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The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings
The Sorrows of Young Werther brings to life an idyllic German village where a youth on vacation meets and falls for lovely Charlotte. The tragedy unfolds in the letters Werther writes to his friend about Charlotte’s charms, even after he realizes his love will remain unrequited. “Reflections on Werther� and “Goethe in Sesenheim,� collections of excerpts from the author’s own memoirs, reveal the genius who, as Nietzsche said, “disciplined himself into wholeness.� Next is “The New Melusina,”the delightful story of a pixie princess who assumes the form of a woman as she searches for a human mate. Finally, “The Fairy Tale� is a sophisticated but strange story in which the laws of nature and physics do not apply—mingled among its human characters is a cast of two sentient will-o�-the-wisps, a giant and his shadow, a talking green serpent, and four metal statues.With an Introduction by Marcelle Clementsand a New Afterword
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1774
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996 people want to read
About the author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
12.4kbooks6,607followersA master of poetry, drama, and the novel, German writer and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent 50 years on his two-part dramatic poem
Faust
, published in 1808 and 1832, also conducted scientific research in various fields, notably botany, and held several governmental positions.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
April 5, 2015
"The illusion that life is but a dream has occurred to quite a few people, and I feel the same way about it." The narrator in one of my favorite books, , also thought this of life, and I've found myself pondering the idea after hearing from Werther.
This left me in a state of reader perplexity as the question reoccurred: had Werther stayed in this dream state of life, could things have turned out differently, perhaps? Willa Cather once said, and I paraphrase, that to lose oneself in the creation of something, is to live. Werther is an artist who feels himself bogged down by life and with what others expect of him; for example, his parents want him to train and become a diplomat, when all he wants to do is paint nature's beauty. Yet, with life comes expectation, with expectation, duty - unless that is, one extricates oneself, as he does. Werther escapes to what should have been his idyllic setting, but soon finds himself unable to focus on his art, because his heart is now encumbered by the beautiful, mysterious, and 'taken' Lotte.
There are some who write about suicide in a way that makes you sympathize, while others write about it in a way that makes you empathize; I do believe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is of the latter group. My copy of this novel (first published in 1774) includes extra stories, and also Goethe's thoughts on Young Werther, wherein he speaks candidly about his own suicidal thoughts: when he decided to live, he knew that in order to "do so happily," he had to first "complete a poetic work in which [he] could express everything [he] had felt about this important subject. Now you see why I've contemplated Werther's creative life.
Werther is a character of the psychological novel who speaks clearheadedly about his inner turmoil, and as I followed his journey, it was obvious that this is not a story that is only about unrequited love (which by the way, whether the love was returned or simply COULD NOT be returned, is another story). Here is a man dissatisfied with life and when he stumbles upon some bits of happiness, life seems to take it away also. There are moments in the book where he seems hopelessly needy, and yet, when you actually listen to him, you see that this is a man, pardon the clichéd saying, whose flaw is that he wears a tender heart on his sleeve. Without it being in the epistolary form, I probably would not have received this novel as I did; in fact, "from its initial publication, The Sorrows of Young Werther has continually provoked intense reposes. While some readers identify readily with Goethe's beset protagonist, others respond with puzzled disappointment or impatience."
I turn in upon myself and find a world there, again more in a spirit of presentiment and dour longing than dramatically or with vitality. Then everything grows hazy in my mind and I go on smiling dreamily at the world.
This left me in a state of reader perplexity as the question reoccurred: had Werther stayed in this dream state of life, could things have turned out differently, perhaps? Willa Cather once said, and I paraphrase, that to lose oneself in the creation of something, is to live. Werther is an artist who feels himself bogged down by life and with what others expect of him; for example, his parents want him to train and become a diplomat, when all he wants to do is paint nature's beauty. Yet, with life comes expectation, with expectation, duty - unless that is, one extricates oneself, as he does. Werther escapes to what should have been his idyllic setting, but soon finds himself unable to focus on his art, because his heart is now encumbered by the beautiful, mysterious, and 'taken' Lotte.
I coddle my heart like a sick child and give in to its every whim. But don't tell a soul. There are people who would condemn me for it.
There are some who write about suicide in a way that makes you sympathize, while others write about it in a way that makes you empathize; I do believe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is of the latter group. My copy of this novel (first published in 1774) includes extra stories, and also Goethe's thoughts on Young Werther, wherein he speaks candidly about his own suicidal thoughts: when he decided to live, he knew that in order to "do so happily," he had to first "complete a poetic work in which [he] could express everything [he] had felt about this important subject. Now you see why I've contemplated Werther's creative life.
We are dealing here with people who are weary of life from a lack of activity under the most peaceful conditions imaginable, through the exaggerated demands they make upon themselves. Since I found myself in such a condition once and know how I suffered and what efforts I had to make to escape it, I do not wish to hide the conclusions I reached after giving much consideration to the various forms of death one might choose.
Werther is a character of the psychological novel who speaks clearheadedly about his inner turmoil, and as I followed his journey, it was obvious that this is not a story that is only about unrequited love (which by the way, whether the love was returned or simply COULD NOT be returned, is another story). Here is a man dissatisfied with life and when he stumbles upon some bits of happiness, life seems to take it away also. There are moments in the book where he seems hopelessly needy, and yet, when you actually listen to him, you see that this is a man, pardon the clichéd saying, whose flaw is that he wears a tender heart on his sleeve. Without it being in the epistolary form, I probably would not have received this novel as I did; in fact, "from its initial publication, The Sorrows of Young Werther has continually provoked intense reposes. While some readers identify readily with Goethe's beset protagonist, others respond with puzzled disappointment or impatience."
And I had recognized long ago how useless all forewords were, for the more one tries to explain one's intentions, the more confusion one causes.The author may write as many prefaces as he likes; the reader will always go right on demanding that which the author is trying to avoid. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
January 29, 2015
Before I was halfway through this book I had already connected with it on a deep level. I didn’t know what was going to happen in the end but I knew Goethe was telling my story and the opposite of my story at the same time. Ten years later I published my first novel, , which is a parody of this great tale. I can only be grateful to Goethe and encourage everyone to read The Sorrows of Young Werther. Also, if you like it enough or even if you hate it � you should check out my parody.
May 31, 2019
I am still deeply engrossed in Noa's life and thoughts. He was one of the characters in Min Jin Lee's
Pachinko
. I described him to Roshan as my favourite ideal character in literature so far. I am still simmering to want to know more about his inner turmoil and thought process. That's when I decided I should read his favourite book. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther is considered to be one of the first psychological novels. It tells the story of a young man called Werther who is in an unrequited love with Lotte. A lot goes on in the book through diary entries and letter exchanges. This book, however, will be remembered by me as the first book I have DNFed. I am a very structured person when it comes to reading - reading very carefully from cover to cover. This one didn't work for me. Even though I was continuously pushing myself to read it, I just couldn't. I had pity for Werther, but his musings about his love life was just too drab and repetitive. It feels like I have failed Noa, but perhaps this taught me an important lesson -- it is not always necessary that you share the taste of someone you love.
December 19, 2021
Protagonist with a 'dreadful void in his breast' (cf. Faust), in demonstrating how a love triangle distracts from the class struggle when he arms himself against the former instead of the latter, proves incidentally how such triangles are politically retrograde.
September 24, 2015
‘A man is a man, and the little bit of sense he may have plays little or no part at all when passion rages in him, and the limitations of humankind oppress him�
Ah, Young Werther! Your sorrows were often mine; you dragged me down into the mire with your incessant melancholy and self-pity, so much so that I wanted to shake you by the shoulders and order you � in slightly more colloquial language than this - to have some self-esteem in your nether regions, and find a different woman to tickle your fancy. But then again, I was never much for the Classicists.
It says much for Young Werther that I found the follow up to the title story more of an engaging read. Reflections on Werther is an interesting psychological analysis that explores the reasons for deep melancholy, and the subsequent journey into depression that some find unavoidable. According to Goethe (or at least my interpretation of what he said), it is what happens when introverted personalities becoming perhaps too deeply in sync with Nature; it’s transitoriness reminds us of the ‘worthlessness of Earthly matters�. Once we, say, experience a pure emotion like love passionately, the rest of love loses all it’s meaning, so that an indifference and hopelessness soon sets in.
Goethe even cites English poetry as a contributing factor in the melancholia of the era; that could be quite close to the truth! Undoubtedly Goethe understood � and expressed most eloquently � the power of great poetry:
‘True poetry proclaims itself as a secular gospel in its ability to liberate us from the earthly burdens that oppress us by producing in us serenity and a sense of well-being. It lifts us and our ballasts into higher spheres like a balloon, leaving the confused and labyrinthine part of our earthly meanderings below us in bird’s-eye perspective�.
No wonder we love reading!
Werther’s unrequited love is based on Goethe’s own life, and what follows is an account of his time in Sessenheim, where we see the origins of his love take place amidst idyllic German countryside.
The collection is rounded off with two fairy tales to showcase Goethe’s diversity, and his love of all things pastoral.
Overall, not exactly my cup of tea, but I guess this is one of those important reads (and writers) that all ardent readers need to check off their lists.
Ah, Young Werther! Your sorrows were often mine; you dragged me down into the mire with your incessant melancholy and self-pity, so much so that I wanted to shake you by the shoulders and order you � in slightly more colloquial language than this - to have some self-esteem in your nether regions, and find a different woman to tickle your fancy. But then again, I was never much for the Classicists.
It says much for Young Werther that I found the follow up to the title story more of an engaging read. Reflections on Werther is an interesting psychological analysis that explores the reasons for deep melancholy, and the subsequent journey into depression that some find unavoidable. According to Goethe (or at least my interpretation of what he said), it is what happens when introverted personalities becoming perhaps too deeply in sync with Nature; it’s transitoriness reminds us of the ‘worthlessness of Earthly matters�. Once we, say, experience a pure emotion like love passionately, the rest of love loses all it’s meaning, so that an indifference and hopelessness soon sets in.
Goethe even cites English poetry as a contributing factor in the melancholia of the era; that could be quite close to the truth! Undoubtedly Goethe understood � and expressed most eloquently � the power of great poetry:
‘True poetry proclaims itself as a secular gospel in its ability to liberate us from the earthly burdens that oppress us by producing in us serenity and a sense of well-being. It lifts us and our ballasts into higher spheres like a balloon, leaving the confused and labyrinthine part of our earthly meanderings below us in bird’s-eye perspective�.
No wonder we love reading!
Werther’s unrequited love is based on Goethe’s own life, and what follows is an account of his time in Sessenheim, where we see the origins of his love take place amidst idyllic German countryside.
The collection is rounded off with two fairy tales to showcase Goethe’s diversity, and his love of all things pastoral.
Overall, not exactly my cup of tea, but I guess this is one of those important reads (and writers) that all ardent readers need to check off their lists.
November 6, 2015
I probably shouldn't rate this since I skimmed its second half and didn't spend more than a few minutes looking at the supplemental bits. Felt like things fell off the table about fifty pages in. Started wonderfully, with plenty of wisdom and enthusiasm and vivid description of village life. Love interest develops. Charismatic youth who abhors grumpiness falls for a hottie named Lotte betrothed to a good dude. Cue Werther's dissolution! Activate the chute down which protagonist slides en route to the grave, addled with plentiful apostrophes! I'm not sure I like Goethe -- he's maybe too conscious of his role as acknowledged legislator? Anyway, might look at Elective Affinities one day. Watched FW Murnau's Faust (as rad as it was silent, although it too seemed to lose its plot a bit midday way through), which will have to suffice as preparation for Mann's "Doctor Faustus" in 2014.
July 9, 2024
Being an avowed German culture junky and not having read any Goethe is just wrong. He was, after all, the man who is arguably as key to defining German literature as Shakespeare is to English. I'm familiar with his 'Faust', and whilst I want to read it some day I thought it would be less intimidating to try his most famous romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. Whilst I'm usually more inclined to read Penguin Classic editions of such works as these, I lighted upon this Signet translation and I have to say that for the most part I was pleased with what I found. Combining a translated text with supplementary essays and other pieces by Goethe, I would like to think this is a very acceptable edition of the his work. The question then was, did the book meet my expectations?
Truth be told, I wasn't as enamoured with Goethe's work as I had hoped, and this I think is due to the emphasis that the author places on the stylistic tenor of his novella. Having a reasonable understanding of the Romantic movement as established by the likes of Wordsworth, Blake and Coleridge in the English tradition, I detected without any problem the pantheistic aspects of Goethe's work. In this story the exterior world of Werther is one that is both bucolic and spiritual, and nature is seen to be the most perfect emanation of God's presence. That's okay as far as literary motifs go, however for my tastes I feel that Goethe goes on way too far with it. Perhaps not being closer to where and when the book was written detracts from one's experience of the story. Perhaps this is very much a book of its time and place, and of the intellectual and artistic movement that Goethe is trying to capture in The Sorrows of Young Werther. Be that as it may be, the long passages where Goethe presents the reader with a pantheistic vision of the German countryside is not as interesting as hoped.
When it comes to the great doomed love that Werther holds for Charlotte it took me some time to warm to it, and again I suspect my sensibilities were not aligned with either Goethe himself nor those who read the book and idolised it upon its publication. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for enjoying a story about what the French call amor fou, 'crazy love', and have perhaps had my own moments of passion that border on lunacy in my youthful student days. Yet I wasn't really swept up in Werther's love, or for that matter Charlotte's attractions, until the last third or so of the book. Of course this is fiction, and in the process of being a romantic story realism has been perhaps put aside by Goethe. Yet it wasn't until the aforementioned section of the book, where Werther's love becomes destructive to him and to Charlotte, that I thought Goethe was being truthful. The naivete and lack of awareness from Charlotte is a little annoying, and Werther's passion doesn't carry the emotional weight I was expecting until it becomes corrosive for both the protagonist and the object of his affections. Frankly, it wasn't until Werther set himslef directly in the path to his tragic ending that I really felt moved by what I was reading.
I can't speak to the effectiveness of the translation of this edition of The Sorrows of Young Werther, but I can say that the introduction, notes and supporting adjunct pieces by Goethe make sure that the reader is not left to ponder what is going on and why in the text. I assume that if one was to study the novel for university this would be a valuable version of the text to use. The English prose used here for the novel is accessible, and the brevity of the story means that one can finish it relatively shortly. The essays and other works added here are a little more dense and a bit less accessible for anyone reading this for leisure, and perhaps are not necessary for one to finish.
All up I am glad I have read The Sorrows of Young Werther and it is an important text for anyoen wanting to engage withGoethe, German literature and Romanticism. However, be under no illusions as to how readily one might connect with it in today's social, cultural and literary context. This is very much a book of its time, and perhaps those of us tackling it in the 21st Century cannot appreciate it as it was first read back at the end of the 18th Century.
Truth be told, I wasn't as enamoured with Goethe's work as I had hoped, and this I think is due to the emphasis that the author places on the stylistic tenor of his novella. Having a reasonable understanding of the Romantic movement as established by the likes of Wordsworth, Blake and Coleridge in the English tradition, I detected without any problem the pantheistic aspects of Goethe's work. In this story the exterior world of Werther is one that is both bucolic and spiritual, and nature is seen to be the most perfect emanation of God's presence. That's okay as far as literary motifs go, however for my tastes I feel that Goethe goes on way too far with it. Perhaps not being closer to where and when the book was written detracts from one's experience of the story. Perhaps this is very much a book of its time and place, and of the intellectual and artistic movement that Goethe is trying to capture in The Sorrows of Young Werther. Be that as it may be, the long passages where Goethe presents the reader with a pantheistic vision of the German countryside is not as interesting as hoped.
When it comes to the great doomed love that Werther holds for Charlotte it took me some time to warm to it, and again I suspect my sensibilities were not aligned with either Goethe himself nor those who read the book and idolised it upon its publication. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for enjoying a story about what the French call amor fou, 'crazy love', and have perhaps had my own moments of passion that border on lunacy in my youthful student days. Yet I wasn't really swept up in Werther's love, or for that matter Charlotte's attractions, until the last third or so of the book. Of course this is fiction, and in the process of being a romantic story realism has been perhaps put aside by Goethe. Yet it wasn't until the aforementioned section of the book, where Werther's love becomes destructive to him and to Charlotte, that I thought Goethe was being truthful. The naivete and lack of awareness from Charlotte is a little annoying, and Werther's passion doesn't carry the emotional weight I was expecting until it becomes corrosive for both the protagonist and the object of his affections. Frankly, it wasn't until Werther set himslef directly in the path to his tragic ending that I really felt moved by what I was reading.
I can't speak to the effectiveness of the translation of this edition of The Sorrows of Young Werther, but I can say that the introduction, notes and supporting adjunct pieces by Goethe make sure that the reader is not left to ponder what is going on and why in the text. I assume that if one was to study the novel for university this would be a valuable version of the text to use. The English prose used here for the novel is accessible, and the brevity of the story means that one can finish it relatively shortly. The essays and other works added here are a little more dense and a bit less accessible for anyone reading this for leisure, and perhaps are not necessary for one to finish.
All up I am glad I have read The Sorrows of Young Werther and it is an important text for anyoen wanting to engage withGoethe, German literature and Romanticism. However, be under no illusions as to how readily one might connect with it in today's social, cultural and literary context. This is very much a book of its time, and perhaps those of us tackling it in the 21st Century cannot appreciate it as it was first read back at the end of the 18th Century.
December 21, 2013
Germans are odd. Clipped, precise and order-driven, yet over-the-top sentimental. And this is the book that started it all. Overwrought in the extreme, it sparked a wave of ever more extreme suicides in the German-speaking world that persisted at least until WWI (one enterprising Austrian broke into Beethoven's apartment, years after his death, to kill himself where genius had dwelt). Anyway, this is barely readable, but important historically.
June 25, 2009
I wish these rating systems had "halves" or 1 to 10 scale @ least as I put this one @ 3 1/2.
I, personally, enjoyed the Romantic Idea brought to its logical conclusion with this little gem. But, I can see how others might find it (or much of from the Romantic Movement) too syrupy.
I, personally, enjoyed the Romantic Idea brought to its logical conclusion with this little gem. But, I can see how others might find it (or much of from the Romantic Movement) too syrupy.
September 11, 2019
This book is my Bible!!! And Goethe may as well be God!! Oh dear, what an experience. I will hold Werther in my heart for eternity. I'm so in awe I almost started crying merely for Goethe's incredible power and beauty and magic of words.
July 4, 2010
it probably deserves four stars, maybe five. i don't know. it's very short, which is good. 100 some odd pages. that means that our hero, young werther, cries about 100 times. i was glad when lotte finally told him to "be manly." i mean, for christ's sake. it nearly killed me, this guy weeping, literally every couple pages. that said, it's the first book i've picked up and had a hard time putting down in ages. probably since the last time i read after leaving mr mackenzie. it's odd. i mean, this was the story of an intelligent young man, and he was sort of interesting, and he said some good stuff, but suffering through the sentimentality was irritating, after a while.
perhaps goethe was aware of this? one would think, simply because the end - the very end, narrated by the author, rather than taken from werther's letters - was absolutely unsparingly cold, and therefore much more affecting than almost anything that came before it. it's an interesting study in self-absorbtion, for sure, and that might be why i enjoyed it so thoroughly; i'm pretty self-absorbed and, in spite of all his apparent obsession with lotte, the true subject of werther's obsession is himself. so the book both enthralls and repels, in that sense. as a proto-romantic text it's sort of interesting, too. my understanding is that it is to romanticism what bovary is to modernism.
but i have limited patience for the incessant weeping. i mean, let's say goethe knew perfectly well what he was doing (i doubt that he did; he wrotew the book very quickly, when he was very young), even if he was making an effort to make this character get on your nerves, does there have to be merit in that? if the book is annoying, isn't it annoying even if it's meant to be annoying?
still, i couldn't put the thing down. i went whale watching yesterday and, once i saw the first couple whales come close to the boat, i was more interested in my book. been whale watching before, but still. so what do i do about this book? three stars? i'll raise it to four later.
maybe.
for my next trick, maybe i will read a book by an american man, about an american man, in the hopes that the character will at least make an effort to act like one.
perhaps goethe was aware of this? one would think, simply because the end - the very end, narrated by the author, rather than taken from werther's letters - was absolutely unsparingly cold, and therefore much more affecting than almost anything that came before it. it's an interesting study in self-absorbtion, for sure, and that might be why i enjoyed it so thoroughly; i'm pretty self-absorbed and, in spite of all his apparent obsession with lotte, the true subject of werther's obsession is himself. so the book both enthralls and repels, in that sense. as a proto-romantic text it's sort of interesting, too. my understanding is that it is to romanticism what bovary is to modernism.
but i have limited patience for the incessant weeping. i mean, let's say goethe knew perfectly well what he was doing (i doubt that he did; he wrotew the book very quickly, when he was very young), even if he was making an effort to make this character get on your nerves, does there have to be merit in that? if the book is annoying, isn't it annoying even if it's meant to be annoying?
still, i couldn't put the thing down. i went whale watching yesterday and, once i saw the first couple whales come close to the boat, i was more interested in my book. been whale watching before, but still. so what do i do about this book? three stars? i'll raise it to four later.
maybe.
for my next trick, maybe i will read a book by an american man, about an american man, in the hopes that the character will at least make an effort to act like one.
September 12, 2012
I want to write novels about this book. Actually, others have already. Well, not precisely, but Mary Shelley did include "Sorrows" in the trio of books that the Monster finds in the portmanteau in the woods, alongside Milton's Paradise Lost and Plutarch's Lives.
I now know why.
This is an incredibly sensory and heartfelt collection of letters from "a young unstable man," Werther, who falls in love with an engaged woman.
Goethe (whom I adore) explores and gives commentary on societal duties and expectations, happiness and depression, devoted and unrequited love, and suicide, which fascinates me. Goethe wrote this in four weeks when he was 24 and went through a difficult time, and the passion and wildly fluctuating emotions of Werther are both invigorating and dispiriting in turn. The novel is relatively short for the level complexity and number of ideas it conveys, and feels a weighty semblance to Shelley's Frankenstein, in atmosphere if not entirely in tone.
This is a tragedy in the vein and spirit of Hamlet, and the moment it ended I wanted to start it again.
Please try and read this book.
I now know why.
This is an incredibly sensory and heartfelt collection of letters from "a young unstable man," Werther, who falls in love with an engaged woman.
Goethe (whom I adore) explores and gives commentary on societal duties and expectations, happiness and depression, devoted and unrequited love, and suicide, which fascinates me. Goethe wrote this in four weeks when he was 24 and went through a difficult time, and the passion and wildly fluctuating emotions of Werther are both invigorating and dispiriting in turn. The novel is relatively short for the level complexity and number of ideas it conveys, and feels a weighty semblance to Shelley's Frankenstein, in atmosphere if not entirely in tone.
This is a tragedy in the vein and spirit of Hamlet, and the moment it ended I wanted to start it again.
Please try and read this book.
September 26, 2024
“I shall see her today! When I awaken in the morning and look blithely into the sunlight, I cry out, ‘I shall see her today!� And I don’t have another wish for the next twenty-four hours. Everything - everything, I tell you - is lost in this one anticipation!�
I need me a man as obsessed with me as Werther is of Charlotte.
This 5 star review does not take into account the short stories in its copy. I read The Sorrows of Young Werther and fell in love with the writing after the first page. It is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.
“Who would have thought, when I chose Wahlheim as a goal for my walks, that it lay so close to heaven?�
likeee he’s so in love CMON
“An angel? Rubbish! That is what every man calls his beloved, isn’t it? Yet I am quite incapable of conveying to you how absolutely perfect she is and why she is so absolutely perfect. Let it suffice to say that she has captivated me.�
i want him
I need me a man as obsessed with me as Werther is of Charlotte.
This 5 star review does not take into account the short stories in its copy. I read The Sorrows of Young Werther and fell in love with the writing after the first page. It is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.
“Who would have thought, when I chose Wahlheim as a goal for my walks, that it lay so close to heaven?�
likeee he’s so in love CMON
“An angel? Rubbish! That is what every man calls his beloved, isn’t it? Yet I am quite incapable of conveying to you how absolutely perfect she is and why she is so absolutely perfect. Let it suffice to say that she has captivated me.�
i want him
September 13, 2008
1774. Most people know what this book is about before they read it I think, but if you don't here come spoilers: it's about Werther, who falls in love with a woman engaged to another and eventually offs himself. Might sound kinda pathetic, but the character and the writing make this little book a gem. If I had to compare it to anything I'd compare it to Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Roland Barthes' A Lover's Discourse. It is epistolary for the most part and a philosophical consideration of love and unrequited love, as well as nature, art and God. When Werther killed himself I felt like it was the right thing for him to do under the circumstances, or at least that I could understand why he did it. So enchanting.
May 30, 2007
The Sorrows Of Young Werther is the precursor for all of today's teenage rants on internet blogs about love and its hardships, and it is an utterly enthralling read. Geothe has really been denied his proper acknowledgement as an author, where usually the only required reading of his tends to be a sample of Faust at college level. Sorrows is written through a series of letters from Werther to someone at his home, his correspondance with his roots. Though tragic, Sorrows should rather be themed more as a book proclaiming a connection to nature and a very final means of gratification, instead of a book fancifying death.
September 27, 2014
The best novel I have ever read. What began as a required read for a class turned into my leisure reading. I am normally a slow reader but I finished it in 3 days, which is very fast for me.
This particular translation I found very suitable and elegant. The language, though, should not distract one's attention. I began reading half-heartedly, not having any prior knowledge of the book. As the plot began to unfold, I was unwillingly drawn in and unwillingly subject to a flood of emotions. I found that I could relate entirely with Werther, being an introvert and having found myself in similar circumstances, though not exactly similar, those being two things that Goethe mentions in his reflections that produce the most impassioned, moved readers of the book. I have never been more emotionally and deeply tampered with by a fictional book in all my life. During the final succession of events at the end, I felt that I was alongside Werther undergoing the exact same emotions, enduring the painful suspense and having to mentally prepare myself with him. I feel as if I have experienced what he experienced because I have read the book. Goethe wrote out of personal experience according to his reflections, to express his own similar emotions, and I must say that my own experience tells me that writing out of passion and personal experience produces the most highly charged work. The plot is no surprise. At very occasional times I even felt angry at Werther for idolizing Lotte. I felt that his utter devotion was really unprompted, perhaps suggesting insanity, but these moments quickly faded again into a personal sympathy for Werther and an anger, rarely at Lotte and many times at Albert, for the circumstances which they foolishly foisted upon Werther, Albert especially guilty of not proceeding to try to console Werther or offer him at least the effort to help him. If any, Lotte's guilt lay in her hasty foolishness at the end and her egging Werther on, or failing to limit her requiting, at the very outset. Anyhow, I found the story cohesive and meaningful, and no aspect detracted from the work. How anyone couldn't be in some way moved by Wether is beyond me. A mind free from an idealistic, giddy view of the world will see Werther's life most clearly. It is precisely that cloud that was lifted from his mind shortly after the beginning that caused the ensuing events. They can't be understood except in such such a light. Near the beginning he was passionately arguing against the folly of not seeing the world happily, of not coming alongside your friends and helping to "leave them with their joys and increase their happiness by sharing it with them. Can you give them a little comfort when they are tormented by fear?" He also says, "What wretches they are, those who take advantage of the power they have over the heart of another...and rob him of the simple joys within him!" Both quotes are found on page 29 of this publication. It is precisely this fact of life that Werther comes to terms with. As Sir Toby the drunkard of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" said to the stereotypically puritanical Malvolio "Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Though Werther had a large role in furthering his suffering, nevertheless he is right to one degree or other when he repeatedly says something like "Fate has given me [insert undesirable circumstance]." Werther's ideals were destroyed by the contrasting harshness of reality. He should have destroyed his idealism before he allowed his feelings for an engaged woman to grow, he and she both knowing that their feelings wouldn't go anywhere. His descent into reality carried him six feet under, as it were. Anyhow, that is the extent of my criticism of Werther. This translation has earned 5 stars, easily, with the quality of language as well as Goethe's exceedingly superb story. I must say, I found myself frenzily warding off melancholy every time I read it. It was that profound and tangible for me, though probably not for every reader. Best novel I've ever read, replacing Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Both present profound reflections on life.
This particular translation I found very suitable and elegant. The language, though, should not distract one's attention. I began reading half-heartedly, not having any prior knowledge of the book. As the plot began to unfold, I was unwillingly drawn in and unwillingly subject to a flood of emotions. I found that I could relate entirely with Werther, being an introvert and having found myself in similar circumstances, though not exactly similar, those being two things that Goethe mentions in his reflections that produce the most impassioned, moved readers of the book. I have never been more emotionally and deeply tampered with by a fictional book in all my life. During the final succession of events at the end, I felt that I was alongside Werther undergoing the exact same emotions, enduring the painful suspense and having to mentally prepare myself with him. I feel as if I have experienced what he experienced because I have read the book. Goethe wrote out of personal experience according to his reflections, to express his own similar emotions, and I must say that my own experience tells me that writing out of passion and personal experience produces the most highly charged work. The plot is no surprise. At very occasional times I even felt angry at Werther for idolizing Lotte. I felt that his utter devotion was really unprompted, perhaps suggesting insanity, but these moments quickly faded again into a personal sympathy for Werther and an anger, rarely at Lotte and many times at Albert, for the circumstances which they foolishly foisted upon Werther, Albert especially guilty of not proceeding to try to console Werther or offer him at least the effort to help him. If any, Lotte's guilt lay in her hasty foolishness at the end and her egging Werther on, or failing to limit her requiting, at the very outset. Anyhow, I found the story cohesive and meaningful, and no aspect detracted from the work. How anyone couldn't be in some way moved by Wether is beyond me. A mind free from an idealistic, giddy view of the world will see Werther's life most clearly. It is precisely that cloud that was lifted from his mind shortly after the beginning that caused the ensuing events. They can't be understood except in such such a light. Near the beginning he was passionately arguing against the folly of not seeing the world happily, of not coming alongside your friends and helping to "leave them with their joys and increase their happiness by sharing it with them. Can you give them a little comfort when they are tormented by fear?" He also says, "What wretches they are, those who take advantage of the power they have over the heart of another...and rob him of the simple joys within him!" Both quotes are found on page 29 of this publication. It is precisely this fact of life that Werther comes to terms with. As Sir Toby the drunkard of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" said to the stereotypically puritanical Malvolio "Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Though Werther had a large role in furthering his suffering, nevertheless he is right to one degree or other when he repeatedly says something like "Fate has given me [insert undesirable circumstance]." Werther's ideals were destroyed by the contrasting harshness of reality. He should have destroyed his idealism before he allowed his feelings for an engaged woman to grow, he and she both knowing that their feelings wouldn't go anywhere. His descent into reality carried him six feet under, as it were. Anyhow, that is the extent of my criticism of Werther. This translation has earned 5 stars, easily, with the quality of language as well as Goethe's exceedingly superb story. I must say, I found myself frenzily warding off melancholy every time I read it. It was that profound and tangible for me, though probably not for every reader. Best novel I've ever read, replacing Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Both present profound reflections on life.
December 17, 2018
There are 4 writings in this book and each is reviewed separately, except for the last 2.
"The Sorrows of Young Werther":
It is an epistolary novel; a collection of letters from a young man called Werther to his friend William.The content of these letters vary from infatuation, to desperation to final lamentation.What strikes me in these correspondences is the amount of details provided about the autonomy of the human spirit.Goethe gives us the story of a man's heart free-falling into an abyss because of an impossible love.Thus, his only outlets is his letters.The affinity of Werther's spirit and the tone of amorous hopelessness permeate every utterance of his.He is on a journey not of self-discovery, for his self is already tangeled in the webs of a doomed love affair.It is rather a journey of self-liberation: Werther wants to distangle himself from such a condition, but he fails at doing so.Goethe succeds to transfer the inner life of Werther by writing a one-way series correspondences (the receiver of letters is not an agent in the story, for he remains on the receiving end).These letters give the impression of being diary entries, for Werther seems to indulge into prolonged soliloquies in order to reflect on, or lament his deperate state.Werther is the epitome of a doomed loved whose obssession with his beloved reaches a pathological level.It is also important to point out the ironic and yet essential continuation of Werther's story by the edito even after his suicide.This is one of Goethe's tools of subverting and "showcasing" the "authenticity" of the epistolary genre.
"Goethe in Sesenheim":
This short story is a "semi-autobiographical" account of Goethe's love affair with a German woman.No, it is a stereotypical description of a state of infatuation and admiration.Goethe masters the Romantic increment as a vessel to such emotions.Imagination coupled with a sense of a patheistic passion are the instruments by which Goethe manages to paint such a lovely portrait of a love relationship.His trips to Sesenheim are like those of a longing wanderer who sees his destination as a temple of the noblest of feelings.This short story really is a beautiful narrative of a passion that transcends this carnal realm.
"The New Melusina"+"The Fairy Tale":
These two short stories are a fine example of Goethe's ability to delve into the realm of the Fantastic.His style reminds me of Brothers Grimm's.Yet, Goethe's Romantic proclivity tinges this type of the Fantastic and makes it a wonderful combination of far-fetched, but heart-warming tales.Goethe manages,indeed, to use these two prolific 18th C. writing styles in a most magnificent mixture.
"The Sorrows of Young Werther":
It is an epistolary novel; a collection of letters from a young man called Werther to his friend William.The content of these letters vary from infatuation, to desperation to final lamentation.What strikes me in these correspondences is the amount of details provided about the autonomy of the human spirit.Goethe gives us the story of a man's heart free-falling into an abyss because of an impossible love.Thus, his only outlets is his letters.The affinity of Werther's spirit and the tone of amorous hopelessness permeate every utterance of his.He is on a journey not of self-discovery, for his self is already tangeled in the webs of a doomed love affair.It is rather a journey of self-liberation: Werther wants to distangle himself from such a condition, but he fails at doing so.Goethe succeds to transfer the inner life of Werther by writing a one-way series correspondences (the receiver of letters is not an agent in the story, for he remains on the receiving end).These letters give the impression of being diary entries, for Werther seems to indulge into prolonged soliloquies in order to reflect on, or lament his deperate state.Werther is the epitome of a doomed loved whose obssession with his beloved reaches a pathological level.It is also important to point out the ironic and yet essential continuation of Werther's story by the edito even after his suicide.This is one of Goethe's tools of subverting and "showcasing" the "authenticity" of the epistolary genre.
"Goethe in Sesenheim":
This short story is a "semi-autobiographical" account of Goethe's love affair with a German woman.No, it is a stereotypical description of a state of infatuation and admiration.Goethe masters the Romantic increment as a vessel to such emotions.Imagination coupled with a sense of a patheistic passion are the instruments by which Goethe manages to paint such a lovely portrait of a love relationship.His trips to Sesenheim are like those of a longing wanderer who sees his destination as a temple of the noblest of feelings.This short story really is a beautiful narrative of a passion that transcends this carnal realm.
"The New Melusina"+"The Fairy Tale":
These two short stories are a fine example of Goethe's ability to delve into the realm of the Fantastic.His style reminds me of Brothers Grimm's.Yet, Goethe's Romantic proclivity tinges this type of the Fantastic and makes it a wonderful combination of far-fetched, but heart-warming tales.Goethe manages,indeed, to use these two prolific 18th C. writing styles in a most magnificent mixture.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2008
I purchased this book from a street vendor almost two years ago not knowing anything about it. I read The Sorrows of Young Werther in about two days and the rest of the commentary and remaining stories in the next week. Brilliant. I think one of the strong points to this story is the form of writing-- one-sided letters to friends of a love struck man. Also, the story line is real and relatable and very forthcoming in the desires and emotions of Werther. Poignant, dramatic, sad, but lovely. A classic on my shelf.
June 14, 2012
I found the sorrows of young Werther so beautifully tragic. I was drawn to the nakedness of his internal wars of human nature and his stubborn yet graceful character. I was taken by his ponders dealing with an unattainable love and happiness, of deceptive illusions and with his philosophies on suicide and lunatism. He is a classic helpless romantic, passionate and melancholic, a dreamer like myself. Sighs..more dots and sighs.
March 22, 2008
Too melodramatic for my tastes...
July 12, 2020
"Who can say, “That’s how it is!� when all things are transient and roll away with the passing storm..."
Sorrows of a Young Werther, published in 1774 is a tale of psychological deterioration of a person, in his pursuit of unrequited love of a lady engaged to another, ending in his suicide.
Goethe, even in 18th century, writing at the age of 24, had the foresight to treat suicide as the culmination of a mental disease rather than a "sin". He states that just as a physically sick patient can't get cured just by the presence of a healthy person around him, similarly the sensible man looking after the ruined person on the verge of suicide, can't encourage him. He states, "I find it astonishing to say that a man who takes his own life is a coward, as it would be improper to call a man a coward who dies of pernicious fever."
Even today, our understanding of suicide is that of an irrational act, and that if the person would have just waited, he would have recovered. Werther states the ridiculousness of this idea, comparing it to the man who dies of fever, "‘The fool! He died of a fever. Why didn’t he wait until he regained his strength, until his physical condition improved and the tumult in his blood died down? Then everything would have turned out well and he would be alive today!’�
Werther is calmly aware of his step by step descent to his eventual tragedy. He writes, "Look at man, with all his limitations, how impressions affect him, how ideas take hold of him until finally a passion grows within him to such an extent that it robs him of his peace of mind and ruins him."
He is completely in hold of his idea of his love for his beloved. He says, "Like her? I can’t abide the word. What kind of person could possibly “like� Lotte? What kind of person could possibly not be completely fulfilled by her? There are no more prayers in me except prayers to her; my imagination can shape no other figure but hers; I see everything around me only in its relationship to her."
He passes through the psychological stages of grief (denial, anger, depression, even acceptance for some time). His agony is great, "Sometimes I simply cannot understand how she can love another, how she dare—since I love her alone, so deeply, so fully, and recognize nothing, know nothing, have nothing but her!", his simple desire unfulfilled, "Oh, this void, this dreadful void in my breast! Often I think—if just once I could press her to my heart, it would be filled!", till he feels, "God knows, I go to bed often with the wish—yes, sometimes in the hope of not waking up again". It seems he is literally in pain. He cries “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?� The lady he loves is concerned "Werther, you are ill. Your favorite things are repugnant to you. Go. I beg of you, go and try to calm down. Divert this tragic devotion from a human creature who can only pity you."
Even in his death, he states, "I want to be buried, Lotte, in the clothes I have on. You have touched them and made them sacred." Perhaps he was sick afterall, consumed by an unfulfillable desire.
The novel is semi-autobiographical, but if this is the passion Goethe was feeling in adulthood, we are lucky he lived to see 82 summers!
Sorrows of a Young Werther, published in 1774 is a tale of psychological deterioration of a person, in his pursuit of unrequited love of a lady engaged to another, ending in his suicide.
Goethe, even in 18th century, writing at the age of 24, had the foresight to treat suicide as the culmination of a mental disease rather than a "sin". He states that just as a physically sick patient can't get cured just by the presence of a healthy person around him, similarly the sensible man looking after the ruined person on the verge of suicide, can't encourage him. He states, "I find it astonishing to say that a man who takes his own life is a coward, as it would be improper to call a man a coward who dies of pernicious fever."
Even today, our understanding of suicide is that of an irrational act, and that if the person would have just waited, he would have recovered. Werther states the ridiculousness of this idea, comparing it to the man who dies of fever, "‘The fool! He died of a fever. Why didn’t he wait until he regained his strength, until his physical condition improved and the tumult in his blood died down? Then everything would have turned out well and he would be alive today!’�
Werther is calmly aware of his step by step descent to his eventual tragedy. He writes, "Look at man, with all his limitations, how impressions affect him, how ideas take hold of him until finally a passion grows within him to such an extent that it robs him of his peace of mind and ruins him."
He is completely in hold of his idea of his love for his beloved. He says, "Like her? I can’t abide the word. What kind of person could possibly “like� Lotte? What kind of person could possibly not be completely fulfilled by her? There are no more prayers in me except prayers to her; my imagination can shape no other figure but hers; I see everything around me only in its relationship to her."
He passes through the psychological stages of grief (denial, anger, depression, even acceptance for some time). His agony is great, "Sometimes I simply cannot understand how she can love another, how she dare—since I love her alone, so deeply, so fully, and recognize nothing, know nothing, have nothing but her!", his simple desire unfulfilled, "Oh, this void, this dreadful void in my breast! Often I think—if just once I could press her to my heart, it would be filled!", till he feels, "God knows, I go to bed often with the wish—yes, sometimes in the hope of not waking up again". It seems he is literally in pain. He cries “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?� The lady he loves is concerned "Werther, you are ill. Your favorite things are repugnant to you. Go. I beg of you, go and try to calm down. Divert this tragic devotion from a human creature who can only pity you."
Even in his death, he states, "I want to be buried, Lotte, in the clothes I have on. You have touched them and made them sacred." Perhaps he was sick afterall, consumed by an unfulfillable desire.
The novel is semi-autobiographical, but if this is the passion Goethe was feeling in adulthood, we are lucky he lived to see 82 summers!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2015
This is an interesting collection of Goethe's writings--the piece which originally made him famous, some excerpts from his own journals relevant to it, and two other fantasy stories. It came into my hands because the county library had tossed it on the free book rack and I knew the author's name, but only for Faust, known to me best from the telling by Wishbone on PBS, but of course long before that as the story of the man who sells his soul to the devil. I have written of that elsewhere and it is not particularly pertinent to this.
In high school I read the original Bram Stoker's Dracula, and what impressed me most about the tale was the telling: Stoker spins the story through letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, and similar scraps of fictional historic sources. The main story here, The Sorrows of Young Werther, is very similar in this aspect, being predominantly letters written by the central character to a friend, with sections of narrative from the supposed compiler particularly toward the end, to fill the gaps. Somehow when we meet the seemingly happy young man at the beginning of the telling we know that in the end he commits suicide, and the path to that is completely opaque--he is a young man with few problems and much joie de vie, loving nature and the views of the valley afforded him from the property he apparently owns. His happiness only increases when he meets a young girl whom he describes in wonderfully warm tones, even though he knows from the beginning that she is engaged to be married to a promising young man presently settling family business far away. He and she become close friends, sharing very similar outlooks on life and having many common interests. He finds excuses to spend time with her, and she does not discourage this. Then when her fiance returns they become a close threesome--the men never as close to each other as each is to the girl, in their different ways, but respecting each other and embracing each other as friends. The girl marries her intended, and we see Werther deteriorate. His passion for her grows, and he starts to push the envelope; she tells him he must leave. In the end, he borrows her husband's pistols, and kills himself.
That we know from the beginning that this is the outcome perhaps makes it clearer as it crosses the midpoint; but of course we also find that despite the very upbeat sound of those early letters we see the missteps, the decisions that draw him into a relationship that is bound to be less than he wants and more than he can hope.
It is a credible enough telling that I wondered whether Werther was manic/depressive. He seems to have very high highs at times, and bouts of depression between them, and then recover and collapse again. Since such an understanding of mental illness was not available to Goethe, it seems quite an insight into character to have captured that.
Of course, I am reading in translation, but I was impressed by the use of language; it is difficult to assess how much of that comes from the original and how much is the translator, but it was an easy read and an entertaining one; this is so throughout.
Following the story are the several sections of history, including a segment telling of a similar love in the author's own life. They are here in large part because they explain some of the source of the ideas of the story. Goethe wrote the story in the wake of a prominent suicide of someone he knew at least in passing, and he frequently was asked how much of his telling was "true", by which people meant whether it was what happened to the person in question. In fact, some of it was drawn from the events of that individual's life--he had fallen in love with a married woman and killed himself in despair--but it was drawn from several other sources as well. In that sense, Goethe might have said it was all true, but of many different people, and that almost none of it was completely true of the case to which it was in most minds connected. These sections gave some insight into European continental life in the eighteenth century that were interesting and informative.
It was followed by a story, and Goethe apparently was a good storyteller. The problem with this story is its place in the book--had I checked back to the table of contents I probably would have realized that I had crossed into fiction, but Goethe tells the story in the first person, describing his own travels, an encounter with a beautiful woman who agrees to let him help her carry a chest into an inn where they are both staying, and the relationship that grows between them. She gives him money to pay for things, and he travels with her, and gradually the mystery becomes a fantasy. He discovers that she is actually a pixie princess, that she is using magic to become larger during the day but at night she returns to her normal size and lives inside the palace that is the box he carries. She has come from the pixie kingdom to find a husband, to help save her people, but when he gets drunk and starts spilling the secret, she has to leave and return home. He can come with her, though, by wearing the ring that will make him smaller. He agrees--but then when he realizes that a wedding is planned for him and his now pregnant intended, he panics, files off the ring, and returns to his normal size to return home.
I did not much care for the ending. Obviously not everyone lives happily ever after, and perhaps there is something significant in his concern that somehow marrying the princess is a permanent arrangement; but it seemed to me that he was very happy in that relationship and in that position, and his decision to leave so abruptly was a bit contrived to bring about the end that he was telling the story. Of course, there has to be a sequel to this somewhere--not, that is, one Goethe told, but the story of the child. It was rather dissatisfying in that regard.
The final section is entitled Fairy Tale, and it is fantastic from the outset, as two wil-o-wisps request a ride from a ferryman, and after taking them across the ferryman says he cannot accept in payment the gold that they shake out of themselves but must have three cabbages, three artichokes, and three onions. They must promise to pay or they will suffer some penalty. From there we meet an old woman who is wife of an old man with a magic lamp, a snake who eats the gold coins and becomes something quite magical, a hidden temple with the statues of three kings, an insubstantial giant with a solid shadow, and a woman known as the Magical Lily, and a story unwraps around them to a happy ending. It has a lot of fascinating ideas. However, it seemed a bit ill constructed, almost as if he made it up on the fly and did not reconsider it. Right near the beginning when the wil-o-wisps offer the gold in payment, the ferryman scolds them saying quite emphatically that if a gold coin were to fall into the river it would be catastrophic. Repeatedly throughout the story the wil-o-wisps shake off more gold coins, and people take them--and never once is there any suggestion of the possibility that one might fall into the river. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were, and it never did.
If there was meaning to those stories, I did not fathom it; they struck me as more a sort of Baron Munchausen type entertainment. The best of the book was the journal entries surrounding his relationship with the daughters of the country parson, although I wondered whether she was going to become Mrs. Goethe and was somewhat disappointed when she did not. But then, it was part of the point, I think.
It was worth reading, and I might read it again sometime, but I wouldn't say to buy a copy.
In high school I read the original Bram Stoker's Dracula, and what impressed me most about the tale was the telling: Stoker spins the story through letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, and similar scraps of fictional historic sources. The main story here, The Sorrows of Young Werther, is very similar in this aspect, being predominantly letters written by the central character to a friend, with sections of narrative from the supposed compiler particularly toward the end, to fill the gaps. Somehow when we meet the seemingly happy young man at the beginning of the telling we know that in the end he commits suicide, and the path to that is completely opaque--he is a young man with few problems and much joie de vie, loving nature and the views of the valley afforded him from the property he apparently owns. His happiness only increases when he meets a young girl whom he describes in wonderfully warm tones, even though he knows from the beginning that she is engaged to be married to a promising young man presently settling family business far away. He and she become close friends, sharing very similar outlooks on life and having many common interests. He finds excuses to spend time with her, and she does not discourage this. Then when her fiance returns they become a close threesome--the men never as close to each other as each is to the girl, in their different ways, but respecting each other and embracing each other as friends. The girl marries her intended, and we see Werther deteriorate. His passion for her grows, and he starts to push the envelope; she tells him he must leave. In the end, he borrows her husband's pistols, and kills himself.
That we know from the beginning that this is the outcome perhaps makes it clearer as it crosses the midpoint; but of course we also find that despite the very upbeat sound of those early letters we see the missteps, the decisions that draw him into a relationship that is bound to be less than he wants and more than he can hope.
It is a credible enough telling that I wondered whether Werther was manic/depressive. He seems to have very high highs at times, and bouts of depression between them, and then recover and collapse again. Since such an understanding of mental illness was not available to Goethe, it seems quite an insight into character to have captured that.
Of course, I am reading in translation, but I was impressed by the use of language; it is difficult to assess how much of that comes from the original and how much is the translator, but it was an easy read and an entertaining one; this is so throughout.
Following the story are the several sections of history, including a segment telling of a similar love in the author's own life. They are here in large part because they explain some of the source of the ideas of the story. Goethe wrote the story in the wake of a prominent suicide of someone he knew at least in passing, and he frequently was asked how much of his telling was "true", by which people meant whether it was what happened to the person in question. In fact, some of it was drawn from the events of that individual's life--he had fallen in love with a married woman and killed himself in despair--but it was drawn from several other sources as well. In that sense, Goethe might have said it was all true, but of many different people, and that almost none of it was completely true of the case to which it was in most minds connected. These sections gave some insight into European continental life in the eighteenth century that were interesting and informative.
It was followed by a story, and Goethe apparently was a good storyteller. The problem with this story is its place in the book--had I checked back to the table of contents I probably would have realized that I had crossed into fiction, but Goethe tells the story in the first person, describing his own travels, an encounter with a beautiful woman who agrees to let him help her carry a chest into an inn where they are both staying, and the relationship that grows between them. She gives him money to pay for things, and he travels with her, and gradually the mystery becomes a fantasy. He discovers that she is actually a pixie princess, that she is using magic to become larger during the day but at night she returns to her normal size and lives inside the palace that is the box he carries. She has come from the pixie kingdom to find a husband, to help save her people, but when he gets drunk and starts spilling the secret, she has to leave and return home. He can come with her, though, by wearing the ring that will make him smaller. He agrees--but then when he realizes that a wedding is planned for him and his now pregnant intended, he panics, files off the ring, and returns to his normal size to return home.
I did not much care for the ending. Obviously not everyone lives happily ever after, and perhaps there is something significant in his concern that somehow marrying the princess is a permanent arrangement; but it seemed to me that he was very happy in that relationship and in that position, and his decision to leave so abruptly was a bit contrived to bring about the end that he was telling the story. Of course, there has to be a sequel to this somewhere--not, that is, one Goethe told, but the story of the child. It was rather dissatisfying in that regard.
The final section is entitled Fairy Tale, and it is fantastic from the outset, as two wil-o-wisps request a ride from a ferryman, and after taking them across the ferryman says he cannot accept in payment the gold that they shake out of themselves but must have three cabbages, three artichokes, and three onions. They must promise to pay or they will suffer some penalty. From there we meet an old woman who is wife of an old man with a magic lamp, a snake who eats the gold coins and becomes something quite magical, a hidden temple with the statues of three kings, an insubstantial giant with a solid shadow, and a woman known as the Magical Lily, and a story unwraps around them to a happy ending. It has a lot of fascinating ideas. However, it seemed a bit ill constructed, almost as if he made it up on the fly and did not reconsider it. Right near the beginning when the wil-o-wisps offer the gold in payment, the ferryman scolds them saying quite emphatically that if a gold coin were to fall into the river it would be catastrophic. Repeatedly throughout the story the wil-o-wisps shake off more gold coins, and people take them--and never once is there any suggestion of the possibility that one might fall into the river. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were, and it never did.
If there was meaning to those stories, I did not fathom it; they struck me as more a sort of Baron Munchausen type entertainment. The best of the book was the journal entries surrounding his relationship with the daughters of the country parson, although I wondered whether she was going to become Mrs. Goethe and was somewhat disappointed when she did not. But then, it was part of the point, I think.
It was worth reading, and I might read it again sometime, but I wouldn't say to buy a copy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2024
Sad boy can’t be with taken girl, kills self. Didn’t exactly find myself donning a blue coat after this one. Was a decent read but didn’t feel like a true classic. The augmented text—the fairy tales and explanatory info—was decently fun.
April 14, 2023
pedofilia 🤒
May 9, 2021
cannot deny that while reading it, this novel (which is Goethe's first) felt like an important book. the ardent romanticism of a youth who has only recently crossed the thresholds of adolescence seemed strikingly familiar even after all these years. the blood, the vehemence, the angst, and the resignation � story is that many youths across europe committed suicide upon reading the book; and Napoleon himself was deeply smitten by this novel and carried a copy in his pockets when he went to battle in Egypt.
here's the thing: Wether is an impassioned novel, which explains perhaps the many reactions and legends that surround it, and i think it is well written and powerful. notwithstanding, i simply wasn't taken by it as i had expected myself to. perhaps the conditions were't ripe, for i read it under the hot summer sun in what now seems like a flurry, and might have in process missed out on something. even then, perhaps i found it difficult to reconcile with its apparently honest romantic leanings, and like Lotte, i myself said to Werther "be moderate! be moderate!" a few times while reading.
frankly, i do not want to dissuade anyone from reading the novel. it is short and it is also Goethe, for whom i have a deep admiration. but two words of caution: unrequited angst.
here's the thing: Wether is an impassioned novel, which explains perhaps the many reactions and legends that surround it, and i think it is well written and powerful. notwithstanding, i simply wasn't taken by it as i had expected myself to. perhaps the conditions were't ripe, for i read it under the hot summer sun in what now seems like a flurry, and might have in process missed out on something. even then, perhaps i found it difficult to reconcile with its apparently honest romantic leanings, and like Lotte, i myself said to Werther "be moderate! be moderate!" a few times while reading.
frankly, i do not want to dissuade anyone from reading the novel. it is short and it is also Goethe, for whom i have a deep admiration. but two words of caution: unrequited angst.
February 16, 2021
The sorrows of young Werther deserves all praise. It is a delightful short melancholy story. This story shot Goethe to fame, Faust was released much later.
February 21, 2011
Un ouvrage magnifique que j'ai lu pour la première fois au lycée, en seconde me semble-t-il, et que je n'avais alors pas su apprécier à sa juste valeur.
Que les adolescents peuvent être sauts et ignares ! Je l'ai été moi-même à l'époque et ils le sont doublement à l'heure actuelle. Lorsqu'on a voulu me faire lire Les souffrances du jeune Werther, je me suis forcé à le feuilleter dans ses grandes lignes, n'en retenant rien, sautant la préface et passant à coté de quelque chose de bien plus intéressant et enrichissant que purent l'être les distractions de l'adolescence.
"Il mourut à midi"
Un chef d'oeuvre! que dire de plus. C'est comme si chacun de ses mots m'était destiné. Je le comprend, oh oui! je le comprend. Que d'exaltations des sentiments, que de belles descriptions, que d'amour et que de vie. Ce n'est pas là l'oeuvre d'un fou ou d'un ermite hermétique à la vie, à ses joies et ses peines, mais celle d'un homme sensible, fragile, en proie aux passions les plus ardentes.
Doit-on en vouloir à Charlotte? Doit-on le blâmer?
Libre à vous d'en juger. Cette forme de délivrance est tout à fait compréhensible et il ne faut pas la diaboliser. La vie est la seule chose que nous possédons et si l'on ne peut s'en satisfaire en ne pouvant la vouer à sa Charlotte et qu'en plus il nous est impossible de pleinement nous réaliser, alors dans ce cas, rien ne peut nous retenir sur cette Terre.
Quelques citations :
"Ah! ce que je sais, tout le monde peut le savoir ; mais mon coeur n'est qu'à moi."
"De bonne foi, il est plus aisé de mourir que de supporter avec constance une vie pleine de tourments"
"Eh! mon ami, si faire des efforts est une preuve de force, pourquoi pousser l'effort à l'extrême serait-il le contraire?"
"c'est seulement dans la mesure où nous partageons les sentiments d'autrui que nous sommes qualifiés pour juger une chose."
"La première impression nous trouve dociles, et l'homme est fait de telle sorte qu'on peut lui persuader les choses les plus extraordinaires ; mais aussi cela se grave aussitôt dans sa tête, et malheur à celui qui voudrait l'effacer et le détruire!"
"tous les hommes extraordinaires qui ont fait quelque chose de grand, quelque chose qui semblait impossible, ont dû de tout temps être déclarés par la foule ivres et insensés.
Et, dans la vie ordinaire, même, n'est-il pas insupportable d'entendre dire, presque toujours, quant un homme fait une action tant soit peu hardie, noble et inattendue : "Cet homme est ivre, il est fou." Rougissez, vous les tièdes, rougissez, vous les sages!"
"Vous autres hommes, m'écriai-je, vous ne pouvez parler de rien sans dire tout d'abord : Cela est fou, cela est sage, cela est bon, cela est mauvais! Qu'est-ce que tout cela veut dire? Avez vous approfondi les véritables motifs d'une action? Avez vous démêlé les raisons qui l'ont produite, qui devaient la produire? Si vous aviez fait cela, vous ne seriez pas si prompts dans vos jugements."
"Tout dans cette vie aboutit à des niaiseries ; et celui qui, pour plaire aux autres, sans besoin et sans goût, se tue à travailler pour de l'argent, pour des honneurs, ou pour tout ce qu'il vous plaira, est à coup sûr un imbécile."
Cet ouvrage est un savant mélange de génie, de déception, d'amour, de nostalgie et de liberté, au cours duquel on voit apparaitre et évoluer le désespoir et la volonté de mourir. (Rappelons nous le pessimisme Schopenhauerien) Une très belle histoire d'amour pleine de sincérité, que dire d'autre?
Que les adolescents peuvent être sauts et ignares ! Je l'ai été moi-même à l'époque et ils le sont doublement à l'heure actuelle. Lorsqu'on a voulu me faire lire Les souffrances du jeune Werther, je me suis forcé à le feuilleter dans ses grandes lignes, n'en retenant rien, sautant la préface et passant à coté de quelque chose de bien plus intéressant et enrichissant que purent l'être les distractions de l'adolescence.
"Il mourut à midi"
Un chef d'oeuvre! que dire de plus. C'est comme si chacun de ses mots m'était destiné. Je le comprend, oh oui! je le comprend. Que d'exaltations des sentiments, que de belles descriptions, que d'amour et que de vie. Ce n'est pas là l'oeuvre d'un fou ou d'un ermite hermétique à la vie, à ses joies et ses peines, mais celle d'un homme sensible, fragile, en proie aux passions les plus ardentes.
Doit-on en vouloir à Charlotte? Doit-on le blâmer?
Libre à vous d'en juger. Cette forme de délivrance est tout à fait compréhensible et il ne faut pas la diaboliser. La vie est la seule chose que nous possédons et si l'on ne peut s'en satisfaire en ne pouvant la vouer à sa Charlotte et qu'en plus il nous est impossible de pleinement nous réaliser, alors dans ce cas, rien ne peut nous retenir sur cette Terre.
Quelques citations :
"Ah! ce que je sais, tout le monde peut le savoir ; mais mon coeur n'est qu'à moi."
"De bonne foi, il est plus aisé de mourir que de supporter avec constance une vie pleine de tourments"
"Eh! mon ami, si faire des efforts est une preuve de force, pourquoi pousser l'effort à l'extrême serait-il le contraire?"
"c'est seulement dans la mesure où nous partageons les sentiments d'autrui que nous sommes qualifiés pour juger une chose."
"La première impression nous trouve dociles, et l'homme est fait de telle sorte qu'on peut lui persuader les choses les plus extraordinaires ; mais aussi cela se grave aussitôt dans sa tête, et malheur à celui qui voudrait l'effacer et le détruire!"
"tous les hommes extraordinaires qui ont fait quelque chose de grand, quelque chose qui semblait impossible, ont dû de tout temps être déclarés par la foule ivres et insensés.
Et, dans la vie ordinaire, même, n'est-il pas insupportable d'entendre dire, presque toujours, quant un homme fait une action tant soit peu hardie, noble et inattendue : "Cet homme est ivre, il est fou." Rougissez, vous les tièdes, rougissez, vous les sages!"
"Vous autres hommes, m'écriai-je, vous ne pouvez parler de rien sans dire tout d'abord : Cela est fou, cela est sage, cela est bon, cela est mauvais! Qu'est-ce que tout cela veut dire? Avez vous approfondi les véritables motifs d'une action? Avez vous démêlé les raisons qui l'ont produite, qui devaient la produire? Si vous aviez fait cela, vous ne seriez pas si prompts dans vos jugements."
"Tout dans cette vie aboutit à des niaiseries ; et celui qui, pour plaire aux autres, sans besoin et sans goût, se tue à travailler pour de l'argent, pour des honneurs, ou pour tout ce qu'il vous plaira, est à coup sûr un imbécile."
Cet ouvrage est un savant mélange de génie, de déception, d'amour, de nostalgie et de liberté, au cours duquel on voit apparaitre et évoluer le désespoir et la volonté de mourir. (Rappelons nous le pessimisme Schopenhauerien) Une très belle histoire d'amour pleine de sincérité, que dire d'autre?
September 14, 2014
In The Sorrows of Young Werther, we find Goethe at his most elemental and Romanticism at its founding. It is important not necessarily to judge this book as one among many (and better) epistolary novels that followed it, but instead to see it in the unique, powerful way that readers of the time understood it.
Werther is something of an anomaly in 18th-century Europe. He lives apart from his parents, working at his art--initially--until he falls under the spell of Lotte. Despite Lotte's existing engagement to Albert (and her responsibilities at home caring for younger siblings, Werther lives for his own emotions and ignores convention (a trait repeated during a short sojourn away from Lotte where he is posted as a diplomat, trying to adjust to rigid class structures of the court).
As Goethe writes in a later Reflections on Young Werther
This book was written a generation before Wordsworth, 30 years before Keats & Byron elevated Romanticism in English literature, and more than seventy years before Thoreau.
Goethe became the literary heartthrob of his day with Werther, although he is known today for later successes like Faust. Werthers tragic end set of a series of copycat deaths across Europe that brought Goethe the ire of the Church.
This Signet edition contains a few other writings along with Young Werther and Goethe's Reflections. I enjoyed the selection, "Goethe in Sesenheim," which chronicles a real-life romance of the author, inspired by the novel, The Vicar of Wakefield. Two fairy tales end the book, "The New Mesalina" and "Fairy Tale." Mesalina was my favorite because it combined reality--a young man journeys around Europe spending a bottomless purse--and fantasy--a box he carries with him contains a magical surprise. "Fairy Tale" is more fantastical, with giants, golden kings, and jewel-hoarding serpents.
Werther is something of an anomaly in 18th-century Europe. He lives apart from his parents, working at his art--initially--until he falls under the spell of Lotte. Despite Lotte's existing engagement to Albert (and her responsibilities at home caring for younger siblings, Werther lives for his own emotions and ignores convention (a trait repeated during a short sojourn away from Lotte where he is posted as a diplomat, trying to adjust to rigid class structures of the court).
As Goethe writes in a later Reflections on Young Werther
"The decision to let my inner self rule me at will and permit all outside events to penetrate ina way characteristic of them drove me into the wonderful elment in which Werther was conceived and written...The result was a marvelous affinity with nature and a warm and heartfelt response--aharmony with all things--that made me capable of being deeply touched by every change, whether of place or region, of day or season, or by anything else. The eye of the painter was added to that of the poet. A beautiful landscape, enlivened by a friendly stream, heightened my inclination for solitude and favored my quiet but extensive observations."
This book was written a generation before Wordsworth, 30 years before Keats & Byron elevated Romanticism in English literature, and more than seventy years before Thoreau.
Goethe became the literary heartthrob of his day with Werther, although he is known today for later successes like Faust. Werthers tragic end set of a series of copycat deaths across Europe that brought Goethe the ire of the Church.
This Signet edition contains a few other writings along with Young Werther and Goethe's Reflections. I enjoyed the selection, "Goethe in Sesenheim," which chronicles a real-life romance of the author, inspired by the novel, The Vicar of Wakefield. Two fairy tales end the book, "The New Mesalina" and "Fairy Tale." Mesalina was my favorite because it combined reality--a young man journeys around Europe spending a bottomless purse--and fantasy--a box he carries with him contains a magical surprise. "Fairy Tale" is more fantastical, with giants, golden kings, and jewel-hoarding serpents.
August 23, 2010
I'd wanted to read Werther for a long time due to my interest in and intense love for German Romanticism. I was hoping Werther would be an exposition of that philosophy in a most pure and wonderful form. However, I found it almost intolerable to read, and would have given up at several points had it not been so short and famous. Most of the book is presented from Werther's point of view, and throughout that whole section, he is a completely one-dimensional, superficial character. He starts out with a saccharine joy for life that turns out to be just a passing mood, based on nothing solid or permanent in his character. He subsequently falls in love with an engaged young woman, Lotte, and the next 100 pages of letters are dedicated to his unrequited love for her. I am perhaps not sensitive or emotional enough to sympathize with him, but in any case I found this intolerably boring and stereotypical. Perhaps if I'd empathized with that one feeling more, the book would have done something for me, but the fact that I didn't and that there was nothing at all to it other than that feeling for so long made it intolerable.
I did manage to finish, however, and things did take a bit of an upturn at the end. The "editor" takes over from Werther's letters about 100 pages in, and things become more interesting. The tragic finale plays itself out quite succinctly, and thus doesn't lose what punch it has. The conclusion also does a little to redeem Werther's bitching: one feels that without all that intolerable setup, the conclusion wouldn't have the effect it has.
Werther made me invent a probably false and somewhat useless analogy: that Goethe (Werther, that is, to me) is to Hesse as early Romantic composers (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Brahms,etc) are to Neo-Romantics like Mahler and perhaps also Strauss and Wagner. [Edit 12/25/12: a gross misstatement of Western music history! Sorry!] The emotional statements of the former are unequivocal and pure, though many threads may mix in one piece. In the latter, especially Mahler, long dramas play out over sprawling works with extremely varied and deeply characterized motivic stories. Hesse's characters are always much, much more deeply characterized and complex than anyone in Werther. However, I'm sold on all the early Romantic composers, whereas Werther struck me as superficial. Perhaps the medium, or perhaps the feeling itself.
I did manage to finish, however, and things did take a bit of an upturn at the end. The "editor" takes over from Werther's letters about 100 pages in, and things become more interesting. The tragic finale plays itself out quite succinctly, and thus doesn't lose what punch it has. The conclusion also does a little to redeem Werther's bitching: one feels that without all that intolerable setup, the conclusion wouldn't have the effect it has.
Werther made me invent a probably false and somewhat useless analogy: that Goethe (Werther, that is, to me) is to Hesse as early Romantic composers (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Brahms,etc) are to Neo-Romantics like Mahler and perhaps also Strauss and Wagner. [Edit 12/25/12: a gross misstatement of Western music history! Sorry!] The emotional statements of the former are unequivocal and pure, though many threads may mix in one piece. In the latter, especially Mahler, long dramas play out over sprawling works with extremely varied and deeply characterized motivic stories. Hesse's characters are always much, much more deeply characterized and complex than anyone in Werther. However, I'm sold on all the early Romantic composers, whereas Werther struck me as superficial. Perhaps the medium, or perhaps the feeling itself.
July 30, 2011
Reading Goethe, I think I came to this book in the wrong way. Having heard nothing but how epic and incredible were his writing skills (comparable to Shakespeare so the critics say) I was expecting something more in that way, tales of deep and astounding merit that speak to the human experience and illustrate it in horribly profound details, while at the same time constantly doubling back to the simple yet singularly brilliant author that is Goethe. But that isn't what I read. Having just finished Goethe I can say that I'm both surprised (pleasantly) and honestly able to say that I appreciate his stories as they are rather then if they were simply Shakespeare variants. Goethe's concerns (at least in this collection) seem more pastoral and even banal then most 'great' writers in that it's a man (Werther) being rejected by a woman sending mixed signals. But here is Goethe's great trick. Because it's so universal it's made much more valid and even at times 'grand' then the lamentations of a danish king or the trials and tribulations of a kingdom of faeries. For sure, Goethe has his drawbacks, for all of his apparent brilliance he sure doesn't know much about subtlety, his characters tend to broadcast EVERYTHING with little to know control or care. Hence his works here can come off as overwrought. But even so, it's all (for the most part) great work done. It's a push at times, but definitely read this book
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