German Literature?

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

"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

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

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! ;)

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Originally Posted by 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! ;)

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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 ! ;)

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... ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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!

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Great ! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GothMan

By the way I started reading Schiller's "The Robbers" yesterday... ;)

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I knew this would work :D.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Cheers in advance,

Doobuzz

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!).

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.

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.