The Magic Mountain

A friend of mine from my undergraduate days describes having read Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain out of a desire to see what gives it its prestige as a literary masterpiece of the twentieth century. I have to fess up to the same motivation. I’d read Death in Venice some time ago, probably first after having seen Luchiano Visconti’s gorgeous and compelling (and largely faithful) film adaptation of the work in the 1970s at the Bijou Theatre at the University of Iowa. (Wonderful for its offerings, not its accommodations.) But with a long trip planned through Europe and knowing that audio versions get me going into more imposing works, and in part because we’d be traveling through Switzerland and Germany, I decided to make Mann’s big book my project.Now having completed the work, like my friend, I was both impressed and somewhat puzzled by it. That is, it’s an extremely long book (over 1000 pages & many hours of listening, even at an accelerated play rate!). And while it focuses on the enigmatic young man Hans Catsdorp, it lacks a dramatic arc. But perhaps that’s a part of the artistic plan of the work: Catsdorp, who at first only plans a short visit to his cousin at the sanitorium high in the Swiss Alps, eventually finds himself a patient there in what proves to be a very other-worldly environment. Time as the ordinarily perceived passage of time, as well as a formative concept of daily life, becomes warped up in this not-so-heavenly realm. (Paul Ricoeur, in Volume 2 of his Time and Narrative makes useful and interesting observations about the nature of time revealed and discussed in this book.)However, this is not to say that nothing happens in this book. There are a variety of fascinating characters and very engaging scenes: the downhill ski by Hans in a snowstorm; Castorp’s infatuation with the enigmatic Claudia Chauchet; Han’s medical interests; the arguments (at quite an elevated level) of Settenbrini and Naphta and then their penultimate encounter; and the seance, among others that allow Mann to exhibit his gifts as a writer. Thus, this nether-world realm serves as host to a variety of encounters and insights involving a variety of characters. The lack of an arc doesn’t entail a lack of dramatic scenes. And, the book ends with a couple of shocking events that leave the reader pondering.This is one of those books that demands further reading (again, I agree with my friend on this point). It does prove to be a “magic” mountain, but is the magic for good or evil? Can we thrive in such a realm? Visit, and judge for yourself.

When Joyce wrote, “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” he could easily have been thinking of The Magic Mountain. Set in an Alpine sanatorium, Thomas Mann’s characters are supposed to symbolize the cultural sickness endemic in Europe before the First World War.One of the first things to notice is that the residents don’t want to be well. They live lives of ease, first-class meals and hypochondriac obsession. After some time at the sanitarium they no longer feel at home in the world of work, marriage and responsibility. The sanatarium’s goal is not so much to make them well as to make their new life as pleasant as possible.The next point is that the sanitarium itself makes people sick. All patients are confined to bed rest for three weeks upon admittance; they quickly lose whatever strength they had before arrival. Then they are subjected to endless x-rays all with the idea of identifying the root cause of their malignancy. For Mann, it is not only the priests who try to convince men of their sickness, as Nietzsche argued, but men of medicine as well.The residents then spend their time endlessly debating the relationship between body and the spirit, democracy and absolutism and religion and atheism; as of course Europe also did at the turn of the twentieth century.The great pride in Western Civilization that resonated so strongly throughout pre-war Europe is here seen as a sickness that infects those who come under its influence. Mann might almost agree with Gandhi that Western Civilization would be a good idea.It’s a compelling account, especially for those versed in late nineteenth century thought. Whether it’s a true account of the causes of the war or a correct diagnosis of cultural illness is of course left to the judgment of each reader. But as a artistic rendering of a 1920s weltanschauung it stands with the other great works of the Lost Generation.Whether read as an allegory, secular prophecy or just high literature, The Magic Mountain is worth reading; particularly by all interested in the history of civilization.

Quando o autor começa a descrever o frio, juro que senti frio (mesmo em um dia de verão). É muito raro alguém ter um dom literário tão impressionante. Esse é um clássico da literatura, mas um pouco difícil de ler. Recomendo que experimente primeiro a amostra.

Very well translated, although every translation loses something. Ridiculously low price for a priceless piece of literature.

Lovely Book.

The attractive new edition from Actuel Editions is indeed the same old, maligned, original Katherine Lowe-Porter translation. That is why they don't specify. It is fancy wrapping paper. Yet, if a cover matters to you as much as it does to me, we will both have to wait until Penguin Randomhouse finally commissions a revamp to their ugly but superior John E Woods translation. Oh well. (Rated 5 stars because Amazon isn't smart enough not to collapse all translations into a single reviewing metric.)

Acheté pour un cadeau de Noël et le père deom copain était très content ! Le livre même est trop élégant, les pages faites avec du bon papier.