"This . . . is a new annotated translation . . . in which Corngold follows the German text closely, never knowingly using a word that was not current in English at the time the novel was written. "Backgrounds and Contexts" contains letters and diary entries written by Goethe and Johann Christian Kestner, the husband of Charlotte Buff, as well as lampoons by Friedrich Nicolai and William Makepeace Thackeray, and excerpts from Goethe's Autobiography. 'Criticism' brings together critical selections by Harry Steinhauer, Roland Barthes, R. Ellis Dye, David Wellbery, and Hans Rudolf Vaget, as well as a piece translated for this edition by Dirk von Petersdorff, and a selection by Christine Frey and David Martyn, written for this edition. A Chronology of Goethe's life, and a Selected Bibliography, are also included"--
Reviews with the most likes.
“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.”
“I am proud of my heart alone, it is the sole source of everything, all our strength, happiness and misery. All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own”
“The suffering may be moral or physical; and in my opinion it is just as absurd to call a man a coward who destroys himself, as to call a man a coward who dies of a malignant fever.”
I bow down in tears, to the sheer literary genius of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe! This is one of the most emotionally powerful books I've ever read. It's melancholic, harrowing and passionately dangerous. It almost broke me down to tears. A tale of young Werther who experiences the tragedy of unrequited love and eventually succumbs to the darkness within his soul. It's beautifully written! Hermann Hesse has always been my favourite author and he has stated it many times in his books about how Goethe inspired him. And indeed it seems so. The arduous desire and passion of youth and young Werther's unparalleled feeling of love and affection towards Lotte! I could totally see myself in Werther's place, except for the miserable end. The fact that the book was published in 1774 and still resonates with us, is enough to justify the timeless brilliance and genius of Goethe. This is probably the best book I've read this year. It's tragically sad yet wonderful!
