Introduction by T. J. Reed; Translation by John E. Woods
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Decline and fall of a bourgeois family:
French literature of or about the XIX Century deeply explored the rise of the bourgeoisie over the nobility. Think of Balzac and Proust. But it was this book, published at the turn of the XX Century, which first explored in a comparable depth the decline and fall of a bourgeois family, amidst social unrest. This is the epic story of the Buddenbrook family through four generations. This was a family who had greatly prospered in the free city of Lübeck, in Northern Germany. They were a family of... more info
Just not worth the time:
I thought this book was very well written and entertaining but just too long. If you love Mann then read this book, if not, then just read Magic Mountain or Death in Venice. I've decided to elaborate on my review. The reason why I think this book is not worth the time is because the topic is too narrow. For the average reader, this book's focus on a German upper-middle class family from the turn of the twentieth century might not grab their attention and hold it for 736 pages. I am interested in... more info
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family (Everyman's Library (Cloth)):
I read the "The magic mountain" by Thomas Mann about a year
ago and was very impressed by it. It was a book about ideas
and discussions, drawing from different standpoints of the
political spectrum. I even went on to rate the magic mountain
as one of the greatest books I had read. Buddenbrooks was
a bit of let down. Its clearly a book written by a coming of
age author, and one can see the author's work mature as the work progresses. I think the Magic mountain is a must... more info
Genetics As A Sieve:
The novels of Thomas Mann often portray the fortunes of an artistic aristocratic family in Germany at the turn of the century. What Mann finds fascinating about these families is their decline from wealth to poverty and health to disease. In BUDDENBROOKS, Mann begins a four generation saga with old Johann Buddenbrooks, who by the mid 1800s had established his family as a local power in terms of wealth and health. Clearly Mann saw more than a little of himself in the Buddenbrooks clan. In fact, when his... more info
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