Ulysses and In Search of Lost Time and gave up. This one was a struggle for me, I mostly am able to keep going through the big reads by listening via audible, but I found it very rewarding even if I'd rather it a little less brain and a little more heart.
I am so sorry to hear about your illness, Nikki and your husband's as well. Though I have been fortunate in my physical health, I was very depressed for the first thirty years of my life and thought of ending things at times too, and my heart goes out to you. I am lucky things are better now, but my best friend was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years ago, and I think experiences like these definitely make you more receptive to accepting and contemplating the darker side of life. What you said about sadness and pain becoming companions is something I experienced too, though I can't say my feelings were tied to anything remotely like what you and your husband have been through.
Anyway, big internet hugs. Very big hugs.
@@thepearlreview9236 You are a fellow traveler on the hard road of life....for you, decades of depression is something I can't wrap my mind around. I am glad you are better, my friend and I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's incredible challenges, as well. I pray for better days for all of us.
I must have misheard you because I thought you said Proust was the most readable....hmmm, typical Nikki, not paying attention lol.
Also, I am currently reading A Moveable Feast based on your review of it. It's been on my shelf for years, but after watching your review it made it into my hot little hands right now. It's quite good. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I'm 30 pages in and really enjoying it.
Thanks for doing what you do, even as sparse as it is. I'll eagerly await whatever you bring us. And, I hope you are reading Stegner and enjoying him. Fingers crossed!
Another book I read and thought to recommend is Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. I don't know why, but I think it's up your alley...maybe....I hope so. Thank you, as always!
I'm glad you're liking A Moveable Feast! Let me know what you think when you finish. I'll be sure to check out Treatment of Youth
It wont go over your head, it is the lighter read out of the three by far
Stick with Ulysses . At least Joyce
had a sense of humour and , unlike Mann, appears to actually have met real people . Mann appears to have spent his whole life in an academic Ivory Tower.
They called it a pot on his head...that means German helmet... interesting I didn't connect that
I am re-reading it for insight into the role and treatment of TB before the use of antibiotics. The treatment is interesting to me. But also the role of the disease, whether it is worthwhile to seek treatment or better to go off to work or war or family life; you might die of TB or of something else anyway.
Awesome review; I discovered this book through an album that I believe takes inspiration from the book: Misery is a Butterfly by Blonde Redhead. Highly reccomend!!!
Incredible book. Incredibly deep, I feel like I haven't quite comprehended it yet butbI just finished it. One trend I might have spotted is how Hans moves towards irrationality. From reading books on natural science to practicing voodoo magic and suddenly believing he experienced a miracle which woken him up from his 7 years of flowing with time at the sanatorium.
read it earlier on this year honestly kinda dreading rereading it cuz it took me basically a month. i cannot stop thinking about it though... amazing. hated all the character and yet deep down i kinda love them at the same time
characters***
U showed very good videos in your expectation
0:31 The Man Without Qualities by Musil is right up there as well (if you havent, check it out)
It was one of most boring books I have read, along with Moby Dick and Ulysses. Bla, bla, bla in intelectual high speech.I have graduaded in Germanistik and read it in original and it not helped.Why the critics like boring books?Anyway, the video is great, thank you!😊
I tried reading it several times and gave up. Decided life is to short and there are so many worthwhile and accessible books.
I still need more arguments to agree that this is an undeniable masterpiece.