07-23-2013, 09:13 AM | #46 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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My take on it was different, that Thomas was trying simultaneously to reassure her while acting a dog in the manger. Assuring her she wasn't "ruined," but at the same time trying to keep her from pursuing a similar affair. It involved both sexual jealousy but also a dose of reality. She could move on, since no one knew, but affairs of their sort were hugely risky for a shopgirl and should be eschewed. Now that he was done with her! |
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07-23-2013, 09:25 AM | #47 | ||
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I think Thomas did take advantage of the girl and being the hypocrite he is, he assured her it wasn't a sordid affair, but something 'higher', a somewhat higher love, above level of the ordinary. He said it as much to reassure the girl as himself, being a God-and law abiding gentleman. edit: I think the translation 'don't throw yourself away" is more apt than 'demean'. |
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07-23-2013, 12:27 PM | #48 | |
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07-23-2013, 01:32 PM | #49 |
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Still...I do like reading this book as it takes one within this family and within this period in German history. I am interested in with what they come up with next.
Perhaps every book lover is something of a 'voyeur', or do I speak only for myself? |
07-23-2013, 02:47 PM | #50 | |
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07-23-2013, 04:24 PM | #51 |
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yes, could not agree more about the social classes: and the scene at the Town Hall (the "riot") is in essence contemptuous and condescending.
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07-23-2013, 05:52 PM | #52 | |
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I agree with you that Buddenbrook had too cheap a victory. I was interested that at least according to Mann, the revolution of 1848 largely passed over Lùbeck. |
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07-23-2013, 06:04 PM | #53 | |||
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07-24-2013, 06:08 AM | #54 |
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And I must admit that I find it increasingly funny (I never expected it). I don't know if this comes across with the English translation but the original contains a lot of subtil humour and irony.
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07-24-2013, 10:48 AM | #55 | |
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It says something about the quality of a writer that one can't be indifferent when reading his/her books. on..... |
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07-25-2013, 06:32 AM | #56 |
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I'm just over a third through the book. Didn't really like the first section with the dinner party. However, after it got going I enjoyed it more.
Will still be a while before I get through it though. |
07-25-2013, 01:53 PM | #57 |
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I'm at page 400 or something (of 792) and feel myself beginning to see the idea behind it.
This book is like life's seasons. It begins quite fresh; all is good and new. There's progress and a hint of spring in the air. Now, if I may continue; summer with its fruits(also the fallen fruits) - the marriages, babies of Tony and Gerda, the death of the old- has come to an end and the family's splendor is turning lustreless. Thomas Mann could have called this book ' Decline and Fall of the Buddenbrooks'. |
07-25-2013, 02:23 PM | #58 |
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07-25-2013, 02:50 PM | #59 |
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07-25-2013, 04:59 PM | #60 |
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Same in German, the full title is Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie and that's just the same as Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family.
While I double-checked that on Wikipedia I found a picture of Thomas Mann from 1900, the time he wrote Buddenbrooks. Might be interesting because most pictures are usually taken arround 1940 - 50 when he was much older. I often wondered how Thomas Mann looked at the age of 25, and here's the answer: Spoiler:
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