Has anyone read Goethe's Faust?

[rai]

I have been toying with the idea of buying this book, just saw a nice "everyman's library" of selected works of Gothe includes 'Faust' and 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' (which sound interesting).

However the combination of 'Faust' being a play and translated and being written 200 years ago. I am not sure if I will 'get it'.

I do love this type of story (and loved the silent movie Faust), sell your soul to the devil stories really interest me, and this is one of the biggies in the genre.

I would also like to read Milton, and Dante, but am held back for the same reasons as for Goethe.

I won't know until I try it. But have other people read and enjoyed these works? Are they very hard reading?

 

[Liese]

I have read Faust several times, although in German. It is a masterpiece! There should be some decent translations as Goethe was a star and is still considered to be the best German writer ever (I read some excellent translation into French and English is closer to German than French). The play is devided in two parts, usually people read only the first part. The second part is much more obscure and requires further reading. But the first part is easy to understand and will be enjoyed by most people who love plays (unless you are uncomfortable with the idea of god and the devil betting on a human soul). I would recommend to read the first part and the last scene of the second part. Then ask your German friends which is their favourite scene. They will be very impressed that you made the effort to read it!
"The Sorrows of Young Werther" was a great success in his time, there was an enourmos hype and several young men commited suicide after reading it. Nowadays it is less special, as what was new and exciting then has been adopted and developped in the last 200 years. I think it is also more difficult to understand to someone who is not only from another time but also from another place. You would need good annotations.

Have fun reading!

 

[Connavar]

"The Sorrows of Young Werther" is my first Goethe and it was a true,timeless masterpiece above many other classic works. The fact you felt for it as much as people did centuries ago show how great it is.

I look forward to reading Faust and everything else by Goethe. Just havent had the time recently, reading other classic lit for school.

He is a very easy writer to read, he has an essential,timeless qaulity.

 

[rai]

i just picked up Amazon.com: Selected Works (Everyman's Library) (9780375410444): Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: Books

has over 1100 pages most of his major works, have to put this on my to-read list.

 

[Liese]

rai, this book also includes his Italian Voyage, an excellent read. I have not yet read the Elective Affinities, because I still feel too young.
Connovar, I am sorry to disagree. But if you found Goethe an easy read, you only scratched the surface of his writing. But it shows his genius that his writings entertain on all levels.

 

[Connavar]

rai, this book also includes his Italian Voyage, an excellent read. I have not yet read the Elective Affinities, because I still feel too young.
Connovar, I am sorry to disagree. But if you found Goethe an easy read, you only scratched the surface of his writing. But it shows his genius that his writings entertain on all levels.

What you didnt get was i meant it was easy read that its not hard to read the language wise for modern reader. The book despite its short lenght said so much that you can read alot out socially,politically,literary moventment wise.

When we read it and talked about in class we spent hours talking about it and could talked more hours about everything the novel said.

Much of Goethe's rep is build on that novel despite it was a work of his younger days so its not simple story.

 

[Liese]

Connovar, then I misunderstood you, happens so easily on the net, especially in a foreign language. It seems now that we both agree that his works are a pleasure to read but that he was a complex writer. I hope the translations convey an idea of the beauty of his language. Nowadays Goethe's ballads and Faust are better loved in Germany than Werther which is what he wished. Did you know he was also a scientist and discovered a bone in the human skull?

 

[No One]

Let's see, it was approximately, if not exactly, 16 years ago that I read Faust Pt. 1 & 2. Ye gads, time flies.

Anyway, I loved Part One (which I've since re-read), but at the time Part Two was very hard going for me - I recall plenty of historical and mythological references that were beyond me. I've always meant to re-read it since (I've buffed up on both subjects ) but have never gotten to it.

I can only highly recommend it. Paradise Lost too (which of course is Milton).

 

[Liese]

I just remembered some sff-related trivia. In the town of Wetzlar, where Goethe was inspired by meeting young Lotte Buff to write Werther , there is Germany's largest SFF-library. It is supposedly the largest of its kind in the world: http://www.phantastik.eu/

 

[Connavar]

Connovar, then I misunderstood you, happens so easily on the net, especially in a foreign language. It seems now that we both agree that his works are a pleasure to read but that he was a complex writer. I hope the translations convey an idea of the beauty of his language. Nowadays Goethe's ballads and Faust are better loved in Germany than Werther which is what he wished. Did you know he was also a scientist and discovered a bone in the human skull?

I didnt know about the scientist part but i wish i had time to read him more plays,novellas,novels etc He is a complex writer i know because we have read about him more than read his works in literary class. I know all his famous works then and now.

Werther is most classic of his works here not because quality,maturity but popularity reasons. Hist first world hit is a known fact.

Faust is seen as important drama and hist most important work, its a must read on every lit course about drama. Before i knew who Goethe was you learned about Faust in every grade of school system like you read about Shakespeare,Poe,Dickens etc

 

[rai]

the silent movie 'Faust' is really very good from 1926, directed by F. W. Murnau who also directed 'Nosferatu' in 1922.

I did not know but there is a re-make from 2000 (it looks like a stinker, but sometimes I like bad movies as well), I will have to check that out.

 

[woodsman]

I haven't. I did, however, enjoy the other two books you mentioned - Paradise Lost & Inferno(translation). I'd also say Pilgrims Progress is well worth a read.

 

[Liese]

woodsman, am I right in guessing that you wanted to recommend The Canterbury Tales and not the Pilgrim's Progress? Many people seem to confuse the titles.

The best film of Faust is still the version from 1960, with Gustaf Gründgens as Mephisto, although they just filmed a stage production.

 

[woodsman]

Er, no.
They are two very different things. Not heard of anyone ever confusing them, at least not who's read them. I sort of assumed everyone reads some Chaucer at some point - we had to in school.

I think Bunyans work, considering his education is incredible and still very readable today. Whether you buy into the religious aspect of it or not is another debate.

 

[Connavar]

Er, no.
They are two very different things. Not heard of anyone ever confusing them, at least not who's read them. I sort of assumed everyone reads some Chaucer at some point - we had to in school.

I think Bunyans work, considering his education is incredible and still very readable today. Whether you buy into the religious aspect of it or not is another debate.

Over here you dont read or hear about Chaucer in lower,middle school. Even in my current literary classes in University Chaucer isnt mentioned while Milton and other brits like playwrights,poets of 1500-1800s is.

I have heard about The Cantbury Tales in popular culture book sites like Goodreads but not of Chaucer before i was reading criticism for Auerbachs reality of western lit analyse book Mimesis. I wondered who is this Chaucer he didnt add because he prefered latin,romans languages like french.

So Chaucer isnt a must know,read about in some countries here in Sweden.

 

[Liese]

woodsman, I know many people who confuse the two, all English native speakers. Sorry, that I put you in that group, my fault. I think they confuse one of the parts of The Canterbury Tales with the Pilgrim's Progress. And in Germany, like in Sweden, only the Canterbury tales are kown (among the well-educated), not the Pilgrim's Progress.

As German literature is especially strong in poems and plays it is very difficult to recommend it to readers in other languages.

 

[woodsman]

No worries. they are very different though. Hope I didn't come across as a jerk earlier...

Yeah, I don't think I've read anything translated out of German except for philosophy.

@Conn, I'm kinda surprised you hadn't come across Chaucer - especially doing a Lit course(I believe you are doing/have done one). He's considered one of the fathers of English literature, being; (If I remember correctly) the first person to write in English over Latin/French etc. Canterbury Tales is his most famous work, I'd definitely recommend giving it a look, the language can take some getting used to though.

Edit: a quick gander at wiki and it suggests he was also a great poetical innovator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaucer

 

[Liese]

Don't worry, woodsman! Bluntness is a virtue in Germany.
Maybe you could try "The Treepenny Opera" by Brecht. Some of the lyrics are still used for new songs, so the translation should be good.

 

[Connavar]

@Conn, I'm kinda surprised you hadn't come across Chaucer - especially doing a Lit course(I believe you are doing/have done one). He's considered one of the fathers of English literature, being; (If I remember correctly) the first person to write in English over Latin/French etc. Canterbury Tales is his most famous work, I'd definitely recommend giving it a look, the language can take some getting used to though.

Edit: a quick gander at wiki and it suggests he was also a great poetical innovator:
Geoffrey Chaucer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I feel like the teachers,professors are isulting us by overlooking Chaucer. After having read about him and how he is one of the fathers of english lit. Its like overlooking Greek Tragedy drama specially after we have read so much english lit novels/poetry/drama.

I will of course read him on my own. There is no language problem for me anymore when i have read so many old lit that i struggled the language with but have forced myself to get used to. If you can read ancient swedish Homer translation and the Islandic poetry written in viking age language english even from medevil times is a piece of cake