Cover of Magic Mountain (Volume One)

Magic Mountain (Volume One)

Magic Mountain (Volume One)

By: Thomas Mann
Listen for free

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
Summary
 Thomas Mann’s monumental novel offers a captivating exploration of a decaying European society on the brink of the First World War. Set against the backdrop of a luxurious sanatorium nestled high in the Swiss Alps, we delve into the lives of a diverse cast of characters from the bourgeois elite, each grappling with ailments, particularly consumption, while simultaneously indulging in the pleasures and distractions of life. This rich narrative interweaves elements of surreal comedy, stark tragedy, and profound allegory, establishing Manns work as a cornerstone of twentieth-century literature. Summary by Steve Gough.Copyright Family and Culture Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Crock of Gold-James Stephens

    Crock of Gold-James Stephens
    11 Nov 2026
    Crock of Gold by James Stephens.

    His first novel, The Charwoman's Daughter (1911), humorously examines the life and fantasies of a poor Dublin mother and daughter. His second, The Crock of Gold (1913), again showcases his unique writing style, quirky thoughts, grasp of irony and cleverness of phrase. No conformity here, lots of head-scratching twists and turns that reveal odd bits of wisdom too! The main characters are an extremely pedantic Philosopher, his revengeful wife, their sweet innocent children lured down leprechaun holes, a teenage girl seduced by Pan (the god of lust and carefree living) then saved by Angus Og (the Irish god of youth, love and beauty), culminating in a giant parade of Irish gods.

    Featured on Magic Mountain (Volume One).

    Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
    Show more Show less
    5 hrs and 47 min
  • Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy-Laurence Sterne

    Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy-Laurence Sterne
    10 Nov 2026
    Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy by Laurence Sterne.

    After the bizarre textual antics of "Tristram Shandy", this book would seem to require a literary health warning. Sure enough, it opens in mid-conversation upon a subject never explained; meanders after a fashion through a hundred pages, then fizzles out in mid-sentence - so, a plotless novel lacking a beginning, a middle or an end. Let us say: an exercise in the infinitely comic. "There is not a secret so aiding to the progress of sociality, as to get master of this short hand, and to be quick in rendering the several turns of looks and limbs with all their inflections and delineations, into plain words." Sterne calls his fine sensitivity to body language (as we now term it) "translation". Much of the pleasure to be had from this wonderfully engaging book comes from his unmatched ability to extract random details from the chaos of experience to create comic turns imbued with Feeling.

    Featured on Magic Mountain (Volume One).

    Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
    Show more Show less
    5 hrs and 49 min
  • Twilight Sleep-Edith Wharton

    Twilight Sleep-Edith Wharton
    9 Nov 2026
    Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton.

    Wharton miraculously finds it possible to satirize the very rich while simultaneously showing compassion and even grudging admiration for some of her victims. Every character she introduces is vividly depicted, no matter how minor. Yet for all the clarity of these depictions, the lives these people live, though busy, are empty and meaningless. The novel is a brilliant description of evasion and inauthenticity.

    Featured on Magic Mountain (Volume One).

    Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
    Show more Show less
    8 hrs and 49 min
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet