tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post2329881890217042250..comments2024-02-29T02:54:19.767-05:00Comments on Babbling Books: The Magic Mountain by Thomas MannBrian Josephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-3998433142561910452019-07-21T07:17:20.217-04:002019-07-21T07:17:20.217-04:00Hi Carol - I really must give Cancer Ward a try. ...Hi Carol - I really must give Cancer Ward a try. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-21259045594104350242019-07-21T06:38:54.912-04:002019-07-21T06:38:54.912-04:00Funny, I thought of Cancer Ward as I was reading y...Funny, I thought of Cancer Ward as I was reading your review. That was an excellent read. It would be interesting if you did read it & compared it to Mann's book, which I haven't read.Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06820925595506920754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-55478012820822429422019-07-20T09:59:40.450-04:002019-07-20T09:59:40.450-04:00Thanks Naida - There is Indeed a sense of accompli...Thanks Naida - There is Indeed a sense of accomplishment when finishing a book like this! Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-82918132174590285022019-07-20T09:38:38.037-04:002019-07-20T09:38:38.037-04:00Hi Brian, I am glad you enjoyed this one so much. ...Hi Brian, I am glad you enjoyed this one so much. There is definitely a sense of accomplishment when tackling a book like this one. I also like to keep an open mind and view ideas from different angles.<br />Fantastic post as always.<br />Enjoy your weekend!The Bookwormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10217390642323530030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-63876927058275799562019-07-18T17:16:01.563-04:002019-07-18T17:16:01.563-04:00Thanks Hila - I think that this may be the ultimat...Thanks Hila - I think that this may be the ultimate story of people thrown together and their actions and ideas bumping against each other. <br /><br />You have me thinking about ideas turning into actions and effects. It seems to be an enormous and important subject. <br /><br />Cancer Ward has been on my radar for awhile. It sounds as if there might be some similarities to this work. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-14648743508779024022019-07-18T15:20:41.375-04:002019-07-18T15:20:41.375-04:00Great review. I'm putting this on my to-read l...Great review. I'm putting this on my to-read list because of the ideas discussed and also I like stories that have a group of quite different characters all sharing the same space and colliding in thought, personality, etc.<br /><br />I'm interested too in the relationship between an idea and how it actually manifests in society, in action or policy.<br /><br />Have you ever read the Solzhenitsyn novel, Cancer Ward? You might like it. A group of patients and doctors in a 1950s Soviet hospital for cancer patients (one of them an exile, another a party official, etc.), and it includes discussions of politics and ideology.HKatzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17653570160517335758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-53930062534031753882019-07-17T19:51:45.620-04:002019-07-17T19:51:45.620-04:00Hi Susan - I think that if I had been in the wrong...Hi Susan - I think that if I had been in the wrong frame if mind then this would have driven me crazy. One needs to take this book leisurely and not read it for plot developments. Though there are a few interesting ones. I found that reading a little commentary took away some of the cryptic nature here. I must give A Death in Venice a try. I have heard that it has similar themes. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-52142550207409109222019-07-17T18:45:10.211-04:002019-07-17T18:45:10.211-04:00Brian: this Mann book sounds right up your alley w...Brian: this Mann book sounds right up your alley with all its philosophizing .... It might drive me to frustration with its tangents and density and oddness. I have read Mann's Death in Venice and didn't care for it's subject matter -- about an obsession with a young boy on a beach. Still I'm sure it's highly symbolic ... Mann seems fairly cryptic. thecuecardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08870323589682197091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-60608983448537507482019-07-16T22:37:09.225-04:002019-07-16T22:37:09.225-04:00Thanks Jane - I cannot imagine how much that I wou...Thanks Jane - I cannot imagine how much that I would have missed had I not read some commentary on this book. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-35407932048809030252019-07-16T21:31:06.626-04:002019-07-16T21:31:06.626-04:00Excellent post on a very difficult book. I read it...Excellent post on a very difficult book. I read it roughly 40 years ago, and reading your post definitely helped me remember the novel and its context. Kudos to you for tackling it—I think reading some lit crit on a book like this enhances the experience because there is so much there that reading lit crit provides some channels to explore as you think about the work.<br /><br />Well done.JaneGShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-65593389142012471672019-07-14T11:35:26.445-04:002019-07-14T11:35:26.445-04:00Hi James - I remember your commentary on Joseph an...Hi James - I remember your commentary on Joseph and His Brothers. I plan to read that book. I expect to like it a lot. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-75316646087517113052019-07-14T09:46:42.213-04:002019-07-14T09:46:42.213-04:00Mann is among my favorite authors and this book is...Mann is among my favorite authors and this book is one reason why. Your review is spot on and I can only second your comment that this is a book to be reread. If you want an even ore amazing reading experience try his <i>Joseph and His Brothers</i>. You won't be disappointed.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00561320676355168336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-83175906382993448072019-07-14T09:05:32.422-04:002019-07-14T09:05:32.422-04:00Hi Sue - This is actually the first Mann that I ha...Hi Sue - This is actually the first Mann that I have read. I have heard of Joseph and His Brothers and I do want to read it. That book sounds great. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-46518436953123988742019-07-14T08:17:53.952-04:002019-07-14T08:17:53.952-04:00Confession time - I’ve only read two of Mann’s wor...Confession time - I’ve only read two of Mann’s works, and one was a novella. Both were Biblical. The novella was about Moses, the novel was Joseph And His Brothers, a thumping great 1000-page epic. And both were very entertaining stuff, even funny, as well as touching. The Moses story was in an anthology called The Ten Commandments. The other nine stories, by different authors, were about how the Nazis broke every one of the commandments. You’ve probably read or at least heard of the Joseph novel. I read it in only a few days, it was so enjoyable. Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-66235323796784401632019-07-13T09:31:41.619-04:002019-07-13T09:31:41.619-04:00Hi Brona- I actually thought that this book felt d...Hi Brona- I actually thought that this book felt denser the Moby Dick. One thing that I think people have trouble with Melville’s book is that it contains weird, not so relevant chapters about the whaling industry and other things. I found that online articles plus a few essays in some books around the house helped with this one. <br /><br />Have fun with Moby Dick! Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-66704889625518329232019-07-13T07:03:26.663-04:002019-07-13T07:03:26.663-04:00You’ve inspired me with this post Brian. For 2 rea...You’ve inspired me with this post Brian. For 2 reasons.<br />1: I’m planning on reading this one day but suspected it was going to need time & some research/prep to get through it. I don’t mind doing this for books if it allows me to get a much richer reading experience than if you go in unprepared. <br />2: I’m reading Moby-dick in August & I’m rather nervous about tackling this tricky classic. I suspect it will be a similar thing - needing prep and research to get as much as I can from the read. So you’ve given me hope that this will actually be the case. <br />Thank you Bronahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11110584237325026052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-19762867969641335432019-07-12T16:37:17.809-04:002019-07-12T16:37:17.809-04:00Thanks Suko. I actually finished the book before s...Thanks Suko. I actually finished the book before summer really kicked in. But I tend not to read seasonably. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-65383329928572241702019-07-12T14:21:42.327-04:002019-07-12T14:21:42.327-04:00Brian Joseph,
I'm glad that you enjoyed readin...Brian Joseph,<br />I'm glad that you enjoyed reading this long, dense novel, and found it very worthwhile, "a feast of ideas". It sounds like it was the right time for you to read it. (I seem to prefer reading shorter books, during the "lazy days" of summer.) Excellent, interesting commentary! Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-77965857250698266722019-07-12T12:03:44.384-04:002019-07-12T12:03:44.384-04:00Hi Stephen- A lot of critics speculate that Mann w...Hi Stephen- A lot of critics speculate that Mann was trying to show that society was ill previous to The First World War. Thus, a sanitarium was a perfect setting. I think that you may be on to something in regards to the criticism of intellectual society. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-75920807003081717352019-07-12T12:00:06.207-04:002019-07-12T12:00:06.207-04:00Thanks for your thoughtfulness Baili. It turns out...Thanks for your thoughtfulness Baili. It turns out that I had a benign tumor a few years ago. It destroyed my vestibular nerve on this right side. As a result I am deaf on my right side and my balance is wobbly.The tumor was dealt with and is dead. It is no threat. It could hand been a lot worse. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-2565583545120750582019-07-12T10:32:46.251-04:002019-07-12T10:32:46.251-04:00I wonder if there's a reason Mann used a sani...I wonder if there's a reason Mann used a sanitarium for this discussion, and why the sick would be regarded as more virtuous. Do you think Mann was criticizing an overly intellectual society -- that is, one that was becoming more obsessed with arguments than life? Michel de Montaigne introduced that as an idea in one of his letters, that we live in our heads too much. Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15097908023032528200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-5542496359640725982019-07-12T08:08:17.653-04:002019-07-12T08:08:17.653-04:00Thank you dear Brain for kind reply
It just came...Thank you dear Brain for kind reply <br />It just came to my knowledge through your comment that you are dealing with some health issues sorry can't find your email address so dropping my best wishes here <br /><br />Hope and pray May you be blessed with perfect health my friend! <br />bailihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06498012175058870980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-57060890645015962822019-07-12T05:33:20.613-04:002019-07-12T05:33:20.613-04:00Hi Sharon- I think that you would like this book. ...Hi Sharon- I think that you would like this book. This is my first Mann but I will likely read more. <br /><br />Have a great weekend. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-27765099536533029732019-07-12T03:47:12.840-04:002019-07-12T03:47:12.840-04:00Hi Brian. This book has been on my shelf for a wh...Hi Brian. This book has been on my shelf for a while. I know I need to read it. Your review shows that it is something I'll enjoy. I've read all of Mann's short stories and liked them a lot. Have you read Mario and The Magician? It's really good.<br /><br />Have a great weekend!Sharon Wilfonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466621290140789056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4043273283783489008.post-86642603934597542822019-07-11T18:07:03.748-04:002019-07-11T18:07:03.748-04:00Thanks Ron. Looks to be full of fascinating stuff....Thanks Ron. Looks to be full of fascinating stuff. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com