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Five books from Germany
Jeff, a Facebook friend, wrote on my Wall:
Which five German books should I read, before I return to Amerika [my translation]?
He seems to read German. I will recommend: Goethe's Faust, Rilke's Duino Elegies or Sonnets to Orpheus, Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, Franz Kafka short stories (don't forget "Ein Landarzt,"), and Hermann Hesse's Glass Bead Game. Non-fiction does seem to count for the query, although it would not crack my list of top five. Schopenhauer tempts as well. Do you have better ideas for him?
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 26, 2007 at 04:05 PM in Travels | Permalink
Comments
Jürgen Dollase's book on "Kulinarische Intelligenz" is stimulating (aside from the very end where he muses about gourmet food subsidies ); it's a passionate plea to also think about food and eating, not merely passively consuming food. Peter Sloterdijk writes philosophy which engenders controversy, but his work a pleasure to read just for the flamboyand language and great metaphors; "Luftbeben" is short and still topical. There are also numerous hefty tomes of his. Daniel Kehlmann's "Die Vermessung der Welt" is hyped and overrated, a very pleasant and fun read nonetheless. Two earlier books, "Mahlers Zeit" and "Ich und Kaminski", are small and wonderful and wonderfully witty.
Posted by: Tobias Heinrich at Dec 26, 2007 4:21:14 PM
Schiller : Don Carlos
Goethe: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Jurgen: Storms Of Steel
Kafka: The Castle
Von Kleist: Michael Kolhas
Posted by: jcm at Dec 26, 2007 4:21:57 PM
Thomas Mann: Magic Mountain
Posted by: Bill at Dec 26, 2007 4:23:27 PM
Heinrich Böll - The Clown
Posted by: John at Dec 26, 2007 4:34:00 PM
And Albert Speer- The Secret Diaries from Spandau
Posted by: John at Dec 26, 2007 4:35:22 PM
Hermann Broch, Sleepwalkers; Robert Musil, as much of Man Without Qualities as you can stand. Buddenbrooks way better than Magic Mountain; MM dates badly. Schopenhauer is a pleasure to read, and sets as high bar in the intellectual honesty race (Brian Magee has a good intro).
Interesting to read Glass Bead Game after 40 to realize how childish it really is.
Posted by: Buce at Dec 26, 2007 4:44:46 PM
Heinrich Böll's short stories are satires of the Wirtshaftswunder and great for understanding today's - and yesterday's - Germany.
Posted by: otto at Dec 26, 2007 4:58:11 PM
I'd say Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, except that 1) it's hard enough to understand that even a very smart person is likely top get nothing from it and 2) the Wood-Guyer translation in English is so good that I'd recommend reading it in English instead.
Posted by: J. at Dec 26, 2007 5:04:05 PM
Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil might be a great read, not just for the philosophical content but for his mastery of the German language.
Posted by: Berto at Dec 26, 2007 5:16:05 PM
I enjoyed The Magic Mountain much more than Buddenbrooks.
I honestly can't think of a better fictional philosophical journey than The Magic Mountain.
Posted by: thehova at Dec 26, 2007 5:19:08 PM
I decided to pull up my old From Dawn to Decadence for some recommendations. Barzun has never steered me wrong before, at least as far as content is concerned. So here are two: Klinger's Sturm and Drang and Schiller's Brigands.
My own knowledge of good German lit is sorely lacking, however.
Posted by: JH at Dec 26, 2007 5:21:06 PM
Ephraim Kishon. Granted, the books were originally written in Hebrew but they are simply perfect in German. Kishon himself learned German from the translations of his own books and Germany is his best market.
http://www.ephraimkishon.de/Kishon_english_Version.htm
Posted by: J at Dec 26, 2007 5:31:45 PM
I am German and I think your suggestions are reasonable. Goethe's Faust 1 would (obviously) be my number one choice. I like the "Michael Kohlhaas" by von Kleist and "Sansibar oder der letzte Grund" by Andersch. The only Schiller book I ever read is "Die Räuber" and it is very good literature as well. Looking at all the recommendations I have to say that you have to know the German language quite well to understand Goethe, Schiller or (especially) von Kleist but if you do it is worth to give them a try!
Ohh one thought more: Kurt Tucholsky is fun! (Needn't be a book; he wrote many good satires covering just a few pages)
Posted by: Chris at Dec 26, 2007 5:36:37 PM
Yes, yes, yes! There is no need to wade through The Trial or The Castle to get a full shot of Kafka's best, jcm.
The short stories are my favorites, too, and The Country Doctor the most dazzling of those.
Posted by: The Owner's Manual at Dec 26, 2007 6:20:21 PM
For a lighter read, I recommend Erich Maria Remarque. You might have heard of All Quiet on the Western Front, but I prefer Three Comrades.
Posted by: axel molotov at Dec 26, 2007 6:57:50 PM
I can't find my notes, since I moved a couple weeks ago, but one of the books in German that I'd like to read is titled something like "how to argue with a fundamentalist without losing your mind." There is no English translation.
Posted by: Peter at Dec 26, 2007 7:14:14 PM
No need to slog through "Buddenbrooks" or "Zauberberg" to experience Mann's best work; just read "Tod in Venedig".
If your friend is in to philosophy or sociology, he should have a look at Nietzsche and Adorno. They are much more readable than long-winded synthesizers like Hegel, Marx, and Habermas.
For modern authors, he should try Patrik Suesskind. I really like his novella "Die Taube".
Posted by: David Wright at Dec 26, 2007 7:16:50 PM
Thomas Mann's Tod in Venedig
Franz Kafka's Verwandlung
Adalbert Stifter's Brigitta
Bertold Brecht's Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis
Botho Strauss' Die Fremdenfuehrerin
Christa Wolff's Der Geteilte Himmel
Posted by: bri at Dec 26, 2007 7:51:52 PM
I second Ernst Jünger's The Storm of Steel (In Stahlgewittern). This book is the polar opposite of Remark's All Quiet on the Western Front. Jünger, who fought in WWI and was wounded seven times, was one tough and scary dude. I think he really captures the German militaristic culture that led to Germany's involvement in WWI.
Posted by: Dan in Euroland at Dec 26, 2007 9:13:21 PM
Kant - Kritik der reinen Vernunft
Goethe - Faust 1. Teil
Nietzsche - Die Froehliche Wissenschaft
Thomas Mann - Dr. Faustus (his most German novel, no doubt!)
Heimito von Doderer - Die Strudelhofstiege
Posted by: madamechauchat at Dec 27, 2007 1:45:33 AM
Süskind - Das Parfüm. About the only 300+ pages book I ever read in one go.
Posted by: Cynical Masters Student at Dec 27, 2007 3:19:50 AM
I've been reading Stefan Zweig lately, in English (but my German friends tell me he reads well in German too).
Posted by: Unit at Dec 27, 2007 4:32:38 AM
Geez, that's a heavy list. No love for SS vet Guenter Grass? Katz und Maus is good and quite short. If you want to read what Germans are reading, get Der Schwarm, one of those airport 700 page potboilers about environmental catastrophe. Authors name escapes me.
Posted by: vanya at Dec 27, 2007 7:40:32 AM
Hesse: Der Steppenwolf, Siddhartha or Narziß und Goldmund
Hoffmann: Der Sandmann (classic short story)
Kafka: The Trial
Goethe: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, and then read Die neuen Leiden des jungen W. from Ulrich Plenzdorf
Boell: Ansichten eines Clowns or, even easier: Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
Borchert: Draußen vor der Tür (excellent, dark play)
And any Grimm's fairy tales in the original!
Posted by: Eric at Dec 27, 2007 7:51:13 AM
Max Frisch, "Homo Faber"
I haven't read Juenger's "In Stahlgewittern", but I did start one of his other books, "Waeldchen 125". I gave up after the first couple of chapters convinced me that the author was a dangerous lunatic. Which certainly could be a reason for reading it--the guy wasn't Remarque, for sure.
Posted by: Alan Gunn at Dec 27, 2007 8:16:22 AM
