Great books of the Western World, V47 Johann Wolfgan von Goethe

by Robert Maynard Hutchins, ed

Hardcover, 1952

Status

Available

Call number

832.6

Publication

Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1955, c1952]

Description

"A poet, playwright, novelist, memoirist, and aphorist, Goethe was the German equivalent of Dante plus Shakespeare, a multifaceted universal genius. He put everything he had into this version of the famous myth of Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil for worldly fame and riches. People face such choices every day - in this volume, Prof. Thomas Wayne presents the story in a contemporary voice." --

Media reviews

brainpickings.org

(specifically reviews the illustrations by Harry Clarke) Clarke’s unmistakable aesthetic, which became a centerpiece of the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and which he had applied to Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination just a few years earlier, lends the Goethe masterpiece an

additional dimension of haunting beauty ....

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User reviews

LibraryThing member Schmerguls

I read this in January 1952 and said on Jan 20: Decided to read Faust despite the unfavorable atmosphere for reading presented by barracks life. It is almost stiflng in its beauty, and I wish I had a dead silent room to simply surrender my mind to it. The translation I am reading is Bayard

Taylor's, which is in verse form, and quite literal--so that verbs are often at the end of sentences. As an example of clear beauty, romantic and untouched by sarcasm and cynicism I give you this from Scene 2 of the first Part:
"Then would I see Eternal Evening gild
The silent world beneath me glowing,
On fire each mountain-peak,
with peace and valley filled,
The silver brook to golden rivers flowing..."
I finished the first part on Jan 21, and said the second part is allergorical and I am afraid I shall get nothing from it, because conditons for studying are not good--or maybe it's just that I am not good at divining deeper, subtle meanings of things. I finished the book on Jan 23 and said: Finished Faust--got little out of the second Part.

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8 more

LibraryThing member billlund

Obviously a classic, but the second scene between the archangles, God and Mephistofoles is pure music.

LibraryThing member Carolfoasia

While I do not care for Goethe, I do like MacDonald's rhyming translation. It makes it much better to get through it! Did this for Part II so that the Kindle could read the rhyming to me with the text to speech feature.

LibraryThing member olyra

yet another classic that i have yet to read all the way. i love the poetry in it, and i love my copy as well.

LibraryThing member jkuiperscat

Boy meets world of scholarship and falls in love. Implausible. In practically his dotage he meets a nice shop-girl but figures he does not have a chance with her. Uh, why would he want HER? Anyway, so he makes a deal with the Devil, None of this is remotely plausible, but it is the wonderful genius

of Goethe that he unfolds the story with great power. Ultimately, "Das ewigweiblische dran uns hinan".

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LibraryThing member RonManners

"Goethe's activities as poet, statesman, theatre director, critic, and scientist show him to be a genius of amazing versatility. This quality is rellected in his Faust, which ranks with the achievements of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare. The mood of the play shifts constantly, displaying in turn the

poet's controlled energy, wit, irony, compassion, and above all his gift for lyrical expression. Faust, which Goethe began in his youth and worked on during the greater part of his lifetime, takes for its theme the universal experience of the troubled human soul, but its spiritual values far transcend mere satanism and its consequences."
Taken from the Back Cover.

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LibraryThing member AnaD11

This is a book I have read more that 6 times. I enjoy traveling together with Faust trough his temptations. I love Goethe's treasury style and richness with the most amazing mythological, historical and scientific stories and facts. The description of the time he lives in via Faust's "temptation

trip" is an excellent experience for every reader. This is a book that requests a special attention and concentration by the reader. I totally recommend it! It is my all time favorite book!!!

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LibraryThing member Haidji

Goethe is an amazing writer.
Faust despairs and wants the death because he can not understand the truth.
Dissatisfied with knowing all there is to know about everything, Faust sells his soul to the devil to learn, experience and understand more.

It's classic, it's brilliant and full of wisdom and

eternal truths.

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LibraryThing member jwhenderson

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust begins with a prologue set in Heaven. The scene is modeled on the opening of the Book of Job in the Old Testament. While the angels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael praise the Lord, Mephistopheles mocks human beings as failed creations because reason makes them

worse than brutes. God tells Mephistopheles that he will illuminate his servant Faust. Mephistopheles wagers with god that he can corrupt Faust instead. With the assent of god Mephistopheles goes into action.

In the next scene, Faust appears in acute despair because his intellectual studies have left him ignorant and without worldly gain and fame. In order to discover the inner secrets and creative powers of nature, he turns to black magic. Thus, he conjures up the Earth Spirit, the embodiment of the forces of nature. However, the Earth Spirit mocks Faust’s futile attempts to understand him. As he despairs of understanding nature, he prepares to poison himself.
At that moment, church bells and choral songs announcing that “Christ is arisen” distract Faust from killing himself. Celestial music charms Faust out of his dark and gloomy study for a walk in the countryside on a beautiful spring day in companionship with his fellow human beings. Observing the springtime renewal of life in nature, Faust experiences ecstasy. At this moment, Faust yearns for his soul to soar into celestial spheres.

This Easter walk foreshadows Faust’s ultimate spiritual resurrection. However, he must first undergo a pilgrimage through the vicissitudes and depths of human life. In a famous moment he proclaims that "two souls are dwelling in my breast". It is in this battle within himself that he becomes emblematic of modern man. As he battles Mephistopheles offers him a wager for his everlasting soul that will provide him a fleeting moment of satisfaction in this world. Mephistopheles commands a witch to restore Faust’s youth so that he is vulnerable to sensuous temptations. When Faust sees the beautiful young girl Margaret, he falls into lust and commands Mephistopheles to procure her. Mephistopheles devises a deadly scheme for seduction. Faust convinces Margaret, who is only fourteen years old, to give her mother a sleeping potion, prepared by Mephistopheles, so that they can make love. Mephistopheles makes poison instead; the mother never awakens.

Unwittingly, Margaret has murdered her mother. Furthermore, she is pregnant by Faust and alone. When Faust comes to visit Margaret, he finds her brother, Valentine, ready to kill him for violating his sister. Mephistopheles performs trickery so that Faust is able to stab Valentine in a duel. Dying, Valentine curses Margaret before the entire village as a harlot. Even at church, Margaret suffers extreme anguish as an evil spirit pursues her.

In contrast, Faust escapes to a witches’ sabbath on Walpurgis Night. He indulges in orgiastic revelry and debauchery with satanic creatures and a beautiful witch until an apparition of Margaret haunts him. Faust goes looking for Margaret and finds her, in a dungeon, insane and babbling. At this moment, Faust realizes that he has sinned against innocence and love for a mere moment of sensual pleasure. Even though it is the very morning of her execution, Margaret refuses to escape with Faust and Mephistopheles. Instead, she throws herself into the hands of God. As Faust flees with Mephistopheles, a voice from above proclaims, “She is saved!”

Goethe will continue his drama with a second part, but the narrative from this first section has become one of the markers for the beginning of the modern era of human culture. I have previously written about some of the ideas in this drama in my discussion of "Active vs. Reactive Man". Translated by many over the two centuries since its original publication it has become a touchstone for the study of the development of the human spirit. It has also inspired other artists to create operas and novels based on the characters from Goethe's drama.

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