I welcome questions, comments, or concerns about the material contained in this video. Rating: ***** (out of *****) You can purchase this book at: www.amazon.com/...
Funny! I've had a few of my friends talk to me about Thomas Mann quite a bit. So your video come at a good moment hence pushing me toward his work. I will definitely try to check out this one or another one.Doctor Faustus sounds really interesting and full of a lot of things to think about. Thanks John for your insight in understanding this work!
Buddenbrooks and the Magic mountain is definitely among my favourites. Doctor Faustus is different from those two. It's freaking heavy, algorithms of analyses, theology, philosophy, music theory and lots and lots of sidetracking. For those who haven't read anything by TM my tip is to start with Buddenbrooks.
I'd say that having some knowledge of musical theory and composition would help with comprehending Mann's masterpiece. Listen to Beethoven's Op.111. It's an integral part of the narrative.
An excellent review my friend, and I've always wanted to write an extended paper on Thomas Mann, but I can never figure out where to start, seeing as he towers so high. I really appreciated your thoughts and considerations of "Doctor Faustus," and I like how you connected the Third Reich and deal with the devil. That was well articulated!
Thanks for this insightful review. I hope you are still receiving and reviewing comments. I read this novel when I was 17, and although I’m sure I gleaned less than I might have, it really positively affected me and set me in a path to enjoy challenging, intellectual reading; some passages of this work remain with me to this day. I’m now 53, and have just started to read it again, so it was interesting to get your opinion of this work.
Thanks for the kind words, Bob! Yes, Mann is certainly in that very top tier of novelists for me. He's one of the few names that comes to mind when I really think of a "novelist's novelist," and especially the novelist of ideas. And while I'm glad to hear about your re-read, definitely check out the other stuff (Buddenbrooks, Magic Mountain, etc). Everyman's Library has a beautiful edition of Mann's "Joseph and His Brothers" (Mann's re-telling of the Old Testament story). I'm so glad I can share my enjoyment of him with you. All the best, and happy reading.
Terrific review. Thank you for being honest about the demands Mann's novel puts on the reader. But like you, John, I found it completely engrossing and strangely thrilling.
Lowe-Porter was the grandmother of Britain’s useless and destructive ex-pm ‘Boris’ Johnson. She wasn’t fluent in German, which is why her translations are so BAD. Typically if that repulsive family, she swung the gig through dishonesty.
@@67Parsifal Yes, I am aware of Lowe-Porter being the grandmother of Boris Johnson, though I wasn't aware of her not being fluent in German. Apparently, she was a good friend of Thomas Mann and he approved her translations. The problem is her translations dampened some of the more erotic metaphors in Manns books and she completely ruined Death in Venice which is unforgivable.
@@ryokan9120 although Mann spoke english fluently, I’m not sure he read much. He endorsed the L-P translations, judging them ‘excellent’, but he added the qualification, ‘as far as I can determine’ which suggests he didn’t study them too closely.
Definitely do what I suggested, i.e., read fifty pages or so and if you don't like it, just drop it, otherwise you'll just be wasting your time. But I'll keep my fingers crossed that you like those first fifty! Another idea: start off with his short stories first, if you haven't already: Death in Venice, Tonio Kroger, Felix Krull, et cetera...
I read Dr. F. and Magic Mountain after Trump was elected. These helped make sense of the world again - though they did not increase my optimism. I was thinking about them again after I read Robert Kagan's recent op-eds. His call for conservatives to stand up to Trump reminded of one of the lessens I think Mann was espousing in Dr. F.
Oh, no! What happened to your beautiful videos!? I really do like them so much! I'm glad you liked this. It really is a slog for someone with an attenuated attention span, but the discourses on music, philosophy, religion, and history are just irresistible! I'm sorry to say mine is the only review of this book I could find on RUclips
The book of my life- so delicious so "enciclopedia" and all that music, all those appearences of human design and fate-just read it the third time and as a german reader I took the chance, to follow to "Entstehung des Doctor Faustus" which is added in one Hardcover by Fischer Verlag who was his "home-editor" Thanks for your review!
Lo estoy leyendo en estos momentos, me parece una de las cúspides de la literatura alemana y universal. Apenas estoy en las primeras 60 páginas, y me asombra el número y la ambición de Mann a través de los personajes. Saludos, buena reseña.
I took Doctor Faustus out again as it was there on top of piles of book.I thought I had read it sometimes year 2016 although I knew I was just kind of hovering the words and words and more words and had felt bamboozled but still I carried on.Now I shall try to gently and tentatively approach it again not without a shiver and a dread of those words and words and more words.But literature is what it is let us dare tread where angels fear....
I've only read Zauberberg and Felix Krull . Re-reading Krull now and will search for my unread copy of Buddenbrooks. Probably try Joseph after that because I may not be ready for Faustus. Enjoy your commentaries, Mr. David. Keep up the good work!
+AstridLana "Joseph and his Brothers" is even more intense than Doktor Faustus - not to mention about 3 times as long. And unless you have a deep, historical understanding of Old Testament literature and the characters in it, you're not going to get much out of it.
Just finished this. I loved it so much. To me, the last 200 pages were INCREDIBLE. As a musician, I conected deeply with this book. Great review! :)
it was impossible to put down!!
Funny! I've had a few of my friends talk to me about Thomas Mann quite a bit. So your video come at a good moment hence pushing me toward his work. I will definitely try to check out this one or another one.Doctor Faustus sounds really interesting and full of a lot of things to think about. Thanks John for your insight in understanding this work!
Buddenbrooks and the Magic mountain is definitely among my favourites. Doctor Faustus is different from those two. It's freaking heavy, algorithms of analyses, theology, philosophy, music theory and lots and lots of sidetracking. For those who haven't read anything by TM my tip is to start with Buddenbrooks.
"Algorithms of analysis"?
I'd say that having some knowledge of musical theory and composition would help with comprehending Mann's masterpiece. Listen to Beethoven's Op.111. It's an integral part of the narrative.
An excellent review my friend, and I've always wanted to write an extended paper on Thomas Mann, but I can never figure out where to start, seeing as he towers so high. I really appreciated your thoughts and considerations of "Doctor Faustus," and I like how you connected the Third Reich and deal with the devil. That was well articulated!
Thanks for this insightful review. I hope you are still receiving and reviewing comments. I read this novel when I was 17, and although I’m sure I gleaned less than I might have, it really positively affected me and set me in a path to enjoy challenging, intellectual reading; some passages of this work remain with me to this day. I’m now 53, and have just started to read it again, so it was interesting to get your opinion of this work.
Thanks for the kind words, Bob! Yes, Mann is certainly in that very top tier of novelists for me. He's one of the few names that comes to mind when I really think of a "novelist's novelist," and especially the novelist of ideas. And while I'm glad to hear about your re-read, definitely check out the other stuff (Buddenbrooks, Magic Mountain, etc). Everyman's Library has a beautiful edition of Mann's "Joseph and His Brothers" (Mann's re-telling of the Old Testament story). I'm so glad I can share my enjoyment of him with you. All the best, and happy reading.
Terrific review. Thank you for being honest about the demands Mann's novel puts on the reader. But like you, John, I found it completely engrossing and strangely thrilling.
Great review. I noticed you read the John Woods translation and that makes a huge difference when compared to the horrible Lowe-Porter translation.
Thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Lowe-Porter was the grandmother of Britain’s useless and destructive ex-pm ‘Boris’ Johnson. She wasn’t fluent in German, which is why her translations are so BAD. Typically if that repulsive family, she swung the gig through dishonesty.
@@67Parsifal Yes, I am aware of Lowe-Porter being the grandmother of Boris Johnson, though I wasn't aware of her not being fluent in German. Apparently, she was a good friend of Thomas Mann and he approved her translations. The problem is her translations dampened some of the more erotic metaphors in Manns books and she completely ruined Death in Venice which is unforgivable.
@@ryokan9120 although Mann spoke english fluently, I’m not sure he read much. He endorsed the L-P translations, judging them ‘excellent’, but he added the qualification, ‘as far as I can determine’ which suggests he didn’t study them too closely.
Definitely do what I suggested, i.e., read fifty pages or so and if you don't like it, just drop it, otherwise you'll just be wasting your time. But I'll keep my fingers crossed that you like those first fifty! Another idea: start off with his short stories first, if you haven't already: Death in Venice, Tonio Kroger, Felix Krull, et cetera...
I read Dr. F. and Magic Mountain after Trump was elected. These helped make sense of the world again - though they did not increase my optimism. I was thinking about them again after I read Robert Kagan's recent op-eds. His call for conservatives to stand up to Trump reminded of one of the lessens I think Mann was espousing in Dr. F.
Oh, no! What happened to your beautiful videos!? I really do like them so much!
I'm glad you liked this. It really is a slog for someone with an attenuated attention span, but the discourses on music, philosophy, religion, and history are just irresistible! I'm sorry to say mine is the only review of this book I could find on RUclips
Great review! Thank you buddy. I really enjoyed this book! Mann is my all time favorite author!
The book of my life- so delicious so "enciclopedia" and all that music, all those appearences of human design and fate-just read it the third time and as a german reader I took the chance, to follow to "Entstehung des Doctor Faustus" which is added in one Hardcover by Fischer Verlag who was his "home-editor" Thanks for your review!
Oh I`m pleased-thanks to you
Great review and am looking forward to reading doctor faustus. Thanks.
Lo estoy leyendo en estos momentos, me parece una de las cúspides de la literatura alemana y universal. Apenas estoy en las primeras 60 páginas, y me asombra el número y la ambición de Mann a través de los personajes. Saludos, buena reseña.
Thank you, for this excellent review and overview!
And thank you for the kind words, Norm. I very much appreciate them.
Ok thanks for the advice. I may try to check it out of the library, which means I'll be reading it in French.
I took Doctor Faustus out again as it was there on top of piles of book.I thought I had read it sometimes year 2016 although I knew I was just kind of hovering the words and words and more words and had felt bamboozled but still I carried on.Now I shall try to gently and tentatively approach it again not without a shiver and a dread of those words and words and more words.But literature is what it is let us dare tread where angels fear....
enjoy youtubeing all the music the theory in it is great. Theory in alot of things really I'm on 320s pg. now.
I am very intrigued by the story, i'm checking this out of the library tomorrow.
Thomas Mann's son Golo Mann is a great historian
I've only read Zauberberg and Felix Krull . Re-reading Krull now and will search for my unread copy of Buddenbrooks. Probably try Joseph after that because I may not be ready for Faustus. Enjoy your commentaries, Mr. David. Keep up the good work!
+AstridLana "Joseph and his Brothers" is even more intense than Doktor Faustus - not to mention about 3 times as long. And unless you have a deep, historical understanding of Old Testament literature and the characters in it, you're not going to get much out of it.
I have not read the book, but have read the other work of thomas mann, like budenbrook family, it is so good.