Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21332 in Books
• Published on: 1989-03-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Synopsis
The first great "confessional" novel, this is a story of unrequited love, drawing on personal experience. Werther, a sensitive young man, falls in love with Lotte, knowing she is to marry another. Unable to subdue his passion, Werther's infatuation torments him to the point of despair.

Customer Reviews

Not a story for the cynics!
Werther falls in love with a woman who is engaged to another man. As a result he suffers miserably, tormented by his existence, unable to dispel the burning desire in his `sorely beset heart'. I found the translation provided an engaging narrative, allowing the reader to understand the central theme of the story: Werther's tragic inability to adapt to the harsh reality of his situation. Goethe's views on life and death reflect his consummate desire to expose Nature's inherent brutality `forever devouring, regurgitating, chewing and gorging'. And it is Werther's self pity that propels his dark thoughts towards oblivion, `I see no end to my misery but the grave.' As the introduction explains this work should be considered as semi autobiographical and, as such, should be read as the sentimental musings of a talented, observant and profoundly thoughtful writer. If we are honest we could all have a bit of Werther in our `soul'.

Disapointing
I expected to enjoy this book. I'm keen on literature from this period and I'm not averse to a bit of tragedy. Unfortunately I found Werther in love to be utterly unconvincing. He struck me as self obsessed and ridiculous. Although he is supposed to be desperately in love with Lotte, the plot involves him staying away from her for a period, during which time he admits to not having leisure to think about her. This does not strike me as the emotional behaviour of a man in love and yet not so much later he's committing suicide because of his supposedly deep feelings for her. He appears more sunk in self pity than love and comes across as a candidate for mild contempt rather than sympathy. Nor could I warm to Lotte. One of her main appeals to Werther is her innocence and purity and yet at times she seems intent on ensuring that she doesn't lose his interest. All in all a disappointing read. Perhaps it just doesn't age as well as other literature of the era.

Overwrought and unbelievable
'TSOYW' is touted as being one of Europes first tragic novels. It follows the story of Werther's love for Lotte, a love that is doomed to be unfulfilled because she is marrying another man and, though she loves Werther in return, her feelings are less passionate than his. Werther's growing passion is mirrored by his growing hopelessness and his increasingly obsessive behaviour, and he spirals towards despair and suicide.All of this is recorded in a series of letters written by Werther and, latterly, by the reports of a local official.
Unfortunately this book completely failed to move me, and any initial sympathy I felt towards Werther was lost as the florid and romanticised prose stretched all credulity regarding his state of mind. His feelings on meeting and falling in love with Lotte are well told, and do have a tragic beauty about them. The realisation of falling in love and the silly behaviour that follows will be recognisable to many people. However, when these feelings become darker, as Werther realises that he has no hope, his letters become overwrought with ridiculously flowery prose that reads more like a poet trying to write about a glorious romantic suicide than a young man actually experiencing one. I found it utterly unbelievable, and subsequently lost interest in Werther and the book. The final few days are strung out into an eternity of romantic musings which, again, was more like an attempt at poetry than he thoughts of a dying man. Immature as it may sound, I really was wishing that he would just get on with it.
I'm sure that this book has an important place in European literature and, correctly in context, is a classic, but its content was completely unbelievable and its style lost me, and I won't be reading it again anytime soon.