Pick number 8 from "1001 Books To Read Before You Die" edited by Peter Boxall (The "Clockwork Orange" fronted edition). Same rules apply, books divided into groups of five of which I've to choose one. The next batch were;
Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne
A Sentimental Journey – Laurence Sterne
The Man Of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie
Humphry Clinker- Tobias Smollet
Sorrows Of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Despite me having a Smollett "Complete Works" on my Kindle it felt a little too soon after "Peregrine Pickle" which I didn't enjoy, I fancied a go at Sterne but it would make sense to choose the earlier and more celebrated title but I knew it was long (784 pages in the Penguin Classic edition) and I have too much reading already scheduled to take this on at the moment. I knew little about the Mackenzie title so I decided to opt for Goethe, who I've never read before. This would be chronologically the earliest German novel I've ever experienced so time to set the dial a decade on from Walpole and his "Castle of Otranto" and head back again to the eighteenth century.
Most modern publications are taken from a revised edition from 1787 but the book first appeared in 1774 and it became a huge international success. It was an early example of spin-off merchandise and fashions (I also recall reading this about Collette and her "Claudine" novels from the very start of the twentieth century). Here the fashion was a blue jacket and yellow waistcoat sported by the main character. More disturbingly, Goethe's young tragic hero was said to have encouraged copycat suicides, which is an example of the readership missing the point of the novel where such actions were certainly not celebrated.
Published when Goethe was 25 (he had already achieved some success with a play). This is a representative of the "Sturm und Drang" school of German literature. Translated as "Storm and Stress" it reflects work displaying inner turmoil which this certainly does. It is an epistolary novel, mainly consisting of letters written to Werther's friend, Wilhelm.
I read the version in the Delphi Classics e-book edition which was a lively 1854 translation by R Dillon Boylan. There have been a number of English translations over the years, the most recent seems to have been by David Constantine in 2012. I certainly enjoyed reading Boylan's translation. The sorrows of young Werther are caused by unrequited love and this pretty much takes over. The shift from jubilation to despair is handled very well showing a greater depth of character development than most of the other books I have read in this challenge. We also see an early example of the not completely trustworthy narrator- occasionally there are interjections from the publishers, especially as the letters get less frequent which illustrate Werther's behaviour might have been different from what he indicates in letters to his friends. There is tragedy in his past which is alluded to but the author keeps us a little in the dark over this, which I really quite admired.
Because of Werther's preoccupations the novel is easy to follow and stays on subject. Unlike most of the other "1001" novels I've read to date there is only one main digression from the plot and even though I found that difficult to follow it does have significance in that it ups the emotions of both Werther and Charlotte, his love and pretty much seals their fate.
At just around the 100 page mark, depending on the edition and what else is included this is a very accessible way into classic German literature. I've still not yet found the book I want to award five stars to amongst these eighteenth century and earlier titles but I feel that we are approaching that with Goethe's debut novel.
The Sorrows Of Young Werther was first published in 1774. There are a number of English translations and editions available. I read the Delta Classics e-book version from Goethe's Collected Works.
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