Product Description

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, a novel of self-realization greatly admired by the Romantics, has been called the first Bildungsroman and has had a tremendous influence on the history of the German novel. The story centers on Wilhelm, a young man living in the mid-1700s who strives to break free from the restrictive world of economics and seeks fulfillment as an actor and playwright. Along with Eric Blackall's fresh translation of the work, this edition contains notes and an afterword by the translator that aims to put this novel into historical and artistic perspective for twentieth-century readers while showing how it defies categorization.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #335537 in Books
• Published on: 1995-04-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 396 pages

From the Publisher
Unique edition of a masterpiece of German literature.

Includes photographs, a 10,000-word section on Goethe's life and works, with a longer chapter on Wilhelm Meister, anecdotes, critical perspectives, adaptations and spin-offs. A good number of notes accompany this edition.

Lavishly produced on natural, high-quality paper, and affordably priced.

Customer Reviews

A manual for growth
This is of course a classic, on level with Sophokles or Shakespear. The story of a young man and his wanderings through life, all guided by the mysterious Society of the Tower. A wandering that takes him through the world of the theater, turning him into the perfect Hamlet. But also getting him beyond that.

The novel is calleidoscopic, showing the vast scope of Goethe's interests. All inspired by his dealings with Rosencrucians and Freemasons and their visons for the growth of human potential. Not least centered on the relations between man and woman and the various stages of love and sexuality. From promiscious actresses to tender and indrawn virgins, like in the "Confessions Of a Beautiful Soul" that comprises the sixth chapter of the book. While Wilhelm's development lead him from youthful passion to a highly sublimated relationship with his Soulmate.

The wanderings of Wilhelm get him in contact with a host of people, an unforgetable array of beautiful characters like the little actress Marian, the seductive Philine, the demonic theatrical manager Serlo, the hermaphroditic Mignon and the woman of his heart, the quite litteraly angelic Nathalie.

An intriguing work, still relevant today as a piece of timeless psychological and spiritual advice, and as a manual for deeper selfunderstanding. And hey, it's downright ansorbing and entertaining too.