Love, Life, Goethe: Lessons of the Imagination from the Great German Poet - Hardcover

Armstrong, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374299684 ISBN 13: 9780374299682

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007

Synopsis

A fresh and perceptive new biography of Germany's greatest poet, whose life and times are a mirror for our own

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is often remembered only as a figure of literary genius, author of The Sorrows of Young Werther and Faust. Yet Goethe was driven by much more than the desire for literary success: he wanted (much the same as us) to live life well. In Love, Life, Goethe, John Armstrong tells the dramatic life story of this great poet—a representative man akin to Wordsworth in England or Emerson in America. In so doing, he subtly and imaginatively explores the ways that we can learn from Goethe, whether in love, suffering, friendship, or family. At the center of the project is the human yearning for happiness: In an imperfect world, how can we live well with what we have, and accept what we haven’t? From our lives at home, to our attitude toward money and the politicians we choose, Armstrong explores the main themes of our lives through the life of Goethe, and helps us learn how to live.

About this title

About the Author

John Armstrong’s books include Move Closer: An Intimate Philosophy of Art. Previously the director of the Aesthetics Programme at the University of London, he is currently a research fellow in the philosophy of art at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Usually, a biography is called "intimate" because of its attention to its subject's emotional or romantic life. This biography is intimate in this sense, but it also deserves the label because it dares to draw readers into a more personal relationship with Germany's most influential poet. Navigating purposefully though the formative events of Goethe's life while explicating his major works, Armstrong invites readers to appreciate Goethe as an eminently human genius perpetually striving toward personal growth and wholeness, balance and beauty. To Armstrong, Goethe lovingly engaged himself in an imperfect, chaotic world and from it forged meaning; as such, he deserves consideration as a model for our own lives. The author of a theory of love (Conditions of Intimacy: The Philosophy of Intimacy, 2003) and a comprehensive theory of aesthetics (Move Closer: An Intimate Philosophy of Art, 2001; The Secret Power of Beauty, 2006), and a relative outsider to German literary criticism, Armstrong may be the perfect scholar to elicit this aspect of the great poet. Intimate indeed, this book may clue readers to Armstrong's other works, and it will likely lead them into the arms of Goethe himself. Brendan Driscoll
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Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0374299684
• ISBN 13: 9780374299682
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 504