Alter, diese Sprache geht ja mal gar nicht, als ob Menschen nichts anderes zu tun haben, als 6-zeilige Sätze zu lesen. Plot ist, laut einem Podcast ja mega cool ( ich empfehle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgGtc1daM2A ), aber davon kommt bis auf Seite 112 nichts rüber. Habe mich durch ein ⅕ des Buches gequält ohne Spannungskurve. Ich musste es abbrechen, und noch nie hat sich etwas so gut angefühlt.

I tried really hard with this novel. But I just couldn't overcome my impatience with the narrator, his intellectual tangents, and his German nationalism. I know it is one of the classics, and this is a seminal work in terms of how modern music is perceived by culture, but I just can't get through it. Maybe I'm not in the right mood.

Ik merk dat ik moeite heb om mijn ervaring met dit boek in woorden te vatten. De eerste helft (tot hoofdstuk 25) waren grotendeels gevuld met filosofische en theologische discussies over het kwaad en over kunst en muziek, en vooruitwijzingen naar wat pas later zou gebeuren. Naast de verdere beschrijvingen van de kindertijd van Leverkühn en de reflecties op de beperkingen van het schrijven van een biografie ten opzichte van een roman, die ook niet echt boeiden, was de verleiding erg groot om het boek weg te leggen of op te geven. Pas aan het einde merkte ik dat de roman zo geconstrueerd is dat dit hele eerste deel diepte en betekenis krijgt in het slothoofdstuk, en dat je het dan pas op waarde kunt schatten.
Hoofdstuk 25 heb ik geboeid in één ruk gelezen, ook al ging ik daardoor later naar bed dan ik had gepland. Toen begon ook het hele Faustmotief te spelen en werd het spannend, kortom: toen begon deze roman me pas echt te boeien en bleef ik lezen.
Wel blij dat ik deze na [b:The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century|392563|The Rest Is Noise Listening to the Twentieth Century|Alex Ross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311973474l/392563._SY75_.jpg|2373496] gelezen heb, daardoor snapte ik de muziekhistorische inhoud en context een stuk beter.

Without a doubt the most challenging book by Mann I've read. It was a rewarding read, however. The musical theory part of it is demanding, and I would be lying if I claimed to have understood it all, but I think I got the important parts.
It was written during Mann's exile, and it really feels like a book trying to gather of "German-ness" what's left worth saving.

I feel like trying to write more here would end up becoming an essay, and I am sure other people have said the things I want to say already anyway.

If you've never read Thomas Mann, don't start with this one. If you've read Thomas Mann before and aren't sure whether this is worth it: read it. It is.

While this book took me a long time to read, that's more because of events in my life than because of the quality of this dark and tragic book. True tragedy, in fact, rather than lamentable, piteous, or horrific, though all of those are present as well.

Being of German descent, though American from generations prior to even the defensible First World War, it was enlightening to see what a German felt about both of those wars. I learned much of this from the narrator of this book.

Also, I learned much and more of music in the "classical" form. The author himself must know much about music theory.

The author can make us feel so much so quickly. Consider the two chapters on little Echo. I won't spoil anything, but the telling is masterful.

I really enjoy how the narrator repeatedly mentions that he is not writing a novel but a biography. This does make the book feel as if these events come from the true. Adrain feels a part of reality, of history.

If I were to essay about this book, I would speak of the allegory, how Adrian's life is a parallel with the history of Germany. I find a wealth of similarities that I could turn into s worthy essay.

I must read a bit more Thomas Mann, though perhaps something a bit less weighty next time.