The Magic Mountain

By: Thomas Mann

Narrated by: David Rintoul

It was The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) that confirmed Thomas Mann as a Nobel prizewinner for literature and rightly so, for it is undoubtedly one of the great novels of the 20th century.

Its unusual story - it opens with a young man visiting a friend in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps - was originally started by Mann in 1912 but was not completed until 1924. Then, it was instantly recognised as a masterpiece and led to Mann’s Nobel Prize in 1929.

Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912, and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure, and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, some of whom have been there for years, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.

Among them are Hofrat Behrens, the principal doctor, the curiously attractive Clavdia Chauchat and two intellectuals: Ludovico Settembrini and Leo Naphta with their strongly contrasted personalities and differing political, ethical, artistic and spiritual ideals. Hans Castorp’s stay is extended, once, twice and still further, as he appears to develop symptoms which suggest that his health, once so robust, would benefit from the treatments and the mountain air.

As time passes, it becomes clear that the young man, with a particular interest in shipbuilding and not much else, finds his outlook and knowledge broadened by his mountain companions, his intellect stretched and his emotional experience deepened and enriched. Hans Castorp is changing, day by day, month by month, year by year, sometimes imperceptibly, sometimes with a sudden advance, as he encounters the varied range of sparkling characters, their comedies and tragedies, their aspirations and their defeats.

The Magic Mountain is a classic bildungsroman, an educational journey of growth - a genre that began with an earlier novel in the German tradition: Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. It is presented here in the acclaimed modern translation by John E. Woods and is told by David Rintoul with his particular understanding for Thomas Mann as displayed in his widely praised Ukemi recording of Buddenbrooks.©1996 Knopf Translation (P)2020 Ukemi Productions Ltd

Heavy Air High in the Alps

Some years prior to World War I Hans Castorp, a young German engineer, goes for a three-week visit to his cousin, who is being treated for tuberculosis at a sanatorium high in the Swiss Alps. But time in the mountains does not exist as it does in the “flatlands,” and Castorp’s visit lasts seven years as he first acclimates himself to the routine and unique outlook of the sanatorium and then becomes a patient himself. In the course of his stay, he participates in a series of long conversations and extended reflections on reason and art, sexuality and mortality, anatomy and religion with collection of characters representing a microcosm of pre-war Europe, including a Jewish Jesuit who preaches totalitarianism, and a Freemason humanist. Castorp also obsesses over an exotic Russian woman, takes passionate interest in music and gaming and dabbles in the occult. Philosophy largely takes the place of action in this Bildungsroman, which follows the coming of age of Castorp as it reflects the nature of European society and the impending war. Thomas Mann’s book is considered one of the most influential works of twentieth-century German literature and requires effort commensurate with that distinction.

The narrator is absolutely amazing.

This is my first audible review, even though I've listened to maybe 50 books. I just have to post that the narrator is absolutely amazing. He took a 37-hour book mostly about philosophical ramblings and made it come to life. This was as good as peppy music to keep me up on long drives. Part of me wonders if I would've liked the book as much if I had read it instead or if there was a less able narrator.

A great book and great reading!!

This book and the reader are amazing. Mann well deserves the acclaimed and Noble prize for this book.

Give it time, amazing payoff

This took me a long time to get into. I started and restarted it over the course of like 2 yrs. But glad I finally gained momentum and finished. A great read, an amazing last 1/3rd of a book and the ending is spectacularly good.

Excellent

Treat yourself to outstanding narration, Nobel Prize winning writing, and great listening. 5 star in every way.