Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Faust"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Urfaust. Faust: Erster und zweiter Teil" (German: Faust I + II) - 1772-1808

After reading "The Sound and the Fury" for our classics spin challenge, I thought I will never get through Faust in time if that gets chosen, so I started it right away.

The story is said to be the greatest work of German literature and I can well believe that. 250 years have passed in the meantime but I don't believe that there has been a single book that is as well-known around the world than this.

Even though my edition had more than a thousand pages, I got through it faster than I thought. I mentioned it a lot of times, I am no fan of reading plays, it's not so easy to follow through. However, I didn't find this too bad. Maybe because, growing up in Germany, I've come across descriptions and fragments of the story before. And I found a lot of aphorisms, metaphors, symbols and sayings that we use in German often, quite often. Goethe is our Shakespeare, he has moulded the language more than anyone.

The story itself, well, what can I say? It shows the view of women at the time, of the religion and beliefs of people. The morale of the time is depicted just as well as the internal struggles of the protagonist. And even for non-Germans, the play shows so much of people that would be valid anywhere.

My edition didn't just have the Faust that we know today but also the Urfaust, his early work. It shows all versions in parallel which helps in seeing what he changed and what he added. Totally interesting.

I can well believe that Goethe needed about sixty years to write the whole tale, starting with the Gretchen story and then passing on to Helena. Part I was first published as "Faust. A Tragedy".

All in all, I am really happy I finally read this.

Book Description:

"Goethe's Faust is a classic of European literature. Based on the fable of the man who traded his soul for superhuman powers and knowledge, it became the life's work of Germany's greatest poet. Beginning with an intriguing wager between God and Satan, it charts the life of a deeply flawed individual, his struggle against the nihilism of his diabolical companion Mephistopheles.

Part One presents Faust's pact with the Devil and the harrowing tragedy of his love affair with the young Gretchen. Part Two shows Faust's experience in the world of public affairs, including his encounter with Helen of Troy, the emblem of classical beauty and culture. The whole is a symbolic and panoramic commentary on the human condition and on modern European history and civilisation.

This new translation of both parts of Faust preserves the poetic character of the original, its tragic pathos and hilarious comedy. In addition, John Williams has translated the Urfaust, a fascinating glimpse into the young Goethe's imagination, and a selection from the draft scenarios for the Walpurgis Night witches' sabbath - material so ribald and blasphemous that Goethe did not dare publish it."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" (German: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) - 1795/96

I love classic literature and I love chunky tomes. So this would actually be the perfect book for me. I was very pleased when my reading group chose it for our summer reading.

But I didn't feel very comfortable with the book from the start. The whole story seems interesting, but somehow the author (Goethe!!!) fails to bring the characters to life. It's far too excessive, a number of topics are touched on that have little to do with the story. One could quickly regard it as a philosophical work if it weren't for the story of Wilhelm and his theatre people.

I know that this text is very important, not only for German literature but in general, but I just couldn't make friends with Wilhelm Meister. I can only agree with one other blogger who thought he was sexist. It was probably like that at the time, but that still doesn't mean you have to like it.

All in all, a classic that I will definitely not read again. Too bad.

When I was halfway through the book, the first members of the reading group asked if we wouldn't rather read something else. Instead, we opted for Bernhard Schlink's "Abschiedsfarben" [Colours of Goodbye] which wasn't a bad idea.

In the meeting in September 2022, all members were of the same opinion, as well. The word "waffling" was mentioned.

Book 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."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Italian Journey"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Italian Journey" (aka Letters from Italy) (German: Italienische Reise) - 1817

Goethe is considered one of the greatest thinkers in the world. He was not just a writer of novels, poetry and play, he was also a scientist and an artist. One of his most famous non-fictional publications is the "Theory on Colours", published in 1810, including his colour wheel and a very early study on the physiological effects of colour.

In his late thirties, he embarked on a trip to Italy, not a two week holiday like we are used to nowadays, no, he stayed for more than a year, travelled through the country and observed their culture and art.

In this book, he tells us all about his visits to the various parts of Italy, the museums and operas, his meeting the local population. Since not many people could travel at the time, it was something like a travel documentary you might watch on television today of a place you know you will never get to visit.

But he didn't just do a sightseeing tour, he also made botanical, mineralogical, geological and geographical researches and made quite a few discoveries, e.g. on the propagation of plants.

So, if any of this interests you, I can heartily recommend the book. After all, he was a perfect author and could tell stories in a way not many can. However, if you think the topic is too dry, I recommend other works by Goethe, e.g. "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werther).

But it is certainly worth reading Goethe. I hope he is as great in the translations as he is in German. In the "Country of Poets and Thinkers", he truly is one of the greatest. His thoughts are still as up to date as they were 200 years ago.

From the back cover:

"In 1786, when he was already the acknowledged leader of the Sturm und Drang literary movement, Goethe set out on a journey to Italy to fulfil a personal and artistic quest and to find relief from his responsibilities and the agonies of unrequited love. As he travelled to Venice, Rome, Naples and Sicily he wrote many letters, which he later used as the basis for the Italian Journey. A journal full of fascinating observations on art and history, and the plants, landscape and the character of the local people he encountered, this is also a moving account of the psychological crisis from which Goethe emerged newly inspired to write the great works of his mature years."

 

The picture on the cover of the English book (Goethe in the Roman Campagna) was painted by his friend Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein whom Goethe visited in Rome during his travels. The picture is both the most famous one by Tischbein as well as the most famous one of Goethe.

Plenzdorf, Ulrich "The New Sufferings of Young W."

Plenzdorf, Ulrich "The New Sufferings of Young W." (German: Die neuen Leiden des jungen W.) - 1972

Any German who visited school after 1972 will have read this book as well as Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (which probably will have been read by any German visting school after 1774).

Same as the original "Sorrows", the "New Sufferings" spoke to the people. Ulrich Plenzdorf grew up in the German Democratic Republic. His play is not a nostalgic memoir of one of the greatest stories ever written in the German language, it is a criticism of society.

We hear about  a young man reading Goethe's masterpiece and finding a lot of similarities to his own life. The author uses the slang the youth language of the time which contributes to the familiar feeling you get when reading about this young man and his problems.

The play was an instant success in both parts of Germany and certainly belongs to the major works by German authors.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"One of the most talked-about works ever published in the German Democratic Republic! This innovative novel by an East German writer is a worthy companion to the classic it parodies and parallels: Goethe's The Sufferings of Young Werther. Goethe and J. D. Salinger were the two greatest influences on Edgar Wibeau, 'Young W.' Edgar is a 17-year-old with the frustrations of teenagers all over the world, living with the added pressures of an East-bloc state. A model all-GDR boy, the son of a factory director, he suddenly drops out. But not from socialism per se--just from conformity, picky regulations, and official disapproval of jeans, the blues, and girls. Hiding out, he finds and devours an old copy of The Sufferings of Young Werther. From then on he wards off reality with Goethe texts, and young Wibeau's fate is superimposed on that of Werther like a transparent overlay. It is an ironic and revealing linkage."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "The Sorrows of Young Werther"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werther) - 1774

This epistolary novel is also slightly autobiographical. Goethe has always been a very important German author. This is probably one of his most famous books very much to the disdain of the author.

Young Werther is a young artist, very sensitive. He corresponds with his friend whom he tells about all his troubles and sufferings, his unrequited love to a girl.

Apparently, the book had a huge influence on the people at the time. But not only contemporary readers were influenced, there are still German and international authors referring to the novel.

Thomas Mann wrote "Lotte in Weimar" where Goethe meets the young girl, Charlotte, Ulrich Plenzdorf, a GDR author, wrote "Die neuen Leiden des jungen W." (The New Sufferings of Young W.) in 1970 and it is still as actual as it was then.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

We also read this in our international online book club in August 2025.

From the back cover:

"Visiting an idyllic German village, Werther, a sensitive and romantic young man, meets and falls in love with sweet-natured Lotte. Although he realizes that Lotte is to marry Albert, he is unable to subdue his passion for her, and his infatuation torments him to the point of absolute despair. The first great 'confessional' novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther draws both on Goethe's own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff and on the death of his friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem. The book was an immediate success, and a cult rapidly grew up around it, resulting in numerous imitations as well as violent criticism and even suppression on the grounds of its apparent recommendation of suicide. Goethe's sensitive exploration of the mind of a young artist at odds with society and ill-equipped to cope with life is now considered the first great tragic novel of European literature."

I also read "Iphigenia in Tauris".

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Iphigenia in Tauris”"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Iphigenia in Tauris" (German: Iphigenie auf Tauris) - 1787

A play by Goethe, one of the books you have to read in the German high school. Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon who offers her to the goddess Artemis. Even though the goddess rescues Iphigenia and takes her to the island of Tauris, a lot of things happen as a consequence.

I am not a big fan of reading plays, I rather watch them. However, this is a very interesting story that teaches a lot about Greek mythology.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Goethe wrote in the early 1800's. His works encompassed poetry, drama, literature, theology, science, painting, and humanism. This romantic play begins in tragedy and progresses through several perilous adventures to its happy conclusion. Iphigenia is sacrificed to the goddess Artemis by her father. Artemis saves her and makes her a priestess. It was Iphigenia's role to consecrate the barbarian victims before they were sacrificed. She wants revenge on the Greeks and waits for one to come to be sacrificed. When a Greek finally arrives she does not initially recognize him as her brother."

I also read "The Sorrows of Young Werther".