This was a book that was originally published in 1924. It has since been called one of the most influential books to come out of Germany in the 20th century. In its original German the book is titled is Der Zauerberg, and many who have read The Magic Mountain Thomas Mann have been mystified by the cryptic symbolic messages therein.
This compelling story took a total of twelve years for the author to complete. During this time, he wasn't strictly working on this book, since several important events both historically and in the writer's own personal life occurred in this period of time. His wife's lung problems and her treatment in Switzerland resulted in a two-month long visit that had a large impact on the first chapter of the story.
When the First World War broke out, Mann's work on this novel was interrupted. While this terrible conflict may have delayed the completion of the book, it also had a profound impact on it and was an essential experience of the author for the book to be what it was. This war and the turmoil that followed it caused the author to reassess many of his values and rewrite much of the book.
This novel falls into the genre of bildungsroman, a classic form that focuses on the education or spiritual journey of the heroine or hero. Rather than centralizing the plot on the great deeds of the protagonist, this kind of story is mainly about the journey taken. In this book, the hero is undergoing personal growth and the story focuses on that path.
One of the most well-used literary devices in this book is irony. Hans Castorp, the main character, is declared as simplistic early on in the story. However, he is soon shown to be not as simplistic as he first appeared. This is a commentary on the complexity of everyone. Reality is often simplified for Hans, ironically framing the complexities of life.
One of the central themes of the book is disease both as it pertains to individuals and to society. Symbolically, disease comes to represent a symptom of a need for change, and sometimes for a spiritual journey to be made. The polarity of life and spirit is a theme that the author uses a lot in his work, and resolves that this polarity must be transcended.
This is not a book that can be casually read and easily understood. It is highly cryptic, and there are so many separate symbolic chains of events that it is hard to keep track of them all. One thing to expect as a reader of this book is for the narration to ask him or her certain questions, which must be answered thoughtfully for the meaning to be caught.
The complexity of the book is in part due to the way the author uses both realism and symbolism alongside each other. This makes it hard to always tell what is symbolic and what isn't, and his use of irony makes it even harder. Mann's own recommendation was to read the book twice, so there is no shame in not understanding everything on the first read.
This compelling story took a total of twelve years for the author to complete. During this time, he wasn't strictly working on this book, since several important events both historically and in the writer's own personal life occurred in this period of time. His wife's lung problems and her treatment in Switzerland resulted in a two-month long visit that had a large impact on the first chapter of the story.
When the First World War broke out, Mann's work on this novel was interrupted. While this terrible conflict may have delayed the completion of the book, it also had a profound impact on it and was an essential experience of the author for the book to be what it was. This war and the turmoil that followed it caused the author to reassess many of his values and rewrite much of the book.
This novel falls into the genre of bildungsroman, a classic form that focuses on the education or spiritual journey of the heroine or hero. Rather than centralizing the plot on the great deeds of the protagonist, this kind of story is mainly about the journey taken. In this book, the hero is undergoing personal growth and the story focuses on that path.
One of the most well-used literary devices in this book is irony. Hans Castorp, the main character, is declared as simplistic early on in the story. However, he is soon shown to be not as simplistic as he first appeared. This is a commentary on the complexity of everyone. Reality is often simplified for Hans, ironically framing the complexities of life.
One of the central themes of the book is disease both as it pertains to individuals and to society. Symbolically, disease comes to represent a symptom of a need for change, and sometimes for a spiritual journey to be made. The polarity of life and spirit is a theme that the author uses a lot in his work, and resolves that this polarity must be transcended.
This is not a book that can be casually read and easily understood. It is highly cryptic, and there are so many separate symbolic chains of events that it is hard to keep track of them all. One thing to expect as a reader of this book is for the narration to ask him or her certain questions, which must be answered thoughtfully for the meaning to be caught.
The complexity of the book is in part due to the way the author uses both realism and symbolism alongside each other. This makes it hard to always tell what is symbolic and what isn't, and his use of irony makes it even harder. Mann's own recommendation was to read the book twice, so there is no shame in not understanding everything on the first read.
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