Download Sorrows of Young Werther With Elective Affinities, Faust and Italian Journey (Everyman's Library Classics) djvu

----ITALIAN JOURNEY------- (Scroll down for Sorrows of Young Werther)

Excellent book. But specific. I'm not sure I've met anybody I would recommend this book to. It's a lot like Thoreau's Walden, but less directly philosophical/quotable. Like Walden, there's a lot of stuff to weed through that is not immediately interesting. Lots of notes about the topography of the land from Germany to Italy. Very readable though, he doesn't use big words (maybe because it is translated from German?).

Like Walden, this is Goethe's summary of a 2 year trip where he left to confront the essential facts of life. To live deliberately.

Probably my favorite quote from the book is the following:

"Now let me also say that a thousand times, ay, at all times, do I think of you in the neighborhood of these objects which I never believed I should visit alone. It was only when I saw every one bound, body and soul, to the north, and all longing for those countries utterly extinct among them, that I resolved to undertake the long solitary journey, and to seek that centre toward which I was attracted by an irresistible impulse….Friends and country have once more become right dear to me, and the return to them is a wished-for object…I feel convinced that I bring with me too many treasures for personal enjoyment for private use, but such as through life may serve others, as well as myself, for edification and guidance."

Maybe if you're on some kind of Walden/Italian Journey esque part of your life, I'd recommend it. Or if you want to go further into what inspired those New England Transcendentalists. That's why I read it.

Lots of notes on art criticism here, some unexpected notes on Goethe's protestantism, I am compelled by many of his comments when he is in both the Italian catholic settings and nature.

Since I've finished this one, I've begun The Sorrows of Young Werther, which is what Goethe wrote as a 24 year old that propelled him into fame. Napoleon carried it in his coat when he was conquering nations! Thomas Carlyle called it a perfect tragedy I believe. Carlyle said the sequel, Wilhelm Meister's apprenticeship, was the best expression of humanity he knew of. Werther is a novel that most people agree is pretty autobiographical. More interesting than Italian Journey probably, and shorter.

------SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER--------------

"There is no truer, warmer pleasure in this world than to behold a great soul opening up towards oneself."

A short, accessible read on the emotions of a young man whose love decides to be with another man. I was going to give this book 3 stars, but as I'm writing this review, there are so many things to discuss! ...I'll give it another star! ...This is my second book by Goethe, and I continue to be amazed at the respect literature scholars give him (the German Shakespeare?!) and the accessibility of his writing...nothing near the difficulty of Shakespeare!

I picked it up because Thoreau and Emerson drew heavily from the idea of "Bildungsroman" (self culture/self development/coming of age/discovering who you are) of which Goethe was apparently initially the most prominent author.

Thomas Carlyle (who appears to be the summarizer of the literature of his day) said it introduces Goethe's genius work released 31 years later: "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" He said, 'Werther' introduced the problems, but gave no answer, 'Wilhelm Meister' gave the perspective and remedy to 'Werther's' problem. I'm excited to read Wilhelm Meister!

Goethe wrote this when he was 24 and it launched him into worldwide fame (as his "Italian Journey" reveals--he was known there by his "Werther"). Napoleon actually met Goethe and told him he had read this book 7 times and carried it in his shirt pocket on a few of his campaigns. This part is highly intriguing to me, I wonder what part of this story was so compelling to Napoleon.

The book is primarily about Werther's love for Lotte (or Charlotta, depending on your translation) and how even though it seems perfect to him, it is not meant to be. He often returns to agonizing over this impossibility and his mind tries to figure out ways the relationship could work out. Lotte has, of course, married another man, Albert.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Chris Corraba from Dashboard Confessional gets his inspiration. Some reviewers I read said if you had any lingering sentiment of a missed love connection this book would amplify it...as a single guy, it (mostly) did the opposite for me. I thought it might be a good one to recommend to anyone in that state, to see how absurd Werther's sorrows were over that one woman. I did have some of the missed connection sympathy with him, but I wanted to tell him the whole time, "you're bigger than that!" also "there was never a chance anyways! She was engaged!"

I imagine what attracted most to this book was it's honesty in dealing with emotions. Perhaps before this time period people ignored their emotions and pushed on with what was practical. Goethe opened up the "Sturm and Drang" movement and gave his characters' emotions validity.

I think this is perhaps the big question of my generation...how much validity do you give to your emotions? Certainly some, but is it all about how we feel? We know when prodded it isn't "all about" that, but what drives our actions? A cold self-determination? That doesn't seem right. I hope Thomas Carlyle is right in that Wilhelm Meister gives a good response to Werther's pain.

There is a bit more to the book than Werther's unavailable love...he shares beautifully on Nature, in one chapter the incredible meaning and beauty inherent in it, and then in another, the cold disregard for itself. I loved the parts where he talks about the nature in children.

Thoreau I'm sure loved his notes on life's true joys. Goethe has the same theme of why work all day at something you don't enjoy so that you can do it again the next day and the next...what is real joy? What do you actually need and want?

I will discuss the ending below, but beware, SPOILER ALERT!

SPOILER ALERTS!!!

Spoiler alert!!

I think this is the first book I have read that imagines suicide. The suicide of Werther is interesting. I wondered if that was how it would end. I wonder if Napoleon was interested in this part of the book or not. Apparently it inspired some acts of suicide in Goethe's day. I think it would have been controversial to not demonize it and Goethe does not. There's a lot to be considered between the acceptance of suicide in this novel and Goethe's Christianity, and between the Christianity many of us know in our day. I wonder why Goethe didn't let the character die immediately, but let him live almost another 24 hours. . . . the lingering questions work well with the subject. It seems nature doesn't often allow the bow to be tied on at the end of a life.

Again, excited for Wilhelm Meister. Thomas Carlyle, I hope you're right.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read!