Buddenbrooks

Ok, so I only read a little part of it. I love it. I love the characters, I'm really interested, it's well written and all that... BUT I did not finish.
I can't.
Because I like all the characters. And it's “The Decline of a Family”. I KNOW they are all going to die and this story ends badly. :'( I don't want to read that. I can't.
Maybe I'll take this up in the future, but right now I can't.

(For once, this review contains both the original German version which is followed by an English translation.)Mit Ausnahme einiger Phasen habe ich immer viel und sehr gemischt durch alle Genres gelesen. Da bleibt es nicht aus, daß von nahezu unerträglichem Mist über Durchschnitts-”Kost” so ziemlich alles dabei war. Ganz selten jedoch hatte ich so etwas wie literarische “Erweckungsmomente”. Thomas Manns “Buddenbrooks” war ein solches. Erschienen 1901 als Mann gerade einmal 26 Jahre alt war, hat “Buddenbrooks” seinen Weltruhm begründet und ihm 1929 den Nobelpreis für Literatur eingebracht, weil das Werk “im Lauf der Jahre eine immer mehr sich festigende Anerkennung als ein klassisches Werk der zeitgenössichen Literatur gewonnen hat.”Daran hat sich zumindest für mich auch nichts geändert, denn obschon “Buddenbrooks” den Niedergang einer spezifischen Familie im Lübeck des 19. Jahrhunderts schildert, so hat es doch in seinen Grundlagen nichts an Aktualität und Wahrhaftigkeit eingebüßt.Mann erzählt die Geschichte von vier Generationen der hanseatischen Kaufmannsfamilie Buddenbrook von 1835 bis 1877 mit großer Liebe zum Detail und psychologischem Feingefühl. Als stummer Zeuge taucht der Leser tief in das Leben der Protagonisten ein, ohne dass dies jemals voyeuristisch wirkt. Vielmehr kann man sich den Buddenbrooks kaum entziehen - jede Generation und jedes einzelne Familienmitglied überzeugt durch Komplexität und charakterliche Tiefe.Die Figuren sind so lebendig und vielschichtig, dass sie mich nicht mehr losgelassen haben. Egal ob der materialistische Johann, der schroffe Thomas oder die ewig kränkliche Klothilde - ich habe jede einzelne Person in ihrer Komplexität verstanden und mich zugleich über und mit ihnen geärgert, gefreut, und musste gefühlt auch schon mal mit ihnen “auf den Steinen sitzen”...Mann beschreibt sowohl die privaten als auch die geschäftlichen Beziehungen innerhalb der Familie und gibt dabei Einblicke in die gesellschaftlichen Strukturen und Normen des 19. Jahrhunderts.Die eben bereits angesprochene Charakterisierung der Figuren ist ein wesentliches Element des Romans, und Mann gelingt es hervorragend, die verschiedenen Persönlichkeiten, Träume, Ängste und Hoffnungen der Familienmitglieder lebendig werden zu lassen. Mein persönlicher Lieblingscharakter ist Thomas Buddenbrook; ein intelligenter und zielstrebiger Geschäftsmann, der versucht, das Familienunternehmen zu erhalten und gleichzeitig ein erfülltes Privatleben zu führen. Sein innerer Konflikt, seine Ängste und seine unbedingte Loyalität zur Familie haben mich zutiefst beeindruckt - und sein persönlicher Verfall sowie sein Tod (nach einem Zahnarztbesuch - sehr nachvollziehbar für mich!) haben mich betroffen gemacht.Ein weiterer bemerkenswerter Charakter ist Tony Buddenbrook, die lebhafte und entschlossene Tochter des Hauses. Ihre gescheiterten Ehen und das schwierige Verhältnis zu ihrem Bruder Thomas sind zentrale Themen des Romans. Die Art und Weise, wie Mann ihre Entwicklung von einer jungen, unbeschwerten Frau zu einer gebrochenen, aber dennoch starken Persönlichkeit darstellt, ist beeindruckend.Die Sprache des Romans ist ebenso fesselnd wie die Handlung; zugleich kunstvoll und verständlich, voller Anspielungen und Zwischentöne, auf eine sehr poetische Art und Weise. Dabei ist die Sprache jedoch nie verschwurbelt oder schwer verständlich, sondern immer klar und präzise. Manns Stil ist reich an Bildern und Symbolen, die den Leser in die Welt des 19. Jahrhunderts entführen. Er macht aus den alltäglichen Vorgängen eine große Literatur. Seine präzisen Beschreibungen der Orte, an denen die Handlung stattfindet, lassen das Lübeck dieser Zeit lebendig werden. Auch die Dialoge sind authentisch und lebendig gestaltet, sodass man sich als Leser direkt in die Gespräche der Charaktere hineinversetzt fühlt.Selten habe ich einen Roman gelesen, der auf so meisterhafte Weise literarische Qualität mit breiter Wirkung vereint.Ein weiteres Highlight des Romans ist die Einbettung historischer Ereignisse und politischer Entwicklungen in die Erzählung. Mann zeigt, wie die gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen und die wirtschaftlichen Herausforderungen des 19. Jahrhunderts das Schicksal der Familie Buddenbrook beeinflussen und zum Niedergang des einst erfolgreichen Kaufmannshauses beitragen. Dabei werden Themen wie der Aufstieg des Bürgertums, die Industrialisierung und der Einfluss der Kirche auf die Gesellschaft behandelt. Diese Themenvielfalt macht den Roman zu einem wichtigen Zeitdokument und zeigt, wie eng miteinander verwoben das Leben der Menschen und die Gesellschaft sind.Am Ende des Romans bleibt angesichts des Niedergangs der Familie, die nun nur noch in der Erinnerung der Leser weiterlebt, ein Gefühl von Wehmut zurück. Dieser Roman, so mein Gefühl, läßt mich wohl nie mehr los: Ich habe ihn mehrfach gelesen, ich habe das grandiose Hörbuch, gelesen vom unvergleichlichen Gert Westphal, oft auf langen Autofahrten gehört und alle Verfilmungen gesehen (keine war schlecht, keine hat mich vollständig überzeugt). In Lübeck habe ich mir mit meiner Frau zusammen die Handlungsorte, insbesondere das Buddenbrookhaus in der Mengstraße 4, angesehen und das auch im Roman erwähnte Niederegger Marzipan genossen. “Buddenbrooks” ist ein monumentales Meisterwerk von zeitloser Gültigkeit und Thomas Mann ein Autor von formativer Bedeutung, dessen Meisterschaft ich jederzeit wieder neu entdecken möchte. Fünf von fünf Sternen.Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam——————————————————————Except for some periods, I have always read a lot and very mixed across all genres. So it's inevitable that there was pretty much everything from almost unbearable rubbish to average reading experiences. However, I rarely experienced something like literary “awakening moments”. Thomas Mann's “Buddenbrooks” was one such moment.Published in 1901 when Mann was only 26 years old, “Buddenbrooks” established his world fame and earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929, because the work “over the years has gained an increasingly firm recognition as a classic work of contemporary literature.”At least for me, that has not changed, because although “Buddenbrooks” portrays the decline of a specific family in 19th century Lübeck, it has lost nothing of its fundamental topicality and truthfulness.Mann tells the story of four generations of the Hanseatic merchant family Buddenbrook from 1835 to 1877 with great attention to detail and psychological sensitivity. As a silent witness, the reader dives deeply into the lives of the protagonists without ever seeming voyeuristic. Rather, one can hardly resist the Buddenbrooks - every generation and every individual family member convinces with complexity and character depth.The characters are so vivid and multifaceted that they never let go of me. Whether the materialistic Johann, the gruff Thomas, or the perpetually sickly Klothilde - I understood each individual person in their complexity and at the same time, was irritated, delighted, and sometimes felt like I was sitting with them “on the stones”...Mann describes both the private and business relationships within the family, providing insights into the social structures and norms of the 19th century.The characterization of the characters already mentioned is a crucial element of the novel, and Mann succeeds excellently in bringing the different personalities, dreams, fears, and hopes of the family members to life. My personal favourite character is Thomas Buddenbrook; an intelligent and ambitious businessman who tries to maintain the family business while leading a fulfilling private life. His inner conflict, his fears, and his unconditional loyalty to the family impressed me deeply - and his personal decline and death (after a visit to the dentist - very relatable for me!) left me touched.Another notable character is Tony Buddenbrook, the lively and determined daughter of the house. Her failed marriages and difficult relationship with her brother Thomas are central themes of the novel. The way Mann portrays her development from a young, carefree woman to a broken but still strong personality is impressive.The language of the novel is as captivating as the plot; both artistic and understandable, full of allusions and nuances, in a very poetic way. However, the language is never convoluted or difficult to understand but always clear and precise. Mann's style is rich in images and symbols that transport the reader into the world of the 19th century. He turns everyday occurrences into great literature. His precise descriptions of the places where the action takes place bring the Lübeck of that time to life. The dialogues are also authentic and vividly designed, so that as a reader, one feels directly transported into the conversations of the characters.Rarely have I read a novel that so masterfully combines literary quality with broad impact.Another highlight of the novel is the integration of historical events and political developments into the narrative. Mann demonstrates how the societal changes and economic challenges of the 19th century influence the fate of the Buddenbrook family and contribute to the decline of their once successful mercantile house. Topics such as the rise of the bourgeoisie, industrialization, and the influence of the church on society are explored. This variety of themes makes the novel an important historical document and shows how intertwined the lives of people and society are.At the end of the novel, in the face of the family's decline, which now only lives on in the memory of readers, a feeling of melancholy remains. This novel, in my opinion, will never let me go: I have read it multiple times, I have listened to the magnificent audiobook, read by the incomparable Gert Westphal, on long car journeys, and seen all the film adaptations (none were bad, none fully convinced me).In Lübeck, my wife and I visited the locations of the plot, especially the Buddenbrook house on Mengstraße 4, and enjoyed the Niederegger marzipan mentioned in the novel.“Buddenbrooks” is a monumental masterpiece of timeless relevance, and Thomas Mann is an author of formative significance, whose mastery I would like to rediscover at any time.Five out of five stars.Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

Very enjoyable. Fastest I've read 700+ pages, and incredibly enjoyable throughout. Mann balances description, dialogue, exposition, and his voice extremely well to make this a great read. One of the most wonderful experiments in making a dynamic character I've ever seen, and a very realistic meditation on life's course.

Quite a book - depicting in scenes of realism mixed with subtle irony - the slow downfall of the family Buddenbrook. The story is placed between 1830-1880 in the north of Germany. Mann wrote it while aged 22-25, and the book seems to grow with him. None of the characters are your typical hero, they all have their faults, are proud, vain, self-opinionated. But Mann's description places you very close to them, you get to feel all their pains (and there are many painful episodes, ranging from tooth pain, the last stages of death to the pain of school quizzes) and moments of clarity (standing out is Thomas Buddenbrook's discovery of Schopenhauer). Mann paints his characters by repetitively reminding us of their visual trademarks, their “huebschen Oberlippe, weichen braunen Locken, blau umschatteten Augen”, and those descriptions will probably stay alive in my memory for a little while.

Buddenbrooks is not a book I would've likely noticed or picked up had it not been for an invitation from the Thomas Mann group. German literature has never attracted me and Thomas Mann was among that class of authors whose work, I felt, was probably more effort that it was enjoyable. (He had that look about him, okay?) So I made some assumptions based on nothing, so what? Had it not been for the subtitle of the book, “The Decline of a Family,” I probably still would be ignorant of Mann's abilities; but that subtitle pulled me in—I wanted to know more about this family tragedy. I'm glad Mann included it as part of his title.

What I most appreciated about Mann's writing was his use of description. I'm not a big fan of descriptive passages, authors that drone on and on about the shape of the table and how the hands of a grandfather clock move. Normally, I find it irrelevant, tiring, and detrimental to the forward movement of the plot. But Mann succeeds in this regard. His descriptions give life to the story. It paints the background and sets the stage for the scene. Colors and props become meaningful to the theme. In fact, I think it would be easy to say that his scenery is a character of its own.

Aside from scenery, excellent characters were also found in Toni and Hanno. Both were developed wonderfully, and I looked forward to their every scene. I think I could've like Christian had he been similarly developed, but he was more of a plot device than a character. Unfortunately for me, a large part of the novel focused on Thomas and I was never able to connect with him. By the novel's conclusion, I was completely ambivalent toward his character.

In the end, I enjoyed Buddenbrooks greatly. There were moments I lost interest, particularly when Thomas was at the center, but this did not take away from the grand setting and story that made this novel fabulous. Thank you, Thomas Mann, for reminding me not to make assumptions.