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  • The Magic Mountain

  • De : Thomas Mann
  • Lu par : David Rintoul
  • Durée : 37 h et 27 min
  • 4,6 out of 5 stars (8 notations)

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The Magic Mountain

De : Thomas Mann
Lu par : David Rintoul
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Description

It was The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) that confirmed Thomas Mann as a Nobel prizewinner for literature and rightly so, for it is undoubtedly one of the great novels of the 20th century.

Its unusual story - it opens with a young man visiting a friend in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps - was originally started by Mann in 1912 but was not completed until 1924. Then, it was instantly recognised as a masterpiece and led to Mann’s Nobel Prize in 1929.

Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912, and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure, and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, some of whom have been there for years, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.

Among them are Hofrat Behrens, the principal doctor, the curiously attractive Clavdia Chauchat and two intellectuals: Ludovico Settembrini and Leo Naphta with their strongly contrasted personalities and differing political, ethical, artistic and spiritual ideals. Hans Castorp’s stay is extended, once, twice and still further, as he appears to develop symptoms which suggest that his health, once so robust, would benefit from the treatments and the mountain air.

As time passes, it becomes clear that the young man, with a particular interest in shipbuilding and not much else, finds his outlook and knowledge broadened by his mountain companions, his intellect stretched and his emotional experience deepened and enriched. Hans Castorp is changing, day by day, month by month, year by year, sometimes imperceptibly, sometimes with a sudden advance, as he encounters the varied range of sparkling characters, their comedies and tragedies, their aspirations and their defeats.

The Magic Mountain is a classic bildungsroman, an educational journey of growth - a genre that began with an earlier novel in the German tradition: Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. It is presented here in the acclaimed modern translation by John E. Woods and is told by David Rintoul with his particular understanding for Thomas Mann as displayed in his widely praised Ukemi recording of Buddenbrooks.

©1996 Knopf Translation (P)2020 Ukemi Productions Ltd
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    Histoire
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    Weighty!

    This dauntingly long novel is set at the beginning of the 20th century, entirely in a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland. Off in the mountains, the institution is physically very remote from “Flatland”, but perhaps even more so psychologically. Newspapers are available but current events and life down below in general do not seem to concern residents very much. The telephone is never mentioned and of course radio, television and the Internet did not yet exist. Thus, the novel essentially tells of a lock-up and how it affects a largely constant set of characters.

    The work’s premise is a three-week visit by Hans, a 24-year old from Hamburg who has completed his studies and is on the verge on entering professional life, to his cousin Joachim who suffers from TB and has already been there a few months. Hans is an orphan and no romantic interest or even significant friends of his in ‘Flatland” are ever mentioned. He is described as mediocre and certainly comes out as ambitionless and even lazy. Initially reserved, he becomes very talkative as the novel develops, his cousin Joachim ever less so.

    The plot unfolds very slowly, as days in the sanatorium are rigidly structured around five meals, interspersed with periods of imposed “rest cure”. Thus, ridiculously small events, even a banging door, take on major importance.

    The novel is punctuated with at times ethereal discussions on topics such as:

    • the perception of time as it passes;
    • the nature of life and health;
    • the relationship between art and science;
    • the relative worth of liberalism and conservatism.

    There are some unexpected events, much out of the ordinary, such as a ski outing in a snowstorm, communication with the Beyond, and a drunken all-night party. Strangely, these have no significant consequences for the characters, although they do raise questions as to how closely the sanatorium is managed beyond its strict schedule!

    From a 21st century perspective, many health considerations seem strangely overlooked: nothing is said of the impact of altitude on ease of breathing, doctors and most patients regularly smoke tobacco, X-ray sessions last many minutes! (It would probably be unfair to read any significance into this, however, as medical knowledge has just progressed in the past 100 years).

    The narrator is omniscient as to what concerns Hans and even includes very convincing detailed descriptions of some of his dreams. No doubt to keep the novel in focus, this does not apply to any other character. Quite a few times, the narrator directly addresses the reader, for instance to describe his literary approach of neither idealizing nor depreciating Hans, the “hero”.

    The exceptionally smooth translation from German to English is truly excellent. In the audio version, the speaker does a truly outstanding, energetic job, keeping a straight face through the non-events and a lively tone through the most demanding philosophical passages. His pronunciation of French, Italian and German passages is more than honourable. So is his singing towards the end of the book.

    This demanding, ambiguous novel has a haunting quality that makes it worthwhile despite the significant effort it calls for in terms of time and concentration.

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