What are you currently reading?

[Mandryka]

I've read Doktor Faustus three times. I strongly identify with Serenus Zeitblom.

Is he the bloke who deliberately infected himself with syphilis, just for the craic?

[Florestan]

Is he the bloke who deliberately infected himself with syphilis, just for the craic?

Nope. That's Adrian Leverkuhn, the main character.

[Brian]

Currently reading three books in turns:

- Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson (a history of caste systems in India, the American South, and Nazi Germany)
- After Trump, by Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith (former lawyers for G.W. Bush and Obama proposing wonky reforms to patch all the legal loopholes Trump has uncovered)
- The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner (essentially thoughts on the proper/good writing of novels)

Up next, a novel:

- Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

But you guys should really get to Buddenbrooks. It is understandably by far the most popular Mann novel in Germany, it has all the brilliant language, irony and fun without heavier themes than the decline of a bourgeois merchant family in 19th century Lübeck (that has a lot in common with Mann's own family).

Great novel. Visconti's Damned was inspired by the novel.
I like Hoffmann a lot, but it seems to me that there is no philosophical question or social issue in his works. Still I like his works.

[André]

I am not the only one who forgot him

Besides (or maybe even before) Kleist and Hoffmann the most popular novellas in German is probably "Der Schimmelreiter" by Storm (who also wrote a whole bunch and several others also used to be common as school reading)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rider_on_the_White_Horse
Also two that (like Hoffmann's Scuderi/Cardillac) can count as crime stories, "Die Judenbuche" by Drose-Hülshoff who is better known as a lyrical poet and "Unterm Birnbaum" by Fontane who is better known for novels, usually about adultery (he wrote 5 or more variants of Emma Bovary, "Effi Briest" is the most famous and even shares the intials).

But you guys should really get to Buddenbrooks. It is understandably by far the most popular Mann novel in Germany, it has all the brilliant language, irony and fun without heavier themes than the decline of a bourgeois merchant family in 19th century Lübeck (that has a lot in common with Mann's own family).

One of the strengths of Buddenbrooks is that the portraits of the secondary characters (there's a lot of them) is filled with amusing, colourful details that immeasurably add to the novel's depth. Mann often uses some of their character traits as recurrent features - like a running gag - as anchors to the storyline. They are not accessories to the story, but an integral part of the family's fabric, its fortunes and failures. Sesemi Weichbrodt, Permaneder, the Langhals... A great novel inded.

[Florestan]

One of the strengths of Buddenbrooks is that the portraits of the secondary characters (there's a lot of them) is filled with amusing, colourful details that immeasurably add to the novel's depth. Mann often uses some of their character traits as recurrent features - like a running gag - as anchors to the storyline.

Leitmotive? 

[j winter]

Wow.

Thanks, this is quite a find. Like many great poets, her use of language evokes impressions above and beyond the actual words on the page. If I can use an (untested) comparison to music, it's sort of like sensing the overtones in various instruments. Or to put it another way, how we sense the difference between the same note on a clarinet and a cello.

In any case, quite beautiful and evocative. I'm increasingly convinced that the Nobel committee made the right choice.

--Bruce

Agreed, thanks to both of you for posting the above.     I'm now seriously considering this...

[Mandryka]

Nope. That's Adrian Leverkuhn, the main character.

That's a shame.

[T. D.]

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Wow.

Thanks, this is quite a find. Like many great poets, her use of language evokes impressions above and beyond the actual words on the page. If I can use an (untested) comparison to music, it's sort of like sensing the overtones in various instruments. Or to put it another way, how we sense the difference between the same note on a clarinet and a cello.

In any case, quite beautiful and evocative. I'm increasingly convinced that the Nobel committee made the right choice.

--Bruce

Glad that you enjoyed it.  And I like your musical analogy. 

Agreed, thanks to both of you for posting the above.     I'm now seriously considering this...

I did put a hold j winter on that book; needless to say, after winning that special prize, her books are in high-demand!  By the way, I happened to be in a B&N earlier today and ran across one of her books (rather surprised not to see more of them there).  The poem that I copied and pasted is from another book of hers that I'm tempted to get also called "The Wild Iris" and features other poems referencing nature and also human life.

PD

[vers la flamme]

Me too. Narcissus & Goldmund, as well as Crime & Punishment (D) and Red and Black (S), are my ultimate favorite works in my life time.

Post ed. Btw, as for Mann, can we call TK and Venice "short" story? It is kind of mid-size. Hard to describe them. Plus, the content is not like those of short stories.

No, I would rate them as novellas.

I was completely blown away by Narcissus & Goldmund reading it this year. A beautiful story. I related strongly with both the titular characters. I love Crime & Punishment too, but have not read it in years.

[vers la flamme]

I have to re-read Doktor Faustus. I read it at 19-20 and I am pretty sure a lot was over my head. (I had read Zauberberg right before and when I re-read that one at ca. 27 it was much more entertaining and rewarding). Faustus is a bit overambitious and probably the most challenging. I still haven't read the Joseph books (and neither the less famous "Lotte in Weimar" and Der Erwählte (The Holy Sinner) but I found that Der Zauberberg has the best balance of philosophical themes, characters and atmosphere although it can also be fairly "heavy" at times. Buddenbrooks is not as weighed down by more theoretical aspects and quite accessible. It was his debut (after some shorter prose pieces) at 25, an incredible achievement.

As for other German language authors from about the same time, there is Thomas' brother Heinrich (Christian Buddenbrook is based on him, I think) whose most famous novels today are "Der Untertan" and "Professor Unrat" (the 1930 movie "The blue angel" with Dietrich is based on the latter). He is not as deep, mostly sharp satire agains the pre WW I bourgeois class and values (Wilhelminian time, the German equivalent of late Victorian and Edwardian era).

A bit later and maybe the greatest picture of interwar Berlin (and the seedy underbelly more than the bourgeois) is "Berlin Alexanderplatz" by Döblin. This is also a German "Ulysses light" with collage-like scraps of advertisements, popular songs etc. glued together to capture the breathless and dirty atmosphere of that huge city.

I'm going to try and read Berlin Alexanderplatz. Sounds like a fascinating book. Reading Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise earlier this year, my favorite chapter was the one about Berlin in the '20s and '30s. Reading it made me realize I knew almost nothing about Berlin during the Weimar era, but it seems to have been a fascinating time and place.

[Mandryka]

I'm going to try and read Berlin Alexanderplatz. Sounds like a fascinating book. Reading Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise earlier this year, my favorite chapter was the one about Berlin in the '20s and '30s. Reading it made me realize I knew almost nothing about Berlin during the Weimar era, but it seems to have been a fascinating time and place.

The problem I had with Berlin Alexanderplatz is that the English translation didn't work for me. I eventually read it in French and that was much better. But the best, I think, is the video of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's television series. It is, IMO, unforgettable - a real summit of art film. The main actor, Günter Lamprecht, is totally committed and totally in his element: poor tortured soul! Everyman!

[Jo498]

I can't comment on translations. While some techniques are similar, Berlin Alexanderplatz is far less complex and dense than Ulysses, so it should not be as hard/impossible to translate although it is still challenging for native readers (I think my younger brother had it as an assignment in an AP German literature class in 12th grade, it's certainly not something one would assign an average high school literature class, in any case it is bloody long even for a collegre prep class). I don't think I ever saw the Fassbinder version complete, but is supposed to be among the best things he did. Still, the way the book depicts the huge city by way of language (such as scraps from adverts etc.) is quite special and would be very different on film. E.g. there is one episode where the reader follows the course of a streetcar line through the city and records what passes and is passed. That's a very movie-like thing to do but in literature it was probably fairly original >90 years ago.

[vers la flamme]

Not sure which one you read Mandryka, but there was an English translation in 2018 that was supposed to be very good. I might give it a try. I'll check out the series, maybe I can talk my girlfriend into watching it with me. I have been wanting to check out Fassbinder's work.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Carl Jung.

[Artem]

Not sure which one you read Mandryka, but there was an English translation in 2018 that was supposed to be very good. I might give it a try. I'll check out the series, maybe I can talk my girlfriend into watching it with me. I have been wanting to check out Fassbinder's work.

I've read the new translation earlier this year and I thought it was fine.

In general I found Berlin Alexanderplatz to be a good read, but somewhat underwhelming, probably because I had very high expectations for it, fuelled by the music and literature of that time. It must have been a fascinating read upon publication, but some of its "novelties" didn't feel so unique or interesting to me.

[Mandryka]

Not sure which one you read Mandryka, but there was an English translation in 2018 that was supposed to be very good. I might give it a try. I'll check out the series, maybe I can talk my girlfriend into watching it with me. I have been wanting to check out Fassbinder's work.

Ah, it would have been before that. I read it about 10 years ago. But thanks for telling me, I'll give the new one a try.

By the way the French translation I read had an excellent essay on the book by Fassbinder, I don't know if it's been done in English but I'd say it's worth trying.

If your girlfriend will watch the Fassbinder with you, marry her straight away - she's a woman in a million.

Jo - is there anything else by Döblin worth reading?

[Mandryka]

I've read the new translation earlier this year and I thought it was fine.

In general I found Berlin Alexanderplatz to be a good read, but somewhat underwhelming, probably because I had very high expectations for it, fuelled by the music and literature of that time. It must have been a fascinating read upon publication, but some of its "novelties" didn't feel so unique or interesting to me.

The film has moments which sort of burnt into my soul, and it's true that when I read the book it didn't have the same effect. I'm not talking about Fassbinder's bizarre final episode, I mean just things like when Biberkopf returns to the outside of Tegel prison, or sings with his canary or . . .

It would be nice to do a Berlin Alexanderplatz weekend in Berlin, visit all the important places in and around the city.

[Iota]

Nigel Molesworth - one of my heroes:

Haha, excellent, one of mine too!

"Reality,' sa molesworth 2, 'is so unspeakably sordid it make me shudder'."   

I find the older I get the more like Fotherington-Tomas I get ... "he sa 'hullo clouds, hullo sky'" etc, etc.