Goethe: Life as a Work of Art (Paperback)

David Dollenmayer

ISBN 10: 1631494899 / ISBN 13: 9781631494895

Published by W W Norton & Co Ltd, London, 2018

About this Item

Paperback. A masterful intellectual portrait, Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is celebrated as the seminal twenty-first-century biography of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (17491832), a remarkably prolific poet, playwright, novelist, and-as Ruediger Safranksi emphasizes-a statesman and naturalist, first awakened not only a burgeoning German nation but the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski has scoured Goethe's entire oeuvre, relying exclusively on primary sources, including his correspondence with contemporaries, to produce a "fresh and authentic" (Economist) portrait of the avatar of the Romantic era. Skillfully blending "artistic analysis with swift, sharp renderings" of the great political and intellectual figures Goethe encountered, "[Safranski's] portrait of the prolific genius leaves the reader with lasting awe, even envy" of a monumental legacy (The New Yorker). As Safranski ultimately shows, Goethe's greatest creation, even in comparison to his masterpiece Faust, was his own life. This sterling biography of Germanys greatest writer presents Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as if we are seeing him for the first time. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781631494895

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Goethe: Life as a Work of Art (Paperback)
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1631494899
• ISBN 13: 9781631494895
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Economist and Kirkus Reviews

This “splendid biography” (Wall Street Journal) of Goethe presents his life and work as an essential touchstone for the modern age.

A masterful intellectual portrait, Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is celebrated as the seminal twenty-first-century biography of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), a remarkably prolific poet, playwright, novelist, and―as Rüdiger Safranksi emphasizes―a statesman and naturalist, first awakened not only a burgeoning German nation but the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski has scoured Goethe’s entire oeuvre, relying exclusively on primary sources, including his correspondence with contemporaries, to produce a “fresh and authentic” (Economist) portrait of the avatar of the Romantic era. Skillfully blending “artistic analysis with swift, sharp renderings” of the great political and intellectual figures Goethe encountered, “[Safranski’s] portrait of the prolific genius leaves the reader with lasting awe, even envy” of a monumental legacy (The New Yorker). As Safranski ultimately shows, Goethe’s greatest creation, even in comparison to his masterpiece Faust, was his own life.

About the Authors

Rüdiger Safranski is a German philosopher and writer, and the author of biographies of Friedrich Schiller, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Martin Heidegger. He lives in Berlin.

David Dollenmayer lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and translates German fiction and nonfiction.