The Sorrows of Young Werther
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
So, the great Goethe and I meet again. This time, however, I'm tackling him all alone, and I daresay I've emerged the victor. This book is very strange; it's depressing, but at the same time it's a very enjoyable read. I think that I now understand better why Goethe is considered such a genius.
For starters, the man's metaphors are amazing. They always put a clear picture in my head of exactly what is going on in the narrator's mind. The narrator is defined from the very start and stays consistent in personality and style, if not demeanor, throughout the novel. Approaching the character and his circumstances works especially well by using his letters to tell the story. In fact, the weakest part of the story is the jolt at the end where a heretofore unseen narrator jumps in. This disrupts the flow of the story, but as the editor returns to the words of Werther the story is ended properly.
The novel is the story of a young man whose enthusiasm for life and for feeling every moment to its fullest extent, to his eventual demise. The dramatic irony and tension really make the book work as the reader watches Werther plunge himself willingly into a situation from which he knows he will have no corporeal escape. We watch, horrified yet curious as Werther hints at his eventual solution, and the tension within the last few pages, when the reader knows for sure what's coming, is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I believe that the book is a work of brilliance, and though it is a tragedy I enjoyed the art displayed in these pages.
Grade: A
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
So, the great Goethe and I meet again. This time, however, I'm tackling him all alone, and I daresay I've emerged the victor. This book is very strange; it's depressing, but at the same time it's a very enjoyable read. I think that I now understand better why Goethe is considered such a genius.
For starters, the man's metaphors are amazing. They always put a clear picture in my head of exactly what is going on in the narrator's mind. The narrator is defined from the very start and stays consistent in personality and style, if not demeanor, throughout the novel. Approaching the character and his circumstances works especially well by using his letters to tell the story. In fact, the weakest part of the story is the jolt at the end where a heretofore unseen narrator jumps in. This disrupts the flow of the story, but as the editor returns to the words of Werther the story is ended properly.
The novel is the story of a young man whose enthusiasm for life and for feeling every moment to its fullest extent, to his eventual demise. The dramatic irony and tension really make the book work as the reader watches Werther plunge himself willingly into a situation from which he knows he will have no corporeal escape. We watch, horrified yet curious as Werther hints at his eventual solution, and the tension within the last few pages, when the reader knows for sure what's coming, is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I believe that the book is a work of brilliance, and though it is a tragedy I enjoyed the art displayed in these pages.
Grade: A
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