I read The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann as I mentioned in a previous post. Basically, the novel is the very long story of a German engineer named Hans Castorp who visits his cousin in a Swiss sanatorium for people who have tuberculosis for a quick 3 week trip and then ends up staying there for 7 years. It explores life at the sanatorium, which follows a weird routine and is almost completely isolated from the outside world. Hans basically abandons his life and spends most of his time philosophizing and meeting a bunch of eccentric figures. Mann started writing the novel shortly before WWI, but only finished in 1922, so in many ways the novel is a consideration of Europe and its various intellectual movements leading up to WWI. I enjoyed the novel and it had lots of interesting ideas and themes, but it is very long (like 700 pages...) and some parts can take awhile to get through. While there are lots of things that happen in the novel (it has romance, skiing adventures, and a duel), there are also long sections devoted so philosophical tangents and intellectual arguments. Mann intentionally makes the novel long and almost monotonous to evoke the nature of life at the sanatorium as Hans adapts to the strange routine there as 7 years of his life somehow drags along slowly and quickly at the same time. Overall, it's an interesting novel of ideas that evokes sickness and a somewhat unique lifestyle very well, so if you are looking for a long but provoking read I'd recommend it.
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Independent Study Reviews?
Since we've all finished and written about our independent study books, I was wondering what everyone read and what you thought about your books. I'm curious to see what everyone did and am guessing others are too, so if you'd like to you could make a post or comment on this one with a short summary (without spoilers!) and review.
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4 comments:
I really enjoyed Invisible Man, as it was very plot driven and interesting. We actually read the first chapter of Invisible Man sophomore year as a short story. The main character of the novel is an unnamed narrator, who struggles to cope with the way people in power choose to treat him. The narrator is lied to and cheated throughout the entire novel as can be seen from the very beginning of the novel. The narrator is promised that he can give a speech to a group of rich white men and is very excited for his opportunity. When he gets to the event, however, the narrator is forced to strip down to his boxers and fight blindfolded against other young black men. He is able to give his speech afterwards, but no one listens. He is granted a scholarship for his local black college after the fight as compensation. The narrator, however, is expelled from college during his third year for disobeying the orders of the head of the college. The novel is probably one of my favorite books I have read this year. I'd recommend it to anyone who would like to read it, as it was very exciting.
I really enjoyed The Sound and the Fury. It's difficult to read (lots of confusing stream of consciousness), but there are a lot of fascinating aspects to it. Each section is narrated by a different character, and each offers a very different perspective on their life and situation. The story is mostly about the Compson family, especially the group of siblings, but also offers a description of southern life in the early 20th century but
Like Liz, I also read William Faulkner. As I Lay Dying contained lots of stream of consciousness (not like Virginia Woolf; had more of a Southern twang to it) and was narrated by fifteen different characters. The book was basically about a family who has to bury their mother and they go on a backbreaking journey to get her to her desired burial spot. I enjoyed the book but it was very confusing at times and I often experienced mental disorientation from all the different narrators. I admire Faulkner's work though and he apparently wrote the novel over a time span of just six weeks while working in a factory.
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