Buddenbrooks
Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway recommended this book in the "Ernest Hemingway on Writing" book.
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Buddenbrooks

Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

Thomas Mann
By
Thomas Mann
4.2
1985
ratings on Goodreads

In the labyrinthine corridors of the Buddenbrooks' mansion, the saga of a dynasty unfolds, tracing the vicissitudes of a wealthy bourgeois family in northern Germany over four generations. Thomas Mann's masterpiece, "Buddenbrooks," delves into the heart of a family grappling with the relentless tide of modernity, their fortunes and fates intertwined with the shifting sands of time. With exquisite detail and profound insight, Mann chronicles the family's descent from the zenith of prosperity to the nadir of bankruptcy, capturing the essence of human frailty and the inevitability of change. Through births and deaths, marriages and divorces, the novel paints a vivid portrait of societal transformation, exploring themes of ambition, duty, and the elusive nature of happiness. As the Buddenbrooks strive to uphold their legacy amidst a crumbling social order, their story becomes a mirror to the soul, reflecting the eternal struggles between tradition and innovation, loyalty and individualism. Mann's rich narrative tapestry is woven with threads of tender humor and tragic irony, presenting a world teeming with life and the specter of decline lurking in the shadows. "Buddenbrooks" is not merely a novel; it is an epoch captured in prose, a monumental achievement that transcends the boundaries of literature to offer a haunting meditation on the human condition. Through the rise and fall of the Buddenbrooks, Mann achieves an epic of everyday life, a timeless testament to the beauty and brutality of an era in transition.

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Released
1901
1 Jan
Length
731
Pages

1

recommendations

recommendation

Ernest Hemingway recommended this book in the "Ernest Hemingway on Writing" book.
Often, the outward and visible material signs and symbols of happiness and success only show themselves when the process of decline has already set in. The outer manifestations take time - like the light of that star up there, which may in reality be already quenched, when it looks to us to be shining its brightest.
— Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks

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