Product Description

This is an intellectual drama of the forces which play upon modern man. Its theatre is a sanatorium in the Swiss mountains - a community organized with exclusive reference to ill-health.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93512 in Books
• Published on: 1996-07-29
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 736 pages

Review
A new translation of Mann's great 1924 novel, long acclaimed as a masterly synthesis of the intellectual history of early 20th-century Europe and for its prescient scrutiny of elements in the German national character that had, and would again, find expression in the calamitous form of the world war. Helen T. Lowe-Porter's original (1927) English version rendered with exemplary elegance the sonorous gravity of Mann's prose. This new one from Woods, twice the winner of PEN's Translation Prize, brilliantly showcases the tartness of his sophisticated characters' argumentative exchanges, but so emphasizes the amused judgmental irony of the novel's ever-present omniscient narrator that excessive attention is inadvertently focused on Mann's least attractive quality as a writer: his jocose, avuncular condescension. For all that, it's important to have a contemporary updating of a classic novel, and for its clarity and syntactical vigor alone, Woods's new translation may be considered an impressive success. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
This is an intellectual drama of the forces which play upon modern man. Its theatre is a sanatorium in the Swiss mountains - a community organized with exclusive reference to ill-health.

Customer Reviews

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
At the risk of being labelled a Philistine, I declare that this book is one of the most insufferably boring tomes that has ever made it onto my bedside table. I admit that I only struggled my way through the first 170 pages, but that was enough to convince me that I should not waste any more minutes of my precious life wading through any more of this drivel.

I know, I have also been chastised for criticising modern art in the same way. Tracey Emin's "Unmade Bed" and Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" will just have to live in the pile of junk that I fail to understand.

I realise that I am in the minority, as most reviewers and professors of literature believe this to be a masterpiece, and probably the best book to come out of Germany in the twentieth century. Then again, Hans Christian Anderson's boy who recognised the nakedness of his Emperor as those around him admired the splendour and wonderful colours of their leader's new clothes, was also in the minority.

Perhaps, then, I shouldn't feel too bad about my opinion of this amazing piece of creative writing. It may also explain why English literature was the only `O' Level that I failed, despite having been a prolific reader all of my life. It just happened that the books that were chosen for my studies for those exams also bored me to tears.

A beautiful work of art
I've just finished reading The Magic Mountain this morning and I closed it with a smile on my face, having had one of the most rewarding literary experiences of my life. With it primary letimotifs of time, death and love, this wonderfully written and strange, magical book is worth every cent of your money and minute of your time. Nobody has written so eloquently on the mystery of time as Thomas Mann in this book. In a weird way it reminded me of Ulysses, in that just when some mundane detail was being described minutely, suddenly a flourish of prose would arise so breathtaking as to almost force you to close the book and wallow in the beauty of what you have just read. A masterclass of literature.

somewhat clunking translation
This is a book quite unlike any other, and is likely to be a read you remember for the rest of your life, it's that impressive.
One of the most sriking features is the pace, which is very deliberate....and will no doubt frustrate many readers by seeming slow and focussing on what might appear as trivialities. However, it builds into a superb picture not just of the characters but of what they represent. All of pre-WW1 european society is represented along with the preoccupations of that time. As a doctor, i also enjoyed the medical aspects of the book, including the sick role and the power of a paternalistic medical profession.

My reasons for ascribing 3 stars are entirely related to the translation by lowe-porter...she herself apologises for the quality of the work in the preface. With a shiny new translation by john woods now available, please consider obtaining that version. I "jumped ship" after reading the first 200 pages of lowe-porter's version and found the woods version so much more enjoyable, the characters have lost their muffled voices.