Doctor Faustus

Thomas Mann is the best and most important novelist of the twentieth century, and "Dr Faustus' is one of his two greatest novels, the other being "The Magic Mountain". No one understood as well as he what the sickness of Germany was that drove it into World War I and then into Nazism and World War II as well as he did. And few novelists have been able to tell a story that conveys the writer's understanding as well as he could and did. In addition the stories themselves are gripping, and so memorable no reader of them is ever likely to forget them. If you enjoyed the film of "Death in Venice" you really should read "Dr Faustus". The written story of "Death in Venice" was about the last days of a writer, not a musician. The film brilliantly combined the two works into one, making the protagonist a musician, losing nothing of Thomas Mann's penetrating vision, though by no means condensing the "Dr Faustus" story into the shorter narrative. Only by reading both can the achievement of that excellent film be understood, and, more importantly, the range and depth of the two novels be fully appreciated. To those who have not read Thomas Mann at all, my message is that riches await you in all his works, and enlightenment, and profound pleasure.

I mean, what else do you want? It arrived :-)

This is one of my desert island books, but I think I prefer the older translation by Helen Lowe- Porter. I’m not a fluent German speaker to judge one better than the the other, but the peculiar atmosphere that so drew me into the book years ago seems slightly diluted in this new translation.

Fast delivery good quality

Excellent

Superb; fast, efficient, excellent.Superb

I’m only on page 16 and am really struggling with the super small font size. Everyman editions are usually a pleasure to read, well bound with crisp legible type on quality paper. But this for me is like reading the bottom line on the optician’s text board!I would happily have paid more for larger text spread over more pages - please note in the Everyman design/production department!

This book is one of the most important books Thomas Mann wrote. Compared to Goethe's Faust you will find many differences which lie mainly in the character of the protagonist Adrian Leverkühn (=Faust) and the time the story takes place (1890-1944).Leverkühn represents the "German charakter" as Mann once explained it. Many characters in the book stand for different points of views (for instance Serenus Zeitblom as a representer of humanism) and thereby reveal the political and cultural developpment of Germany during the period already given.The book's function is to deal with the fact that when Hitler became chancelor in Germany an old culture was lost. It describes on a very very interesting way how Hitler could happen and starts therefore not in 1933 but in 1890.In this book Mann gives many fascinating ideas about religion and their function, philosophy, art and human nature. But it is a book which cannot be read easily. The discussions are complicated and many times hardly understandable for people without a deeper knowledge about music and their history, German politics and culture.

A beautiful Everyman's Library Edition. Came with a lovely cover and top quality.

An excellent translation of this absolute gem of literature. T. Mann's heyday.

Good quality...

Don't be fooled! Despite what it says in the 'editors reviews' section of the kindle store page for this book, this is the old (bad) 1940s translation, NOT the (feted) Woods translation. Don't buy it.

This book is like no other I have encountered. However I must supply the warning that this book is certainly not for everyone.For me, though, Doctor Faustus is a perfect fit.It is more like reading speculative philosophy than a story, but by the fifth chapter I was quite wrapped up in the narrative as well. It is a true work of art. Worth the committment.