The Magic Mountain | 
pickLong and dense but if you‘re willing to give yourself over to the pace of the novel and you can overlook long-winded conversations - this book is very good. A young German man, in the turmoil of a Europe approaching the eve of WWI, visits his ailing cousin up at a TB sanatorium in the heights of the Alps. His visit is set for three weeks but he remains up on “the magic mountain” for seven years.
pickFor almost the whole of 2023 this book has been hunting me. I read quotes from it (Trust), characters adores it (Time Shelter) and some hated it (Muss ich das gelesen haben?). So I decided it's time for a re-read. But when I pulled my book out of my shelf I held this 1000 pages chunkster in my hand and asked myself “Do I really want to read this?“. Well... Then I opened the first page and in my early-twenties handwriting I had written there ⬇
bailedBail, I could no longer read about Hans Castorp‘s perpetual thoughts of sanitarium life. I am on page 440, 61% through and I feel like this book is just a constant continuation of the same theme and idea, prolonged for the author's amusement but nobody else's....I did appreciate some of the authors descriptions on the scenery in the Swiss Alps and believe this could have been a positive read for me had it been condensed 500 pages or so.
pickThe writing is wonderful, the scenery relaxing, and the philosophical musings capture a moment in time. The Magic Mountain is a rich text well worth the time spent. One of my top ten novels of all time.
pickI made it! 3⭐️ for me… this is the hardest chunkster I have read so far. I felt that Mann had this collection of thoughts that he wanted to share, and he decided to dump everything into this story of Hans Castorp. Despite this, I still like the way the story is set up, and also the smart little details that only a good author can produce, and the sprinkle of humours that made me giggle in parts of the book. A tough book, but worth the effort.
I have 7 hours left til the book club meeting. Do you think I can make it? The philosophical chatters in this novel makes my head spin 🤪
Beginning
I love the way this addresses a past historical event that is a staggering time of strife while not giving any current tense to it. This is how you make art!
pickIt says a lot about how perfectly written this 900 page book with almost no plot is that it never felt long as I was listening. The mountain and the secluded sanitarium there in the years before World War One was so dreamy in every sense, I got absolutely obsessed with the world outside time that Hans Castorp visited and found myself wanting to go there myself to escape lockdown London
Across last night and my audiobook walk this morning I reckon I managed 6 hours for #20in4 - mainly listening to the current book which is hugely long but really excellent. Now reading anna karenina again with coffee, a big pretzel and a cheesy horror film on in the background @Andrew65
This seemed appropriate for today. #strive #quotsyjan21 @TK-421
pickHans Castorp travels to visit his cousin in a tuberculosis sanatorium; his short visit lasts seven years. Reading about his stay in the Swiss Alps, eating five gourmet meals a day, resting on the balcony in an extraordinarily comfortable chair, interactions with other patients, a love interest, and vigorous discussions was very appealing right now. The philosophizing was a bit much, but the descriptions of time, scenery and music were stunning.
so-soIt took me a whole month to finished this story about sick young man and his contemplation about world, death, love, literature, history, society, time .... very philosophical, many ideas, written in lush, rich language, but for me it wasn‘t just too plotless (and I usually like plotless stories), but it was also very cold, soulless story.
I finished only first part, but I‘m totally counting it as finished prompt for #ReadAroundTheWorld #Germany
1. Maribor, Slovenija.
2. T.Mann, Magic Mountain.
3. Chocolate.
4. Reading is my only hobby, and I rarely bail on books.
5. I don‘t have any plans, because I have to do some work related stuff, but I‘m looking forward to a few nice, quiet reading hours.
#Deweys24HourReadathon #Readathon #DeweysReadathon
After I skipped Malawi in September, Magic Mountain is my pick for Germany #ReadAroundTheWorld in October. My progress is in the pace of the 🐌, but I really enjoy in the lush prose and I really enjoy in my quiet lunch breaks.
Set in a Sanitarium in #Switzerland, Mann‘s tome gave me plenty to think about this summer. #letstravelaugust @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Confusing and frustrating? Sometimes. Thought provoking and magnificent? Always!! This is a fabulous book that is well worth your reading time. It took me six weeks to get through it, and now I will go back and try to make sense of my notes. This is a book that one could read multiple times and get something different out of it each time. @Lcsmcat Thanks for reading with me!! #2020classics
“He talked to them about biopsychical projections of subconscious complexes into the objective; about transactions of which the medical constitution, the somnambulic state, was to be regarded as the source; and which one might speak of as objectivated dream-concepts, in so far as they confirmed an ideoplastic property of nature, a power, which under certain conditions appertained to thought, of drawing substance to itself, and clothing itself ⬇️
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/books/illness-as-metaphor.html I have this article in the book tagged below, but you can find it in the link above. @SharonGoforth
My July stats are pretty good, particularly considering the length of the tagged book. 😀 My favorites are on the left, but really only one (the Olsen) was a pan. #julystats
Sorry, @SharonGoforth - but the pace picks up at the end and I stayed up way too late and finished. 🤷🏻♀️ But I‘m going to hold off on my review until you finish, so no spoilers. 😀 #magicmountain
@SharonGoforth I can‘t wait until you get to “Fullness of Harmony!” I have so many comments. 😀 (I don‘t know your musical background, but if you don‘t recognize the pieces he mentions and want to listen to them, let me know and I‘ll ID them for you.) #magicmountain
Sometimes Mann comes out with something so good I have to read it out loud to whoever is in the room. #magicmountain @SharonGoforth
“...the genius of a silence so definite that it was less a negation than a refutation of speech.”
I love Mann‘s description of a cemetery. Beautiful.
@Lcsmcat
#magicmountain
(Photo from Google Images)
Herr Settembrini is bad enough, but when Naphta starts pontificating (yes, I chose that word intentionally) I have to put the book down and stare at the ocean. #magicmountain @SharonGoforth
Woohoo! My all-English translation of The Magic Mountain is here! I also bought a commentary! Almost tempted to read the Woods translation from the beginning, but that would mean it might be the end of August before I would finish 😳. #magicmountain
“Elevated discourse was beyond him; but within his limits he could talk very acceptably about the manufacture of galoshes.” Every now and then there‘s a sentence so funny I have to read it out loud! #magicmountain @SharonGoforth
No kidding! When page 323 isn‘t even half way! #magicmountain @SharonGoforth
@Lcsmcat Linda, just a heads-up - I was looking ahead to see how long Chapter 5 is, and discovered that in the Lowe-Porter translation, there are pages of conversation between Hans and Frau Chauchat that are in French!! Just wanted to mention it in case you‘re like me and don‘t read French 😱😱. I did some checking, and the John Woods translation is in English. I found it on Kindle for $1.99. #magicmountain
I‘ve been pondering Frau Chauchat‘s name this whole time, so I finally looked it up. Coincidence, or symbolism? @SharonGoforth #magicmountain
Given that the main theme of this chunkster seems to be the perception of time, I found this highly ironic. 😀 @SharonGoforth
I‘m packing for the beach, not the mountains, but do you think I‘ve got enough books? My Kindle is underneath, (with Merry Wives of Windsor on it) so that should keep me well supplied. #catherbuddyread #shakespearereadalong. @SharonGoforth - we need a hashtag for our leisurely buddy read of the tagged book!
OK @SharonGoforth I‘m diving in. What translation are you reading?
I‘m waayy behind, but I‘m really loving this book! @Lcsmcat have you had a chance to read this? I‘m on page 127 (out of 700-yikes!), and am in chapter 4. I love Mann‘s discussions about time. #amreading
so-soSomething between a PICK and a SO-SO i think i will have to let this one settle a little. I really enjoyed the language and setting. Constructed as a clash of intellectual concepts at a pivotal time in european history, it did feel a little instringend at times. I'll definately be looking up some background info, for i'm sure i either(probably) didn't fully get it OR there really were some overshot efforts made that could have been edited better..
I got #bookmail today, and I‘m ready for our July buddyread @SharonGoforth ! Balthazar isn‘t sure what to make of it. #littenkitten #catsoflitsy
Today‘s finds at the used bookstore. Most of these were on the clearance shelf. 📚📚 #usedbooks #nosuchthingastoomanybooks
I completely forgot in the night ordered this. Happy almost birthday to me.
“The tree in the dining-room burned, crackled, and dispensed its fragrance, waking the minds and hearts of the guests to a realization of the day.”
#QuotsyDec18 | 8: #Share
📷: Made with Typorama
pickThis book is still one of my favorites after 17 years since first reading. I recommend this especially to young readers because it is likely the first time one will encounter a lot of the ideas and concepts discussed at length. This was an extremely formative book for me as a high school student and I still carry a fondness for it all these years later and upon re-reads.
so-soSo finally I finished this chunkster. As you see on the left it took really a lot of time to finish it. I liked the idea of magic mountain, it's setting and the relationships between the different kinds of characters but I couldn't deal with the discussions. I know, this is one of the main parts of the book, but I seem to be to dump to understand and appreciate them. 🤔 So it was the 6th book for my #litsyclassics. Hope the next one is easier. 🙈
The last fifty pages 💪 @IamIamIam and my favourite Mickey mug. 😍
