Mann, Thomas "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family"

Mann, Thomas "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family" (German: Buddenbrooks) - 1901

I have read "Buddenbrooks" a couple of times and think this is one of the best books of German literature. It is usually described as Thomas Mann's masterpiece. The author is definitely one of Germany's most famous and best writers. The novel, an epic story, dates from 1901 and describes the life in a wealthy merchant family over several decades from the 1800s until the beginning of the twentieth century. The story is based on the author's own family who lived in Lübeck, the town where this novel takes place. It belonged to the Hanseatic League which "was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea, to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe for a time in the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, between the 13th and 17th centuries" (an early European Union, if you wish). Quite an interesting part of the history of that part of Northern Europe.

A wonderful novel, rich expressions, perfect detailed writing, also about some important history that isn't described very often. If you enjoy history and would like to learn more about Germany at the beginning of the last century, this is the book for you. But even if you are not interested in history, this is also a great family saga, one that will never leave you again. A family that was so rich and important and had so much influence on the politics and economy of a whole town and region and who can't to cope with the changes into modern life. Read it. You won't regret it.

In our new international book club, we were asked to suggest our favourite book from our country. I didn't have to think long, it had to be "Buddenbrooks". Granted, it is a long story and that's probably one of the reaons why I love it so much but I was not the only one. We had a good discussion about all the different parts of the book, all the different subjects it covers.

There is so much more to this novel than just the decline of the family Buddenbrook. Rather, the decline of the whole society, especially the wealthy part of it, was discussed, the revolution, the lower classes who didn't put up with the bad treatment and poor salaries the received. Not any longer. All that led to the downfall of certain families, not everyone could keep up with their status after a lot was taken away from them.

The beginning of this was already shown in Tony's meeting with Morton, the student who told her about the different types of classes in society, who tried to open her eyes. Then there was Tony herself, always making the wrong decisions because she had to keep up appearances. Christian, the second brother in the family Buddenbrook, was more or less born into the wrong family but other than his nephew Hanno who seems to just like his uncle, he doesn't have anyone who understands him. Then, finally, Thomas Buddenbrook, the son and heir to a dynasty who doesn't see that the times are a-changing, who believes being named Senator will set him up forever and ever.

Well, the Buddenbrooks are a merchant family, one of the "first families in town". They got rich through their trade which was helped through the Hanseatic League which can be seen as a pre-European Union during a time where there were many many more little countries in Europe than there are today. It existed from the 13th to the 17th centuries and occupied most of the land fromt he Baltic and the North Sea, almost all of the Northern part of the European mainland and more than 300 cities were a member.

It is not surprising that the Buddenbrooks became rich as one of the leaders of Lübeck which was considered the Queen of the Hanseatic League. And it also not surprising that the family came to its end when the union that had helped them for so long did so, as well.

Even though Thomas Mann was still quite young when he wrote this novel (26 years old), it was mainly for this work that he received the Nobel Prize and "Buddenbrooks" is generally considered the first social novel and is considered "the greatest novel of the century".

Read it. You won't regret it.

From the back cover:

"Thomas Mann's first novel, Buddenbrooks, is drawn from his own life and experience.

Subtitled The Decline of a Family, his story of a prosperous Hanseatic merchant family and their gradual disintegration is also an extraordinary portrayal of the transition from the stable bourgeois life of the nineteenth century to a modern uncertainty. "

We discussed this in our international book club in August 2007 and in February 2015.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

I also read "The Magic Mountain".

Thomas Mann received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 "principally for his great novel, 'Buddenbrooks', which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

I was lucky to be able to visit the Buddenbrook House in Lübeck, you can read about my experience here.