I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, Goethe’s semi-autobiographical tale of a young man’s unrequited love that ends in his suicide. I admit, it has been a sad read, but I didn't pick up even the slightest hint of a Werther 'fever', if one could call it that. The novel's themes center on the emotional life of its central character and his perception of society and his place in it. Nevertheless, I love Goethe's style, and I think I'll be looking into more of his works. Werther’s passion is a driving force in his self- destruction because it dictates his beliefs and decisions and, combined with the influences of nature, provides suicide as an answer to his woes. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is one of the literary texts interwoven in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Goethe's Werther and its effects In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published a novel entitled Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther), that tells of an unhappy romantic infatuation that ends in suicide. Written in diary form, it tells the tale of an unhappy, passionate young man hopelessly in love with Charlotte, the wife of a friend - a man who he alternately admires and detests. The Novel of Werther (French: Le Roman de Werther) is a 1938 French historical drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Annie Vernay and Jean Galland. The first part of the book was the story of Werther. For anyone who has suffered from that unrequited love that burns like a fever will be able to relate uncannily well with this book. Die Leiden des jungen Werthers = Les souffrances du jeune Werther = The Sorrows of Young Werther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, During the past 3 years I’ve started to read more classic writers that I missed when I was younger. It's only upon finishing that you realise how Goethe has managed to completely draw you into the concerns and beliefs of one character in such an extraordinary way. The Werther Effect: A spike of emulation suicides after a widely publicized suicide following Goethe’s novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” Apr 22, 2017 Stefan Andrews While there is only one way to arrive in this world, there are countless ways to die. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16640.The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther Most beautiful book I've ever read. SORROW: the very word instigates a sense of a confused horror in us. But in English it remains a book more famous than read. From reading Holmes’ “Age of Wonder” and Wulf’s “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World”, I got some apprecia. ", Granted and truth be told, the general thematics, as well as the writing, the stylistics of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's. What drew me to it, along with favorable reviews by GR friends, is my curiosity and ignorance of Goethe as an important figure in cultural history. I expected to be disappointed with an overwrought melodrama and mushy lyricism. The work is semi-autobiographical - in 1772, two years before the novel was published, Goethe had passed through a similar tempestuous period, when he lost his heart to Charlotte Buff, who was at that time engaged to his friend Johann Christian Kestner. Sorrow is one of the emotions which every great man cannot escape in their lives, as Dostoevsky says. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by David Constantine – review. However, it's a perfect psychological portrait! It's beautiful writing of the highest order (even in translation) and a perfect example of how obsession can ultimately lead to personal emptiness. The small novel totally exceed. Set out mainly in the style of letters, but not completely an epistolary This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper, Senior Editor. Read summaries of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther.You can read a Plot Overview of the entire novel as well as Chapter-by-Chapter Summaries.To purchase a copy of The Sorrows of Young Werther on BN.com, go to the link below. Note also the sentimental journey he makes to his childhood home (letters of 5 and 9 May 1772). It's packed with beautiful descriptions of his surroundings and the countryside. "The things I know, anyone can know - but my heart is mine and mine alone. Goethe's style and prose is incredible. Instead, the two communicate obliquely through Wilhelm. Written in 1774 when Goethe was 24, it was essentially the world’s first best seller. Throughout the novel, Werther moves from peak to peak of emotion, and the letters pick out the high points of his life. Finished in six weeks of intensive writing during January–March 1774, the novel instantly made the 24-year-old Goethe one of the first international literary celebrities. It was one of the most important novels in the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, and influenced the later Romantic movement. The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary, specifically a collection of letters, penned by prolific German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. No doubt there were shimmers of brilliance in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774); however, for such a short book, it took me a long time to complete it. What is the Werther effect? https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Novel_of_Werther&oldid=957999930, Films based on works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Works based on The Sorrows of Young Werther, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. This article related to a French film of the 1930s is a stub. For instance, Wilhelm convinces Werther to take a job at court and further his career. The characters are just unbelievablly stupid. Death comes in many shapes and forms. It was an immediate success and launched an entire literary genre, Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), as well as the career of the modern West's first literary celebrity, Goethe. https://www.amazon.com/Sorrows-Young-Werther-von-Goethe/dp/1548320579 The novel was a sensation in its time - th… [suicide, as Werther eventually kills himself over the rejection by his beloved. This use of nature is explored in the beginning of the novel where Werther is filled with joy and enjoys seeing nature as art. The small novel totally exceeded my expectations and I gulped it in almost one go. It talks of a story about a girl Lotte and a boy named Werther. He often gives Werther practical advice. High school: Maths and lovesickness. The literary impact of Johann Goethe's 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther cannot be underestimated. Werther's mother provides financial support for her son, and their estrangement is never fully explained. To his spirit and character you cannot refuse your admiration and love: to his fate you will not deny your tears. However, it's a perfect psychological portrait! Though the events of this story can be considered as unfortunate for our Werther, but it can be accepted that Werther is not a weak one, at least not in common sense. From Wikipedia, I learn how he wrote this while a young lawyer and how its popularity helped spawn the Romantic movement as a counter to the excess rationalism of the Enlightenment. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published I plead mitigating circumstances. It was the second Gothic novel, a decade after the … We’d love your help. I was surprised that it was so readable although the subject wasn’t too pleasing, hint the Sorrows from the title, and the epistolary format is not usually exciting. This is a dangerous book. February 8th 2005 In fact, it apparently led to some of the first known copycat suicides in Europe. The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787. While finishing up this book I wondered whether Goethe was ever aware or thought about the painful actions his book inspired. Werther, the protagonist and primary narrator of The Sorrows of Young Werther, is an amiable young man known for wearing a blue frock coat, buff waistcoat, and boots. Werther spends his days feeling everything in extremes. The Novel of Werther (French: Le Roman de Werther) is a 1938 French historical drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Annie Vernay and Jean Galland. It talks of a story about a girl Lotte and a boy named Werther. I decided on The Sorrows of Young Werther as the introduction with the writer because it was short and in prose. Read summaries of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther.You can read a Plot Overview of the entire novel as well as Chapter-by-Chapter Summaries.To purchase a copy of The Sorrows of Young Werther on BN.com, go to the link below. It breaks my heart to speak ill of a book written by Goethe; but when one thinks of the countless men and women who have read this book throughout the years, weeping tears of compassion for Werther and men of his elk, it no longer comes as a surprise how misogyny and domestic violence still haunts our women to this day. The novel was perfectly timed, capturing the European imagination with its portrayal of a dangerously sensitive youth driven to suicide. The tone has a lot to do with kicking back against Enlightenment rationality – Werther's having none of it: I read this book in high school. The Sorrows of Young Werther, novel by J.W. I picked this up with some trepidation, assuming that it would be full of stolid German angst and that I would give up after a couple of pages. Refresh and try again. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. I loved the story, I could relate to many of his thoughts about unrequited love and its tragic consequences, and feeling like it was the end of the world because I wasn't with that special someone and, well. The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel that consists almost entirely of letters written by Werther to his friend Wilhelm, begins with the title character in a jubilant mood after having just escaped from a sticky romantic situation with a woman named Leonora.Werther has settled in a rural town, determined to spend some time painting, sketching, and taking excursions around the countryside. It's hard now to recreate the mental world of Europe when this book came out in 1774 – partly because it did so much to point up a new kind of mental world, one dominated by wild emotion and individualism (not to say self-indulgence). [describing the headwound, how it took at least *ten* hours for Werther to properly die, though thankfully he wasn't ever conscious during that, I picked this up with some trepidation, assuming that it would be full of stolid German angst and that I would give up after a couple of pages. I had no thought of reading this novel until I came across a pair of characters called Goethe and Lotte in Christine Brooke-Rose’s. Gillespie, Gerald & Engel, Manfred & Dieterle, Bernard. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. I finished the book yesterday, and, frankly, I've enjoyed the book tremendously. In this book, the protagonist ends up committing suicide in the name of love. Storyline Herr Werther, a new magistrate to the Grand Duchy of Walheim who is a violinist and poet, seems to have fate on his side as he meets and pursues a beautiful local woman, Charlotte. The book also inspired an industry in publishing, with a vast corpus of poems, operas, novels and commentaries from Heinrich von Kleist’s Der Neue (glücklichere) Werther (1811) to Thomas Mann’s Lotte in Weimar (1939). It's only upon finishing that you realise how Goethe has managed to completely draw you into the concerns and belie. He falls in … Of these the most important was that which appeared from Himburg in Berlin. That means most of them because I thought that dead writer= bad writer, with the exception of Russian authors. Werther isn't an entirely sympathetic character (he has the odd Kevin the Teenager moment) but you are entirely drawn into his world and feel the same responses as him very keenly. Week Two - 1/11/2021 GOETHE and BOOK ONE Introduction to Goethe 1749 born to a (considering the 'Werther Effect'), See all 8 questions about The Sorrows of Young Werther…, The Sorrows of Young Werther - NO spoilers, What Happened to Offred? I would not be mistaken if I think that many of us would have just eschewed this book by just seeing the first few words of the title. What I got was a nice balance of emotional engagement in Werther’s growing love for Charlotte and universal wisdom in his analytic portrayal of his obsessed condition in letters to his friend, Wilhelm. Sorrow brings a state of helplessness from which the unfortunate weak ones cannot free themselves. I would not be mistaken if I think that many of us would have just eschewed this book by just seeing the first few words of the title. already married). The Sorrows of Young Werther was formative in Germany's Sturm und Drang literary movement. 959. Well, I didn't expect to be blown away reading this classic novel by Goethe.. After a long time, I closed a book with tearful eyes.. SORROW: the very word instigates a sense of a confused horror in us. Throughout the novel, Werther’s passion is a source of contention between … 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' became an important part of the 'Sturm und Drang movement, and greatly influenced later 'Romanticism'. Thackeray wrote this very glib verse synopsis of the tale: It’s taken me well over a year to get through the saga of Young Werther’s love for his Lotte even though it’s quite a short little book. At one level, it's not difficult to relate to Werther and the pain he experiences (he is in love with a woman who is unavailable, i.e. This book is filled with moving I picked up Goethe because it's classic German reading, and I … Margaret Atwood’s Big Sequel Answers Readers’ Questions. The work is. the story of poor Werther, and here present it to you, knowing that you will thank me for it. Goethe is one of the latter ones, I knew he was important but it did not attract me at all. This French historical drama film based on the 1774 novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' by Goethe. This use of nature is explored in the beginning of the novel where Werther is filled with joy and enjoys seeing nature as art. It was the first novel of the Sturm und Drang movement. ", “The Sorrows of Young Werther, is better known, mainly because it represented such an enormous milestone in literary history; the first German international best-seller, it is said to have started a craze for suicide among young people emulating its hero. Its themes address the movement's central concerns: individualism and the individual's feelings. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.”, “I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.”, Ελληνο-γερμανικό Βραβείο Μετάφρασης for Στέλλα Νικολούδη (1998), Are you still alive, after reading the book? So, I don't remember much of it, except the crying. Unfortunately the ending is such that it inspired many people to use it like a template for their own lives when faced with a similar situation. When Werther is in great pain, Wilhelm makes suggestions he thinks will help. The film was made by Nero Film, a company run by German exiles who had left following the Nazi rise to power. So, without further ado, I present to you: The Tweets of Young Werther. The role of nature in the novel is exhibited in positive and in negative ways. I couldn't help but imagine young Werther as a high school, tweeting about all his troubles to the ether. I decided on The Sorrows of Young Werther as the introduction with the writer because it was short and in prose. Werther dies a slow and agonizing death, and Goethe also provided a subtle warning in the preface to … This is Goethe's first novel, published in 1774. One of the most famous - and infamous - works in the history of literature, The Sorrows of Young Werther was Goethe's first work of narrative art, published in 1774. by Modern Library. The Werther effect was the term coined by the sociologist David Phillips in 1974 to define the imitative effect of suicidal behavior. von Goethe, published in German as Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in 1774. . I loved it. Check other translations because the version I read showed only Werther’s sympathy for other vulnerable people. But as Werther sets to propose marriage, Charlotte reluctantly tells him she has been promised to another, Werther's superior, Judge Hochstätten. Goethe is one of the latter ones, I knew he was important but it did not attract me at all. Werther's mother, who goes unnamed throughout the novel, never directly corresponds with her son. And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be Anyone who's not read this is really, really missing out as it's of an unequalled beauty. What drew me to it, along with favorable reviews by GR friends, is my curiosity and ignorance of Goethe as an important figure in cultural history. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. ... For Goethe, however, his first novel … the story of poor Werther, and here present it to you, knowing that you will thank me for it. It's written as a series of letters from Werther to his friend William, which makes it easy to pick up and put down whenever I felt like reading. Sorrow is one of the emotions which every great man cannot escape in their lives, as Dostoevsky says. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is one of the literary texts interwoven in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be The book should come with health warnings, and indeed it does. The first part being, the external beauty of nature and its affects and passions in Werther’s writings. The two fell in love … This page was last edited on 21 May 2020, at 14:27. It set a trend for manufactured outrage that is with us still. It was the second Gothic novel, a decade after the … To his spirit and character you cannot refuse your admiration and love: to his fate you will not deny your tears. It was published in the 1770s, and with its dark quixotic themes, it became a major influence to the later Romantic era. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, Goethe’s semi-autobiographical tale of a young man’s unrequited love that ends in his suicide. Some of these authors I was eager to read, some less. On its publication in 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werthergained an instant cult following. Usually I hate long descriptive passages (as a philistine I often think they detract from the story) but these are perfectly balanced with the character portraits of the various protagonists. The subject matter, especially coming from an author in the late-1700s, is treated fairly and compassionately, and the delivery, though somewhat conventional, has its unique traits. [Goethe sees no alternative for Werther but to kill him off in the end, modelling his suicide on that of an aquaintance of his youth. It's definately a masterpiece of its age, but I can't count how many times throughout the book I wanted to shake Werther by the arm or better so, slap him it the face. In 1774, the giant of German literature, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published a novel titled The Sorrows of Young Werther (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers). Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, humanism, and science. The role of nature in the novel is exhibited in positive and in negative ways. I understand little about the complexity of these big historical trends, so I didn’t expect much from this as something seminal. Written in 1774 when Goethe was 24, it was essentially the world’s first best seller. Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley. I'm not sure how well it translates to English, having read it in Dutch and German, but I'm sure there are many competant translators out there. It is based on the 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.[1]. Werther does not, in truth, change a great deal over the course of the novel; his tragic potential and suicidal personality merely unfold according to their own logic. The film was made by Nero Film, a company run by German exiles who had left following the Nazi rise to power. During the past 3 years I’ve started to read more classic writers that I missed when I was younger. In 1775 he produced J. W. Goethe's Works, without the author's permission, the first part of which contained Werther. 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' became an important part of the 'Sturm und Drang movement, and greatly influenced later 'Romanticism'. Some of these authors I was eager to read, some less. Still, experiencing this pain (and wallowing with Werther in his anguish) is not enough to move the narrative forward. To see what your friends thought of this book, I heeded the warnings and picked up this read because its description alluded relevancy to some of my recent experiences. From reading Holmes’ “Age of Wonder” and Wulf’s “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World”, I got some appreciation of his life as a person and his potent blend of science and romanticism. Werther, fictional character, a German Romantic poet who is the melancholy young hero of the novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774; The Sorrows of Young Werther), by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Written in diary form, it tells the tale of an unhappy, passionate young man hopelessly in love with Charlotte, the wife of a friend - a man who he alternately admires and detests. Thirty-four years after the publication of her dystopian classic, The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood returns to continue the story of Offred. I know that the times were different, but still they should know better. Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley. That means most of them because I thought that dead writer= bad writer, with the exception of Russian authors. Line engraving depicting a scene from The Sorrows of Young Werther.. Many times in the novel (e. g., in the letter of 30 October 1772) Werther draws analogies with childhood or says that he is childlike. The name comes from the novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther“, by the German writer Wolfgang von Goethe. Frank Furedi | Published in History Today Volume 65 Issue 11 November 2015. I loved it. The success of the novel was so great that reprints and pirated editions came thick and fast. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer. And the fact that the book caused a lot of people to commit suicide doesn't help at all. Werther is a powerful and dangerous book: rarely has suicidal depression been depicted with such eloquence and charm. Instead, Werther describes her as a soul possessed of equal parts goodness, tranquility, and vitality. Werther isn't an entirely sympathetic character (he has the odd Kevin the Teenager moment) but you are entirely drawn into his world and feel the same responses as him very keenly. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." :). Werther hesitates to call her an angel, as that’s what all men call their beloveds, and such a common word simply isn’t adequate to Lotte. These would later become Romantic tropes, but here they are more embryonic. That being said, The Sorrows of Young Werther is a novel worth reading. Yet, even this praise proves insufficient: no words, it seems, are good enough to describe the woman. Sorrow brings a state of helplessness from which the unfortunate weak ones cannot free themselves. I finished the book yesterda, I heeded the warnings and picked up this read because its description alluded relevancy to some of my recent experiences. Toward the end of the novel, when Werther is in suicidal despair, Wilhelm offers to take him to another town, showing compassion and foresight. Welcome back. In the book, the titular Werther is a sensitive artiste who wears yellow trousers and falls hopelessly in love with the virtuous, beautiful Charlotte.Alas, Lotte is engaged to another man named Albert, so instead, young Werther decides to strike up a platonic relationship with her as a consolation prize. It is based on the 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. The two fell in love … Start by marking “The Sorrows of Young Werther” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The Sorrows of Young Werther (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is a loosely autobiographical epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.First published in 1774, it reappeared as a revised edition in 1787. The first part being, the external beauty of nature and its affects and passions in Werther’s writings. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama, “The human race is a monotonous affair. The popularity of Goethe’s novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, was blamed for a spate of suicides. The literary impact of Johann Goethe's 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther cannot be underestimated. Goethe immediately became the “first literary character in Europe”, as Lord Byron described him 50 years later. Though the events of this story can be considered as unfortunate for our Werther, but it can be. This is Goethe's first novel, published in 1774. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) is not so much a tale of love and romance as it is a chronicle of mental health; specifically, it seems, Goethe is tackling the idea of depression and even (though the term would not have existed then) bi-polar depression. View werther book 1&2 + Madame Bovary Part 1 .pdf from C LIT 50C at University of California, Santa Barbara. Of a confused horror in us I gulped it in almost one go last true polymath to walk earth! Provides financial support for her son drama film based on the Sorrows Young. 'S permission, the Handmaid 's Tale, Atwood returns to continue the story of.... David Constantine – review he produced J. W. Goethe 's first novel the... Disappointed with an overwrought melodrama and mushy lyricism committing suicide in the Sturm Drang... I expected to be disappointed with an overwrought melodrama and mushy lyricism with! 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