German Literature?

[Schiller]

Hello, I' m a new member of your board.

I'm from Germany and so I wanted to ask you wheather you read and discuss classic or modern German literature? Just like Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Fontane, Mann, Hesse (classic) or Kafka, Frisch, Grass, Bernhard (modern). Have you ever heard from these guys? wink

German means here German-speaking because Literature from Austria and Switzerland is a very important part of the "German Literature".

I study German Literature at the university, but I'm much more interested in international (english, french, especially russian) literature. And I'd like to know if someone out there reads German literature, or if I study something nobody's interested in?

Hope to hear from you!

[Admin]

Hermann Hesse is on this site.

[Zeno]

I am wondering about your list you have Mann and Hesse classified as classic and kafka as modern. Why is this?

[Schiller]

Well... Kafka is of course a modern classic. But when I called Mann and Hesse classics I thought mainly about the tradition they come from and the background they have. Hesse is (as individuell as he may be) a neo-romantic writer. And Mann is very much in the tradition of Goethe. So both look backward to the 19th-century which is the classic peroid of German literature.

Kafka is nearly free of such influences by tradition. His stories and novels are so unique and so near to the problems of the modern world. Though Hesse and Mann lived more than 30, nearly 40 years than Kafka, he's in my eyes nearer to our probelems. But he's surely a modern classic.

[hoytt]

I read some German literature, but that's also due to the fact that my mum's got a degree in German and one in literature, so I'm kind of surrounded by it. We have a lot of stuff at home (often DTV, Reclam versions) but if someone knows a site like this with German literature I'd be very happy. I do have a copy of 'Die Leiden des Jungen Werther' on my desk asking me to read it. So I might start later today. Since I'm 20 km from Germany getting books isn't hard either.

[Zeno]

Did you ever read herman hesses novel Gertrude?

[crisaor]

Well, i've read a little of german literature, particularly some of Kafka (Die Verwandlung, The Process, America, A Rural Doctor, and a couple of others) and some of Goethe, but only Faust so far, since i've Werther on my computer, and my 'puter is at the service right now, and reading at a cybercoffee store is somewhat expensive.
I've read some Hesse too, but i didn´t like it .
Aside from those i mentioned above and Schiller and Thomas Mann, i've never heard of the others you named.
Maybe german literature is not as popular as say, english literature, but i think that those kind of clasifications (english, german, french, etc.) is inadequate. I'd rather talk of authors individually or, at best, those that can be identified with a movement (i.e. romanticism, gothic, etc.).

[thewinkens]

Is there anyone out there who is familiar with these two authors, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter or Novalis? I am a German Literature Buff (Enlightenment and Romanticism only). Looking for someone to discuss any aspect of that genre, but especially the two authors already mentioned.
Please, no Kafka or Hesse or anything modern.

[thewinkens]

Are you familiar with the other German Romantics, besides Goethe and Schiller? Namely Jean Paul Richter or Novalis?

[Monica]

We read Goethe and Shiller in the secondary school. I've also read Mann's Magic Mountain and Hesse's Glass Bead Game. Both are amazing. Grass has some Polish roots, I believe, so here in Poland he's pretty well known.

[Ia Nabu]

I've read some Hesse, some Kafka (with great difficulty, I might add) and very little Goethe (since I lent my only book by him, Faust, to a friend). I also have a novel by Grass somewhere in my bookshelf but I haven't gotten round to reading it yet.

We don't read that much German literature in school, it's always an option but few people choose to read it. I'd love to know more of it but I love to read books in their original language and since I don't know German I've been a bit put off.

[Surfer]

I've read a lot of German lit in translation only. Lots of Bernhard, whom I really enjoy: Extinction, The Loser, Woodcutters, Voice Imitator, LIme Works, Wittgenstein's Nephew, others (Extinction is one of the finest novels I've read, btw). Some people are turned off by his unrelenting "misanthropy" (which I think is an inaccurate criticism), but not me. I find it very stimulating and uplifting to read someone so self-critical and probing. Bernhard was like the Lars von Trier of Literature. Love him or hate him! Plus his novels are not so easy to find in the US.

Also I am very impressed by Broch's Sleepwalker's Trilogy. The Anarchist is a stunning novel. I really need to re-read that. I wonder why Broch isnt more highly considered as Kafka and others in literature circles in the US? Death of Virgil is on my "to-read" list.

In addition, I'm a big fan of Musil 'Der Manne und Eigenshaften' (did I get that right? pardon my faux-German). A supremely important novel.

I just re-read Homo Faber, which was a book I really liked in college, but that I had some trepidation returning to. But I wanted to see how well it held up. And I think it stands up to repeated scrutiny, even in the face of the criticisms of "wildly improbable coincidences" in the plot. I have not read "I'm Not Stiller". I hope to.

What else? Mann, Kafka, Grass of course. But I think most people know and love Magic Mountain, Trial, Tin Drum. Include me in that group. I'm not a fan of Hesse. I think his (Damien, Steppenwolf, others) work is marginal at best. Though I have not read Glass Bead Game.

On an aside, have you seen Visconti's film version of Death in Venice? I know some people either love it or hate it (mostly because of his use of Mahler), but I have to admit I have a soft spot for that movie, even though I love the story very much. Dirk what's his name is excellent in the lead role.

Is there anything else I'm missing? Thoughts on the woman who just won the nobel prize this year? I also would like to read more Peter Handke Any suggestions? I have a novella collection "Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick", which I hope to read soon.

[mono]

Hello, Schiller, welcome to the forum.
For better or worse, I have studied independently some German non-fiction philosophy, such as that by Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer, and some psychological works by German-speaking writers, as Siegfried Freud and Carl Jung. Only recently, however, have I begun reading more German literature; I read a few works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which I loved, Franz Kafka, and right now working on some plays, short stories, and essays by Heinrich von Kleist, which I have also thoroughly enjoyed.

[Jantex]

Hi ,all.
I`ve started "Also sprach Zaratustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche and read the half of it but then stopped because it became too boring to me.
I haven`t read anything by Geothe but I remember that I`ve read in one of my textbooks that he`s the man with the highest IQ resulsts(over 200). And think I`ll read Faust some day. ;)
I also like Arthur Schopenhauer because of his too pesimistic philosophy.

By the way ,I think you are all mistaking. Although Franz Kafka wrote in German ,he is from the Czech Republic.
He is born in 1883 in Prague, then the capital of a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.He was a German-speaker among Czech-speakers, a Jew among Gentiles-and in himself the loneliest of men. ;) (Am I right, Jay?)

[Jantex]

I hope so, I am now reading a collection of short stories of his,including "The Metamorphosis"

[Surfer]

[QUOTE=Jantex]
By the way ,I think you are all mistaking. Although Franz Kafka wrote in German ,he is from the Czech Republic.
QUOTE]

I think the author of this thread was pretty clear that he or she meant literature written in German.

[Ia Nabu]

By the way ,I think you are all mistaking. Although Franz Kafka wrote in German ,he is from the Czech Republic.I second Surfer, we are discussing German literature, that is literature written in German. Although Kafka wasn't from a German speaking country he still wrote in German (and is geographically quite close) so why should we be mistaken is discussing him here? Besides I think almost all of us are aware that he was from Czech Republic.

[mandy_pal]

I loved The Metamorphosis by Kafka. Also right now studying Existentialism and Nietzche.

[Diceman]

I read Hesse's "Steppenwolf" last year, and was impressed enough to read some more of his work. "The Glass Bead Game" (Die Glasperlenspiel) currently sits somewhere in my "to read" pile.

I read a book of Kafka's short stories too, and was a bit disappointed. "The Metamorphosis" was what motivated me to read the book, but I found this story to be flat boring. Some of the other stories in the collection were interesting though.

[Anna Seis]

Hello, I' m a new member of your board.

I'm from Germany and so I wanted to ask you wheather you read and discuss classic or modern German literature? Just like Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Fontane, Mann, Hesse (classic) or Kafka, Frisch, Grass, Bernhard (modern). Have you ever heard from these guys? wink

German means here German-speaking because Literature from Austria and Switzerland is a very important part of the "German Literature".

I study German Literature at the university, but I'm much more interested in international (english, french, especially russian) literature. And I'd like to know if someone out there reads German literature, or if I study something nobody's interested in?

Hope to hear from you!

Hello Schiller, Of course German Literature is interesting. Some days ago I have downloaded the Kafka's Blue Octavo Notebooks in German Language and I hope I will take a time in summer to learn a little. I really adore a short and extraordinary tale that is in the Notebook Two, about men who have wings and refuse make use of them to fly away from their city, leaving behind their god, their dead and their country, in the hands of their enemies. Do you remember that? I also buyed Sonnets of Rilke, I'm confused now, I don't remember... yeah, Orfeo sonnets, I believe it begins just like this: Das stieg ein Baum... I'll allways remember that, I guess. I'm sorry about non poetical gramatical errors, but I am sure we all can share many things in despite of that.

[Jekaterina]

I like German Literature.
I enjoyed the classics very, very much (I've read Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Lessing, Fontane and some of the Manns). But right now, I'm SO into the modern. By now I've read nearly everything by Kafka (there's a good Geman edition of ALL the stories and even the drafts) and I spend also some time interpreting him, it's great and very very creative...
I also enjoyed some of Lenz's stories. And I quite liked Berlin Alexanderplatz by Döblin.
I'm also very much into Ilse Aichinger and Botho Strauss at the moment. (the latter is SO great!!!)

I must say, (while I of course still think, that Faust (both parts) is SO showing of the genius of Goethe and I like the classics, I like the German Literature after 1850 more. It's more fun, less static. But well, of course, everything had to evolve from something.

[mousemouse]

Hi Thewinkens.
I'm from Denmark, but I wrote a paper for my Bahelor dergree in literature about Novalis' "Heinrich von Ofterdingen" I also read "Hymnen an die Nacht" and I even think I understood some of it!!!
I have read a bit of literature from the german romantic period, and also some of the more philosofical stuff that layed the ground for it (I began with Kant)
It has been a while since I read all this, but I believe I remember a lot of it though.

[Pensive]

I have not read German Literature yet. Now, this thread has made me think about German Literature.

[Jekaterina]

Does any one of you know Grass?
Sometimes he gets really glaring, some of his stuff is even gross, but he's brilliant.

[starrwriter]

I'm an American and I like these German fiction writers: Hesse, Kafka, Mann, Durrenmatt. Nietzsche is my favorite philosopher and the only philosopher I've read who knew how to write well, but I have also read Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Heidegger and Marx. Haven't read Goethe and Heine yet, but I intend to eventually because I've heard very good things about them.

[Koa]

I don't particularly like German Lit... I have a weird opinion: I think that the German language and syntaxis are so complex that even a brilliant German book would result 'heavy' (no offence, but I'm not a fan of the German language)...or maybe I just met bad translations which made me build up this theory...

The main example of this is Thomas Mann's Death in Venice: I liked it, but it was a hard read... (and my mad teacher of German trying to make us read bits in original when our level was so much lower didn't help)... though I liked the concept of the book. I also like Tonio Kroeger. And "The Blue Angel" by Heinrich Mann. But all the time I wasn't excited about the style...

I don't like Hesse's Siddharta. It's exactly the opposite of what appeals to me.

I can't understand Kafka... I find him boring and kinda pointless, or rather I miss his point completely, despite having tried several times... The Metamorphosis has probably a point but I can't read those descriptions about his insect legs and all... I am really insect-phobic!I even tried to read it in German so that I wouldnt understand the details, but the little I understood was enough to make me imagine so I couldnt go on...:rolleyes:

[Lautschrift]

i am german as well
and the above list of yours represents a fundamental aid to add to anyones study (see Daniel Schubart)
I love friedrich schiller, his fine intellect is reconisable even in its masquerade
How Schiller managed to be part of transcendentalism has been amazing I went to a Seminar in Kussel to find out more about metaphysical and logical branches which clearly mark his work in a systematic form

influenced by the Koenigsberg Professor Kant whose work is universally acknowledged, this high pretension of this sytem attracted Schiller foremost

an amazing man
Though short of days, how large the mind of man

[Marek]

Almost every day I pass by cafe Arco, where Kafka used to sit and my thoughts always go to him... He was influenced by Franz Brentano's philosophy and his work tells much truth about the 20th century. He was a prophet in a way..

As for the other German-writing authors, I like Hesse... I think all of his books are good. And of course Goethe and Schiller.

Has anyone of you read something by Grillparzer? He's an Austrian author... When I studied in Vienna, I saw his name almost everywhere..I thought this guy must be so famous.. But I had never heard of him before, so I felt a bit ashamed. Then I came acrros poem of his, which seemed to me pretty mediocre.. So if you know about something really good he wrote, pls let me know..

[ponynikki]

hey, though I've read Faust by Goethe I haven't read much German Literature. Is there anything you can recommend? I've read a lot of German philosophy- Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Hegel... but I'd like to get more involved with it's literature as I'm slightly drifting from philosophy. :)

[isak]

Can anybody help me find the source of the following piece of German text ?

"Aber jetzt stuermst Du voran, Wanderer durch vergangene Welten in die Zukunft".

[kaka]

Oh Koa! It all depends on how the language is handled. There's nothing wrong with German as such. For example, from a purely linguistic point of view, Kafka writes extremely simply and clearly.

I'm a bit surprised that more hasn't been said about Guenther Grass. He's quite popular, at least in translation.

It's widely acknowledged that since the 1980s there has been a very sharp fall in the numbers learning German in the English-speaking lands and this may have had an effect on interest in German literature, too - even in translation. On the whole interest is in 20th century literature.

Incidentally, one of my favourites is Heinrich Mann, "Der Untertan". I think part of it has been translated (as "A Man of Straw" ?) but as far as I know it hasn't been translated in its entirety. Obviously, it's satirical and some background knowledge is useful.

As for the absurd in Kafka's work, surely that's only to be expected as it's one of his central themes.

[Themis]

Does any one of you know Grass?
Sometimes he gets really glaring, some of his stuff is even gross, but he's brilliant.

Are you refering to Günther Grass? (And his "Blechtrommel"?) Now, I wonder what that's called in English.

[Charles Darnay]

I've started to deeply study Romanticism, so I have been looking at the works of Novalis, Goeth, and especially Hegel - I have just finished a rather large essay on his works.

[kaka]

"Die Blechtrommel" has appeared in English translation under the title "The Tin Drum" - and has been quite succesful.

[Jekaterina]

Are you refering to Günther Grass? (And his "Blechtrommel"?) Now, I wonder what that's called in English.


Yeah, Blechtrommel too, but he's sort of a little gross in other novels too...
It's called The Tin Drum (so blechtrommel it stays...)

[rodanho]

i confess i have seldom read the works by those classic german writers such as goethe and schiller.i once gave a try at faust, but after reading a couple of pages i found that i could hardly understand it. but stefan zweig is among my favourite writers. i have read his autobiography, "die welt von gestern" and several of his novellas. "drei meister" is also great, by the way.

[Themis]

@Kaka: I really wonder why. I had to watch the film and read the book. Both are so disgusting.

@rodanho: When I started reading "Faust" the first time, I also didn't understand most of it. That's probably normal but my second attempt was successful and it's really a good play.



I'm from Germany and so I wanted to ask you wheather you read and discuss classic or modern German literature? Just like Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Fontane, Mann, Hesse (classic) or Kafka, Frisch, Grass, Bernhard (modern). Have you ever heard from these guys?

Of course. ;)

[Wendigo_49]

I have read a lot of Hesse and Mann. I'm going to start on Goethe's Faust here soon once it arrives.

[SleepyWitch]

I don't particularly like German Lit... I have a weird opinion: I think that the German language and syntaxis are so complex that even a brilliant German book would result 'heavy' (no offence, but I'm not a fan of the German language)...or maybe I just met bad translations which made me build up this theory...

The main example of this is Thomas Mann's Death in Venice: I liked it, but it was a hard read... (and my mad teacher of German trying to make us read bits in original when our level was so much lower didn't help)... though I liked the concept of the book. I also like Tonio Kroeger. And "The Blue Angel" by Heinrich Mann. But all the time I wasn't excited about the style...




poor Koa , it's really unfortunate that you had to read Thomas Mann of all German writers... he's notorious for his exceptionally long-winded and complex sentences...
yeah, kaka is perfectly right, but I really sympathize with youKoa, I feel exactly the same about German syntax etc, and I'm a native speaker!!!

I majored in German (and English) at school, so I had to read some German Lit... the only authors I really liked were Lion Feuchtwanger, Fontane and Günter Grass and some Romantic writers like Tiek...
hey Schiller if you wanna discuss German lit in detail i might be persuaded to (re-)read some Fontane or Grass one of these days (very b r o a d l y speaking). what are you reading right now?
I'm from Germany by the way... but I generally prefer English Lit...

[Zishad]

Hi Schiller,
I'm also a student of German literature though not in Germany.
I haven't read a lot of Geothe and Schiller. I've read a few short stories by Mann but didnt' really like his work. I liked Demian by Hesse but I didn't like Siddhartha. and I adore Kafka, and Nietzsche is my all time favorite.
I'm becoming more interested in recent German short story authors. There has not bee nmany translations of those in English. For example Kaminer or Schulze. I don't know if you have heard of them.
I just finished reading the novel 'The Reader' by Schlink. Interesting read:D

[Boris239]

I've read Goethe's "Faust" and liked it very much. I've also read some Schiller.
I enjoyed Hesse's "Steppewolf", "Narciss and Goldmund" and "Siddhartha".
From Mann brothers unfortunately I've read only Henri Mann's dilogy about Henry IV.
If you consider Kafka german(he was german speaking) then I've read some of his short stories.
Not sure about Zweig either. I think he was Austrian, wasn't he? I love "Impatience of the heart"- one of my favorite novel overall.
The same thing about Meyrink- he was probably austrian. I like "Golem" and "Angel of the West window"
My favorite German writer is probaly Leon Feihtvanger. I've read a lot of his novels: "Spanish ballad", "The Opperman family", "Success" and many others.
Another german author is patrick Suskind. His "Perfumer" is outstanding

[Kafka]

Yes, I do study German literature, but that is only because I study German language and literature at university.

I do think German literature AND the language are both fascinating!

[subterranean]

I know there are some numbers of great German authors, but so far I've only digged Hesse and Kafka. I'm not sure whether German literature has specific charateristics.

[Inga]

One of my favourites of German literature is "Mephisto" by Klaus Mann. This a great and critical book of which was made a movie later that even got the Oscar.
Another critical author is Heinrich Mann.

[fati]

hi everybody!
me too, i have problems with the german language, but i like german literature. i love Thomas Mann. i have read The Magic Mountain, Joseph and His Brothers, Buddenbrocks, Lotte in Weimar, and some fo his short stories. i tried to read also Doktor Faustus, but i was lost at the musical part (i am a zero in music, so i could not understand him in that part).
i also like Kafka. i read all his novels and some of his short stories.
from Hesse i only read The Glass Bead Game, and i found it better than the Steppenwolf.
i also read Faust by Goethe and it freaked me out because at the passage of the Walpurgis night the walls of my room began to sing, and everything around was invaded by this symphony. so i decided never to touch Goethe again if i want to keep my mental sanity.

[superunknown]

I've only read Kafka's "The Trial" and I've got "The Metamorphosis" and Hesse's "Steppenwolf" sitting unread on my shelf.

[bouquin]

I love Mann. I have also read Hesse and Kafka.

[stlukesguild]

I've read quite a bit of German literature (mostly in English translation). Goethe is great (which should go without saying). My most recent reading was of his journals from his Italian Journeys. I haven't come across much by Schiller in translation, but what I have read of Heine, Moricke, and especially Holderlin I have liked very much. Oh... I cannot forget Novalis Hymns to the Night. Among the more recnt German literature I must admit to being a huge fan of Kafka and Rilke... and I also greatly admire Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Friederich Durrenmatt, Georg Trakl, and Gunter Grass. I might note, however, that I believe Schiller (both the author and the person who started this thread) has left us.

[bo bara]

hesse's steppenwolf is excellent. also my favourite theorist is walter benjamin german critic influenced by marxism and jewish mysticism, which makes for some interesting insights. brecht is also good. mean to read some kafka soon.

[quasimodo1]

Rainer Maria Rilke is my poety hero. Mitchel the best translator of his work. Have you ever heard of Cioran, is he German? RJS

[stlukesguild]

Emil Cioran is Romanian but seems mostly known in the West for his works written in French:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran

[Uncle Lar]

"Ich liebe Deutsches, aber mein Deutsch ist schlecht."
"I love German, but my German is bad."

To help me hone my
German, I like to study
great German writings.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Poetry:
http://www.goethe.lingvisto.org/azindex.php

Old High German: Hildebrandslied, ll. 1-26:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/iedocctr/ie-texts/text-ohg.html

I highly recommend watching the Academy Award Winning German Film, Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others):
http://www.hollywood.com/movie/The__Lives_of_Others/3487623


Haben Sie ein großes Wochenende!
Have a great Weekend!

Sincerely,

Onkel Lar

[SleepyWitch]

hehe, Uncle Lar
it's "ein schönes Wochenende" (a nice weekend)
"groß" means big and is not used the same way as "great"
you can say "ein großer Dichter" (a great/famous poet) though

:)

it's nice to see how many people like German

[GothMan]

I'm a big fan of the German Romantics, especially the Jena-period (A. W. Schlegel, Fr. Schlegel, Novalis, Tieck, Wackenroder). Unfortunately I can't speak German but I'm about to learn it for sure, because most of this stuff is only in German on the net! ;)

[Schokokeks]

I'm a big fan of the German Romantics, especially the Jena-period (A. W. Schlegel, Fr. Schlegel, Novalis, Tieck, Wackenroder). Unfortunately I can't speak German but I'm about to learn it for sure, because most of this stuff is only in German on the net! ;)
It's my favourtite period in German literature, too :nod:, though I prefer the late Romantics, especially Hoffmann. If, in the course of your reading, you stumble over something interesting, please post it, I'd be happy to discuss with you :).
Good luck with your learning German ! ;)

[GothMan]

Oh, I like Hoffmann too, of course! :thumbs_up I will send you a PM for sure to have a discussion all about it! By the way I started reading Schiller's "The Robbers" yesterday... ;)

[Schokokeks]

Oh, I like Hoffmann too, of course! :thumbs_up I will send you a PM for sure to have a discussion all about it!
Great ! :)

By the way I started reading Schiller's "The Robbers" yesterday... ;)
I knew this would work :D.

[Cafe Rob]

My favourite philosophical book is "World as Will and Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopehauer was significantly influenced by Kant and also to a lesser extent by Plato. He provides a broad commentary on the affairs of human life and writes in a very understandable way. I strongly recommend the book for anyone interested in the subject.

[quasimodo1]

Now how did I miss Schopenhauer, of course, any philosophy major knows a little but this work went right overhead. Thanks. RJS

[Elly_blue]

We had to read some books for German class and afterwards discuss it with the teacher. At the beginning I was not very happy with that idea, cause my German was not that good at the time.
But I certainly don't regret reading them, because it's a great way to get to know some foreign literature (you can't really get the essence of it if you read a translation).
I read books from Süskind and Kafka. Really not bad.!:thumbs_up

[Annamariah]

I've read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. I saw the movie before reading the book, but I had heard about the book before that and thought that I'd like to read it. I liked the way it was written very much. It was really funny even though the story is quite tragic.

[boobert]

I have recently read a new German book called 'So fern wie der Himmel' by Julian Lees.

It is about a Russian family fleeing from the Russian revolution and making their way to Shanghai, China.

I would say this is one of the best books I have read in a long time

[doobuzz]

Does anybody know who said/wrote "Wildganse sind nicht Zimmer rein!"?

Cheers in advance,

Doobuzz

[thelastmelon]

Only read german books by Michael Ende and Patrick Süskind, I think. :)

[Nico87]

I've read The Radetzky March from the ukrainian author Joseph Roth. One of my favourite books of all time. Well, it shouldn't be classed as german litterature, but The Radetzky March is set in Austria and largely focuses on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

[amalia1985]

I have read most of Schiller's plays, and some books by Hesse, Mann, and Kafka's "The Tower", and "The Trial". I really love German Literature.

[mortalterror]

The more recent Germans I've read as novellas and short stories, but the classics I've only been exposed to as drama. I read the first part of Faust. It didn't grab me but from what I read, I'd definitely place him in the ranks alongside of great writers like Milton. Schiller's William Tell was well written, but it kept reminding me of Marlowe's Tamerlane: a powerful hero marches from victory to victory without ever suffering serious reversals. I know he is put in chains and his life is in danger, but he gets out of that in about a minute. He's led away and then boom he's free in the next scene. I didn't feel a lot of dramatic conflict in that one. Then I read Lessing's Minna Von Barnhelm. It was supposed to be a comedy, but I only laughed at one page.

Luckily, around that time I had just bought a copy of Kleist's Penthesilia and a translation of the complete works of Buchner. Buchner is fantastic, one of the best dramatists I've ever read. I can see why post-modern's like his Woyzeck, but as I'm a fan of literature that is actually finished, I much prefer his Danton's Death. Kleist looked promising, but after the good opening I couldn't get into his work. However, I believe I read one of his short stories about a Prussian Officer sticking around in a conquered city to finish his coffee as the French army closes in, and that was alright.

I was a big fan of Hesse's in high school. I loved Steppenwolf. I liked Beneath the Wheel very much. I started Demian but never got far into it. In college I had to read Mann's Death in Venice, and Tonio Kroger. I can't say I enjoyed them. Kafka's Metamorphoses didn't impress me either, but I found The Hunger Artist and some other stories of his fascinating. He's one of the best writers I've ever read.

Brecht. I don't know what to do about Brecht. I did not enjoy reading his Mother Courage and Her Children, but I loved the 1931 Pabst film production of Threepenny Opera. Good ol' Mack the Knife.

[Abraxas]

I liked Goethe's Faust... but then I read it at the same time as Marlowe's and was interested in the subject...

I LOVE German literature, think it's one of the greatest (what with composers, what a great country!). I started with Hesse and Zweig during my teenage years, and read lots of theirs, although unknown ones (to me) by them keep popping up now and then. I went on with Mann's Death in Venice, which I consider to be one of the most beautiful short novels I've ever read! I read The Magic Mountain later on, and enjoyed it as well. I found The Buddenbrooks boring though, like Joseph and his Brothers, sorry. But I liked Lotte in Weimar a lot! I read a book by his son, Klaus Mann, as well, and liked it too! Another author I discovered during my teens was Schnitzler! and he doesn't seem to be extremely well-known - undeservedly...and Koestler! and Canetti! and Fallada (not very well known either)! and Remarque!!! I love him as well!! and Peter Handke... I read one or two novels by him, they were good. And I enjoyed what I read by Suskind as well.

I tried Gunther Grass, but didn't manage to like him... Kafka I have trouble with as well, although I managed to get through a few of his stories and the Castle! But haven't tried the Trial yet.

Among the poets, I loved Novalis (his Hymns to the night and his novel, Henry von Ofterdingen.. Richte I've read as well, but not extensively. I'm not well acquainted with that many German poets, actually, having merely read poems here in there, mostly in anthologies...

I'd like to read Hoffmann's tales, they're next on my list, as well as Tieck and Achim von Arnim.

A wonderful, beautiful work of literary criticism which bears mostly upon German Romantic authors, by the way, is Albert Béguin's L'âme romantique et le rêve (loosely translated as The Romantic Soul and Dreams); if anyone is interested in that period, I warmly recommend it.

[oroszi]

Quick question regarding All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

Which is the best translation?

1. A W. Wheen's old translation
2. Brian Murdoch's new translation

Thanks in advance!

[RetsixArp]

I read German lit. in college: those you listed +a writer named Wolfgang Borchert, who died in 1947, best known for the short story collection, Draussen vor der Tür. When I spent some time in Hamburg, >40 years ago, Ulrich Plentzdorf's Die Neuen Leiden des Jungen Werthers was popular with the young folks & I read that. I also read Der Fänger im Roggen, the German translation of The Catcher in the Rye, which a friend had. I am still working my way through Joseph Roth's Radetzky Marsch. I still read Mann, especially his Zauberberg (both volumes!).

[kev67]

When I was studying German at nightschool, I read translations of Alice in Wonderland and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in German. Then I had a go at Das Boot, but I had to give up. It was too full of German dialect, profanity and submarine terminology.

[Emil Miller]

Having read a good deal of German writing, including the usual suspects: Goethe, Mann, Hesse, Zweig, Roth etc. I also have eight volumes of the Arthur Schnitzler's works. Published by Fischer Verlag, this Austrian writer is no longer fashionable among German readers but was a key figure in Viennese literary circles at the turn of the last century and was widely read in Austria and Germany. I would recommend him to anyone who enjoys reading in German.