It is Thomas Mann week and I thought it was time to finally read one of his masterpieces, The Magic Mountain. Published in 1924, but set during the period before WWI, it tells the story of Hans Castorp who went to visit his cousin in a sanatorium above Davos, in Switzerland, for three weeks and stayed almost a decade.
Oh my goodness, what a crazy ride this was. I’ve read a lot of Thomas Mann, Dr. Faustus, Death in Venice, Felix Krull and many more but never Der Zauberberg or Buddenbrooks. I’m not drawn to large books usually and must admit, over 1000 page sounded pretty daunting, but I read it surprisingly quickly. It’s such an astonishing book and at times so incredibly funny. I really enjoyed it a great deal (minus some passages but I’ll get to that eventually).
However, writing about it is a very different story. There is so much to unpack. On top of that, probably quite fittingly, I’ve been ill since last week. I don’t normally get this ill but whatever I caught, flu or “razor blade throat” – it’s a bit debilitating. That’s also the reason why I haven’t been able to visit your blogs.
As I said before, it’s not an easy book to write about, especially not when you’re not feeling great and so I will break it down into smaller portions and write about different aspects and themes of the novel during this week.
– Is The Magic Mountain a difficult book?
– The story
– Illness and therapy
– Time
– The characters
– The humor
– The title
– The setting
– The madness/craziness
– Eroticism and homoeroticism
– The Magic Mountain as microcosm
– A world outside of the world
– Death
– War
I could go on and on.
I guess, if you haven’t read it, this list gives you an idea of how complex the book is.
Has anyone else read it for Mann week? I hope we’ll get the opportunity to discuss it.
Beauty is a Sleeping Cat 
I look forward to reading your thoughts on this novel. I read it a while back, so my memory of it is a bit hazy: I do recall its power and strangeness, and struggling with some of the longer philosophical debates.
Oh thank you. It’s so much stranger than I anticipated. Yes, those debates are the main reason people give up. They are dense.
Well, I read this back in 2015 for German Literature Month when I won a copy from a giveaway Lizzy did, and I loved it! It’s something special and I’ll look forward to your thoughts!
Thanks. It is very special. Far more entertaining than I expected. I have so much to say and no clue how to tackle it.
I’m so pleased you’re doing this Caroline as I’m hoping to get to it before the end of the month! I’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Wonderful. It will be great to discuss it. I just saw Andrew Blackman posted his review. So we’re a few.
Yes, a wonderful book. My first ascent was twelve years back (must attempt a second climb soon), and as you can tell from my review, I was greatly affected by altitude sickness 😉
I will have to check it out once I’ve written my posts.
I’d like to read this book at some point, or maybe even listen to it on audio, so it’s great to hear that you found it so absorbing…and funny! Something for the future, I hope.
I remember Felix Krull being funny but not Dr Faustus. This had me laughing so much. It’s such a wild ride. Unforgettable characters and overall in many ways like a hotel novel. I know you love those too.
I certainly do!