Goethe - Kunstwerk des Lebens

by Rüdiger Safranski

Having previously tackled Nietzsche and Schiller, renowned biographer Rüdiger Safranski sets his sights on the writer considered the Shakespeare of German literature. Goethe (1749–1832), a remarkably prolific poet, playwright, novelist, and, as Safranksi emphasizes, a statesman and naturalist, first awakened not only a burgeoning German nation but also the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski has scoured Goethe’s entire oeuvre, relying on primary sources as well as Goethe's correspondence with contemporaries and their comments to one another, to produce an illuminating portrait of the avatar of the Romantic era. Set against the cultural and political turmoil of Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Goethe, who intersected with almost every great figure of his age, is thrillingly re-created in this monumental biography. As Safranski ultimately shows, Goethe’s greatest creation, even in comparison to his masterpiece Faust, was his own life.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, German Literature, Germany, Biography Memoir

752 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2013

About the author

Rüdiger Safranski is a German literary scholar and author. He has been Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at the Free University of Berlin since 2012.

Reviews

[Always Pouting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read The Sorrows of Young Werther but not much else by Goethe. I have however heard him mentioned quite a bit especially in books, especially for Faust and Theory of Colors. I did enjoy Young Werther when I read it because I was an angsty young adolescent as well and so I decided that I should totally read this biography of Goethe because maybe he too is melodramatic and whatever else. Plus also I don't know how many people know about The School of Life, but I love it and I watched the video on Goethe and he sounded pretty cool so I wanted to learn more and get a more comprehensive background.

After reading this book though I'm not sure how I feel about Goethe. I do think it was quite clear that the author himself had a positive opinion of Goethe, despite which I do think he did address things that may portray Goethe negatively, but I'm not sure which way to go. I can't really get behind the fact that Goethe seemed to be some what self centered, especially the way he treated Frederike. I don't think he was malicious in his dealings with other people but I do think he tended to be inconsiderate of their feelings. Like the whole thing with the French Revolution as well, and his concern with his own comfort and aristocracy. Also though I know artists liked Theory of Color and were inspired by it as well as neuroscientists using it to understand about the divide between color in physics and the brains own processing of color, I still can't get behind his self promotion for the book which isn't at all science just his own observations about experiencing color. I don't think it's fair for people to be calling him a scientist.

That said I think the best part about reading biographies is that they really humanize people that otherwise seem aloof and ideal which really does make it easier to like them. The fact that Goethe had his own shortcomings doesn't mean I necessarily have to dislike him. I do think he's very eloquent and striving to live a fulfilled life is something I can empathize with. Also the way he seems to love being in love is something I can really understand as well. Someone who tries to make life into art is someone I can easily admire. So I'm still torn about how I feel after all this about Goethe. I definitely will be reading more of his works though, I really enjoyed a lot of the selected passages through out the book.

The book itself is really well written and clearly well researched but it did tend to get boring at times especially when it went into detail about the works themselves and tried to impose historical context on them or to analyze certain passages. Also like mentioned before the author doesn't try to hide his own opinion on Goethe, but it didn't personally bother me because I felt like he did try to address Goethe fairly, even when trying to explain the shortcomings or give a different perspective on them.

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely dense, "complete" biography of Goethe's life, 800 pages of information. You get everything: life, many letters, other people's memoirs, the plays and novels themselves, including interpretations of Goethe's major works (one of the best, and again, complete Faust interpretations I've read so far). If you'd want a biography of Goethe, I'd recommend this - some problems where Safranski loves Goethe too much, you could easily write a much "meaner", more ruthless biography.

I don't really understand why the Germans love Goethe so much, and I still don't (maybe it's our "Obrigkeitshörigkeit"/obedience to authority?). He was against the upcoming German state, but after his death the German state used him for his propaganda (as evidence of German uniqueness - similar to Japan's Nihonjinron).

Some other notes:

- Goethe often wrote to escape his Lebensekel (life-disgust), great word, which is the "real" reason of Werther's suicide (not the unlucky love affair as it's often made out to be).

- There's so much about Goethe's disdain for the new industrialism, a world that is "too fast" - I wonder how much of that is Safranski writing about 2013.

- Politically he was extremely conservative to the point of being cowardly. His monetary security was completely dependent on Karl August (Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, one of those tiny German kingdoms), so he was always for the "old" order and criticized the new democracy movements. Very German, I've met Germans who haven't changed their thinking since. Then when the French became the dominant power and Napoleon made Goethe a Chevalier in the Legion of Honour suddenly Goethe was pro-French. Always follow the money.

- It would have been much easier to make fun about Goethe's failed politics exercises. Goethe didn't see himself as an author, but for quite some time as a politician. Karl August gave him an elevated position in government based on personal friendship and admiration, but the large majority of government projects he started and attended were complete failures, partially due to Goethe having been such a political amateur. I can't help but feel jealous of Goethe's secure position - "GOETHE: hey can I go travel Italy for a year or two while you keep on paying me so I can publish a book about it all?" - "DUKE KARL AUGUST: yes, of course, here's some more money". Goethe was lucky: upper middle-class parents, lifelong admiration and employment by a Duke.

- There's a lot of interesting stuff in Goethe's philosophy about life: you recognize yourself because of the reflections your actions create from others, not from looking inward all day. You even need these reflections, you need others, you can't recognize yourself on your own (funny, typical Goethe's ego: "don't bother with the reflections of opponents", but imho sometimes opponents have a point of view you hadn't even considered!). The best life is a pursuit of knowledge.

Similarly interesting the views on religion - reminded me of Einstein's writings on religion, very Spinoza, there is no bearded guy in the clouds, the Godly is everywhere and inside you and is expressed by your actions and work. Everyday actions are an indirect service to God.

- Goethe's relation to science was more than questionable, and hampered by his own ego. He set out to disprove Newton (like that always ends well) and came up with a rather strange explanation of colors (roughly: colors happen when darkness is mixed with light), which he then pushed on anyone. Goethe sent his stuff to Lichtenberg who didn't include it in his physics textbook, which Goethe treated like a personal attack, he broke off all contact. Goethe even received a polarizer as a present, but he refused to use it (fear of having his pet-theory disproven?). If Goethe were alive today he would have one of those blogs "disproving" the theory of relativity.

- It's weird how often people got banned from kingdoms back then. Goethe used his influence to have a former friend banned, and others got banned for being too atheistic in public. Then again, German kingdoms were so tiny that a ban meant "please ride your horse for half an hour in whatever direction, if you really want to come back, write a nice letter".

- Here Humboldt appears only a few times, curious given that Goethe is such a large part of The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World.

Best bonus quote:

Ich habe nichts getan dessen ich mich rühmen könnte, manches dessen ich mich freuen darf.

Translation: I have done nothing I could be proud of, but a lot I can be pleased with.

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard of Goethe years before I finally read Faust, but I hadn’t fully picked up how versatile and a polymath he is. Aside from writing fiction, he was involved in politics, science, art, poetry, and writing plays for the theatre. His plays weren’t always a success, but his fiction turned him into a celebrity (in today’s terms think fans and groupies), which with the passing of years would tire him.

This unabridged audiobook runs at almost 24.5 hours, its physical format is almost 700-pages and translated by David Dollenmeyer. It’s a comprehensive picture of Goethe whilst giving me an understanding of what ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Romanticism’ is (which is more than just words or labels that describe an era). I had not expected this. As I listened to its description of Goethe’s life and relationships, I also realised it was illustrating an important cultural shift that was taking place.

‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Romanticism’ I’ve known of less than the time I’ve heard of the name Goethe. I see the definitions but still it was never enough and left me I was looking at something with bits missing – what those bits are was heard to tell but it felt like half a picture. I didn’t just want words and to learn their meanings, I wanted something more – finally, in listening to this book I now have this. In some ways, it explains it no differently as it highlights how in Goethe’s time there arose a need to express oneself freely and not be encumbered by rational thinking. However, in the backdrop a cultural view of Goethe’s time was emerging as his life unfolded, and somewhere along there I had a wow!!! I finally get it moment, so for me this book wasn’t just a biography but an eyeopener. So, I feel lucky to have come across this book by accident when searching through Libby’s catalogue where I had not heard of it before.

For me it’s a big book as I’m not familiar with the era beyond the broad ideas, so there were quite a few names that left me dizzy where, there were moments here and there, I got lost. There were also times I was left with the sense that this read takes for granted that you’re coming to it with a certain amount of knowledge already. Also, this isn’t a book I would go to if I wanted a linear account that told the development of Sturm und Drang.

Later, I looked at the Kindle version and was surprised that there was no picture section, and tried to find the contents for a physical format with no luck. To me, it makes no sense to not have any photos or images of Goethe’s art when the title of the book points to this. So, aside from this tiny quibble, this is a brilliant read, a tough read, but well worth the effort for enlightening me ;)

[Guida Al·lès · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goethe, el superdotat que als 6 anys ja escrivia obres de teatre, va ser un vividor (no es va privar de res: poder, amistats, sexe, tertúlies, viatges) un vividor lligat a la terra, que va arraconar el món interior pel qual tenia un talent especial. Va morir profundament angoixat. Descobreixes la vida quotidiana al segle XVIII-XIX, les relacions d´amistat, molt més fondes que les actuals (Schiller) Schopenhauer, Napoleó (fantàstica descripció) i tants d´altres.

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, rather than excellent, but Safranski has a moderate enough tone that it's possible to enter the book quite skeptical about Goethe (as I did), and to exit it being still quite skeptical, but much better informed. I read this more or less at the same time as Mann's 'Joseph' novels, and it's hard to think that Mann didn't base the character of Joseph--luminously irritating--on Goethe as Safranski paints him.

[Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Our times do not favor the creation of individuality. The price we pay for our universal interconnectedness is increased conformity. Although Goethe was intimately connected to the social and cultural life of his time, he also knew how to maintain his individuality. In other words, he was an expert at ignoring things."

On Goethe's mother: They called her the Princess because she disliked housework, preferring to stretch out on the sofa and read novels.


Still from Les amants du Pont-Neuf (Leos Carax, 1991)

[Mesoscope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the great masters of culture and letters I have encountered, from Plato to Joyce, Goethe has been the most difficult for me to penetrate. The reasons for this, I think, are manifold, but at root is the magnitude of his achievement. Already world-famous for his early novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther," Goethe would go on to write what is generally considered the greatest play in the German language, discover a bone in the human skull that added substantial weight to evolutionary theory, administer a silver mine, write much of the greatest lyric poetry ever written, publish learned treatises on botany and mineralogy, and direct the Weimar Theater for 27 years. This only notes some of his most striking achievements - he also, for example, published one of the first Bildungsromane and a 700-page book on color theory.

Even with a lively interest in German culture, having come up in an American educational system, Goethe was primarily just a name to me until my German was good enough to read him in the original. And there my troubles began. His range of achievement is vast, and understanding the underlying genius, which found only partial expression in each of his manifold outlets, is not an easy matter without substantial support. To my surprise, I needed more critical assistance with Faust than with, say, with the Epic of Gilgamesh, or Kalidasa's plays.

Even having read several of Goethe's works, it was only during a period of substantial, dedicated study that Goethe came into focus for me, and I was able to see the numinous, intoxicating genius in his greatest works. The backbone of this study was Safranski's capable intellectual biography of Goethe, which provided the basic template for understanding the general outline of his life and thought.

There are probably better Goethe biographies out there, but for my purposes, this work was invaluable, and often electrifying. For someone already familiar with the general facts of his biography, I do not know if this book will provide deep insight. Safranski does strike me as an alert and persuasive interpreter, and obviously quite knowledgeable, though I did not in every case agree with his interpretations or emphasis. But on the whole, I think his core exposition is persuasive and directly on-target, and I will say that, as the title promises, Safranski presented his subject in such a way that it did not merely illuminate the work of a great figure of literature, but alerted me in a genuinely profound way to deeper possibilities of life itself.

[s_reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spannend, aber ist halt eine Biographie …
Über Goethe…

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Safranski, an historian and philosopher who has written several biographies of titans of German literature, has written a deep yet concise (given that Goethe lived over 80 years, was a statesman, poet, novelist, dramatist, scientist, and more) biography of one of the great figures of world literature. The subtitle is not quite lived up to as an overarching theme. It gets attention as an idea but because Safranski seems to take that to mean one’s public life, Goethe’s personal life gets more summary attention than his artistic life, which gets far more detailed attention. His long term lover, mother to his only child, and eventual wife until her death, fights for notice. His son, the same. How Goethe’s relationship with them and where they fit within the idea of a life as a work of art is lost to consideration.

But Goethe’s friendships with Schiller and many others, his relationship and work for Karl August, the duke of Weimar, and the books themselves get deeply discussed and are the biography’s heart and soul. If, like me, you’ve read only a little of Goethe, I’d recommend reading more of his work than a book or two before embarking on this magisterial work. Instead, Safranski has helped me be excited by the body of work yet available to me, set some priorities, and he will be returned to after each new reading.

[Jeroen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over het leven en werk van Goethe valt meer dan genoeg te zeggen. En dat gebeurt ook gedetailleerd en goed onderbouwd in deze biografie.
Op deze plek zal ik mij beperken tot een aantal zaken of passages die mij opvielen.

* Goethe en zijn vrienden laten, met name als ze jong zijn, hun gevoelens rijkelijk stromen. De manier waarop dat gebeurt zou tegenwoordig verbazing wekken of als overdreven worden gezien, voor hen was het volstrekt normaal en natuurlijk.
* De sexuele moraal was tijdens het leven van Goethe een stuk losser dan in het Victoriaanse tijdperk (dat zo ongeveer begon na zijn dood in 1832). Goethe heeft gedurende zijn leven met meerdere vrouwen liefdesrelaties, maar trouwt er met geen enkele. Dit heeft noch voor hem, noch voor de vrouwen, negatieve gevolgen. Met Christiane Vulpius woont Goethe langere tijd samen, heeft hij kinderen, en beleeft hij, zoals hij het zelf noemt, een periode van huiselijke geluk. Ze zijn echter nooit getrouwd. Ook wordt daar door zijn werkgever, de hertog van Weimar, niet op aangedrongen. Wel vraagt deze hem om, samen met zijn gezin, enige tijd aan de rand van de stad te gaan wonen.
* Goethe was een zondagskind: zijn schrijverschap, zijn creativiteit, zijn langdurige en nauwe relatie - professioneel en persoonlijk - met de hertog van Weimar, zijn sociale vaardigheden, zijn intensieve en gevoelvolle omgang met vrouwen, het komt hem min of meer aanwaaien, hij hoeft er weinig moeite voor te doen. Hij had ook geen aanleg voor zwaarmoedigheid. Een enkele keer had hij wel te leiden van een zekere levensonlust. Als oplossing daarvoor zag hij niet introspectie of zelfonderzoek. Het was juist van belang om jezelf van jezelf af te leiden en "van harte aan de omringende wereld deel te nemen." Zijn motto was: Wil je je in je waarde verheugen, dan moet jij de wereld waarde verlenen.
* Over zelfkennis: "De mens kent zichzelf slechts voor zover hij de wereld kent, die hij alleen in zichzelf en zichzelf alleen in haar gewaarwordt. Dat betekent allereerst dat je jezelf primair leert kennen door wat je gedaan hebt en niet door begeleidende reflectie, laat staan door die psychische binnenwerelden die nooit vorm willen aannemen. En ten tweede dat je de reacties en inzichten van anderen nodig hebt. In hun spiegel, dus in de spiegel van andermans kennis, ontstaat zelfkennis. Niet iedereen wordt voor hem een spiegel: Tegenstanders komen niet in aanmerking, want zij hebben een hekel aan mijn bestaan. Ik wijs hen daarom af en negeer hen, want ze kunnen me niet vooruithelpen, en dat is het waar het in het leven op aankomt. Kennis die levenskrachten ondermijnt mag geen kennis genoemd worden. Zij is de uitdrukking van vijandschap, van zelfvernietiging en de vernietiging van anderen. Het zou een levenskunst zijn deze vijandige krachten op afstand te houden. De wil tot weten is bij Goethe geïntegreerd in de kunst van het leven."
* Rondom schrijvers ontstond een sterrencultus. De schrijver werd meer en meer gezien als 'genie'. Er was sprake van een landelijke leescultuur in Duitsland en andere landen. Literatuur werd daarbij steeds meer richtinggevend. Safranski schrijft (pagina 405): "Men doorleefde de gevoelens die men zich door lezen eigen had gemaakt. Men werd verliefd, was jaloers, onderhield vriendschappen en wond zich op over de politiek zoals in de boeken stond. (...) In de spiegel van de literatuur krijgt het leven meer waarde, dichtheid, dramatiek en atmosfeer."
* De vriendschap tussen Schiller en Goethe, die in 1788 begint, levert beide mannen bijzonder veel op. Ze stuwen elkaar naar grotere hoogten. In hun discussie over revolutie en politieke turbulentie komt Goethe met begrip sociale beschaving. Dit is voor hem in diepste wezen een gezelschapsspel.
"Want de mens speelt alleen wanneer hij in de volle betekenis van het woord mens is, en hij is alleen helemaal mens wanneer hij speelt." Sociale beschaving is doen alsof. Het gaat om geciviliseerde omgangsvormen, niet om onvoorwaardelijke authenticiteit. De sociale mens sleept het omhulsel van goede omgangsvormen als bescherming tegen chaos, anarchie en verwaarlozing met zich mee." (pagina 407).

Goethe was een levenskunstenaar, die in zijn gedrag, in de dingen die hij deed en zei, wilde uitblinken. Dit komt goed tot uitdrukking in het citaat aan het eind van de biografie (Goethe aan Reinhard, 22 januari 1811):

Ik herinner me een verwijt dat een jeugdvriend me ooit maakte en dat mijn ijdelheid streelde. Hij zei dat ik beter leefde dan schreef. Het zou me heel wat waard zijn als dat nog steeds zo zou zijn.

[Jee Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked up Rüdiger Safransk's biography of Goethe, Life as a Work of Art, translated by David Dollenmayer, in a bookstore before the shop closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading this well-written work in the last few days before I turn 50, I found it very suggestive about the development of an artistic character. From young, Goethe was keenly aware of his immense creative gift, but learned in his young adulthood to apply his gift to the "objective" world of politics, finance, and science, in order to grapple with "reality." Astonishing too was his capacity to fall hard in love, right up to his eighties.

"The example of Shakespeare had taught Goethe what characterizes a great dramatist: he doesn't identify only with his hero, but grants all his figures the right to life." (82)

"He notes in his diary, Every work of man has what I would call a smell. As, in a rough sense, a rider smells of horse, a bookstore a little of mildew, and a huntsman of dog, it is true in a finer sense as well.... A master does not dream in generalities.... When the time comes for him to act, he takes hold of whatever is needed now. Thus, the sense for the correct intervention means in the political realm that all arrogance must wither away. Only then can beautiful strength prove its worth." [Italics are Goethe's words] (195)

In our actions were are always without conscience. No one has a conscience except in contemplation. (221)

"Goethe took pride in his ability to lead this double existence.... And his double existence did not mean the two spheres were entirely separate. Only in the innermost reaches of my plans and resolutions and undertakings do I remain true to myself in a mysterious way and thus tie my social, political, moral, and poetic life back together again in a hidden knot. (262)

"Goethe's model of sociable education is also play, a party game if one will, in which people act "as if." Civilized manners are called for, not uncompromising authenticity, not the tyranny of intimacy or the blunt protestant candor of Luther's "Here I stand, I can do no other." In society you have to be able to "do other." What is needed are measured doses of the words and actions that allow us to slide past one another and float over chasms of difference." (344)

"Knowledge and self-knowledge deserve their names only when they promote and serve life. The function of knowledge is to preserve and enhance life. If it undermines the powers of life, it doesn't deserve to be called knowledge, for then it is only an expression of enmity and the destruction of self and others in the guise of knowledge. The art of living consists in repelling or keeping at bay these hostile powers. For Goethe, the will to know is integrated into the art of living. That is why he could become an exemplar for Nietzsche." (454)

We love only that is individual; hence the great pleasure we take in portraits, confessions, memoirs, letters, and anecdotes of the deceased, even if they were insignificant.... One cannot hold it against the historian...that he searches for results; but what is lost in that search...is the individual human being. (454)

"Faust hears the clang of spades and thinks it is the sound of work on his humanitarian project of land reclamation—I open land for many, many millions. In fact, they are digging his grave." (539)

[From Goethe's letter consoling his friend Zelter whose stepson killed himself] And so it is in all the tales of sailors and fishermen. After a storm at night, one reaches shore at last. The soaking man dries himself off and the next morning, when the glorious sun reappears on the shimmering waves, the sea regains its appetite for figs. (551)

[Vivian Matsui · Rating 4 out of 5]

phew, levei algum tempo para terminar essa biografia. É ótima: mas como complemento do próprio "Poesia e verdade". Os dois na verdade são um pouco cansativos e eu recomendo apenas para quem, como eu, volta e meia cai numa espiral goethemaníaca e precisa revisitar os pormenores da vida e obra dele. A mim sempre me emociona quando ele fala do Schiller.

[Denise Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Thorough without feeling overwhelming or trite. I most enjoyed when the author went into depth on Goethe’s great works and connected them to his life at the time. Goethe was a very interesting dude who butted up against other great thinkers at the time and they all made each other better for jt.

[Daniel Seltier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and detailed biography. But Safranski's interpretations of Goethe's works are oftentimes too farfetched imo.

[Garry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a slog to finish reading this dense, detailed, esoteric and Goethe-loving biography.

Very tempted to give it a 4 star instead of 5 star review as there are both crimes of too much daily detail on occasion and insufficiently clear and concise exposition of Goethe's writings at times.

Still; a great, deep dive into the life and works of a famous German poet and playwright. Unfortunately Goethe is not a particularly likable character; selfish and self-absorbed, and his writing does not appear to have aged well with the passing of time; abstruse obsessions with purity, nature and aesthetic angels on pinhead.

Satisfying to have finished such a detailed account of Goethe's life and his contemporaries in the German literary scene of his time.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars; fine biography of the man and the cultural phenomenon that is Goethe; picked it up after listening to the 'very short introduction'; in addition to the life, you are treated to a nice window into the world and times of his day; the cusp period between the (late) Enlightment era, and the (progressive) Industrialisation of the world; Romanticism, with notable events being the American and French revolutions, and the Napoleonic era.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een boek over Goethe. Of beter gezegd, over de gedachten van Goethe. Verwacht geen biografie die het levensverhaal vertelt aan de hand van gezellige anekdotes. De schrijver van dit werk is een filosoof en de lezer zal dat weten ook. Soms wat zware (saaie?) kost. Geen lekker wegleesboek voor op het strand maar zeer geschikt om meer inzicht te krijgen in Goethes gedachtenwereld.

[The Literary Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expertly written biography as well as in depth analysis of many of Goethe’s works. Rüdiger Safranski recreates the time and place, as well as brings many of these long dead personages back to life. Extremely thorough, you feel as if you yourself have lived through everyone of The Great Man’s 82 years by the close of this weighty tome.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is nowhere near as great as the two-volume (and counting) biography by Nicholas Boyle, but it is a more than adequate, and sometimes excellent, life of Goethe. Safranski previously wrote a horrible life of Schopenhauer (pages of block quotes, no familiarity with Kant and wrong paraphrases of the subject's works), but he's since much improved. His treatment of Goethe, especially the paraphrases, does a good job of making the life interesting without requiring strong interest on part of the reader. (Boyle's biography is better but would be unreadable without a strong interest in Goethe). The only flaw was that the further on the book gets, the more cursory it becomes, to the extent that the final decades are given mostly a dutiful survey. The famous letters to Bettina are covered in a short paragraph; more attention is paid to the brief homonculus episode with Faust.

[Michael Baranowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be the first book I've abandoned that I've also given three stars. Safranski is a wonderful writer who made me want to stick in there. But his writing wasn't quite engaging enough to keep me going. I know Goethe is a great genius, but I can't seem to connect with his work or life enough to finish this book.

[Greg Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Loved how his works were interweaved with his life. It shed light on both. A few themes that stuck with me:

Liturgy giving form to the beautiful (Rudiger chapter 3, 44-45)

Wittgenstein culture is a kind of monastic rule

Rudiger chapter 3, prayer and disenchantment (Lord’s Prayer) (pg. 44)

Goethe “What does it mean to speak in tongues” and inspiration… ie he saw his poetry in etc as a kind of experience of inspiration

Goethe on getting over depression Rudiger chpt 9 (pg.127)
How should one handle life-weariness (taedium vitae) according to Goethe?
1. Fulfill the duties that the world demands of us that day.
- Implied is not placing exaggerated demands on oneself to rob the day of its enjoyment
- The issue is a destroyed relation with the world.
- Rudiger: “The only defense against life-weariness is active participation in life.” (127)
- Goethe: “To rejoice in your own worth/You must grant worth to life on earth.” (127)
2. Do not dwell on the past but attend to the present (128)
3. Restore the imagination (130)
- Werther is obsessed with his life-weariness yet he is described as “absent from himself” how does this work?
- “What is missing when one is absent from oneself has already been named: it is simply the animating principle, the imagination.” (131)
- “When he is at risk of being brought back again to dull, cold consciousness, it’s best to reach for a book.” (131)

Rudiger returns to this idea of taedium vitae a few hundred pages later:
- “Weariness of living does not result from great pressures or labyrinthian complications. The problem is not that things are complex and difficult but rather that they are empty and monotonous.” (416) Poesis acts as a counterwieght to this for Goethe.

Rudiger returns again to taedium vitae pg. 551:
“[Goethe] writes of his own thoughts on sucide… the weariness of living that he knew from personal experience, and how he repeatedly saved himself from complete shipwreck by undertaking some activity. And then he wrote these wonderful words of profound cheer: ‘After a storm at night, one reaches shore at last. The soaking man dries himself off and the next morning, when the glorious sun reappears on the shimmering waves, the sea regains its appetite for figs.’”

Rudiger chpt 16
- one should not approach anything with too many preconceptions or the clear view will get lost, but having no idea will cause one to see nothing at all.

Rudiger, 419: “Light is an ur-phenomenon that cannot be dissected or traced back to something else. But what is light itself? The question of its essence, its substance, doesn’t really concern Goethe, who, in an almost scientific sense, isn’t exploring the essence of a thing but its effects. Any why is that? Because in principle, we cannot know anything about a thing’s essence, but only its effects, which in the final analysis means its effects on us.”

Would be interested in processing Goethe’s theory of color alongside Wittgenstein’s and Schopenhauer’s. Maybe some day!




[André van Dijk]

‘Voilà un homme’

‘Voilà un homme’, zo werd Goethe in 1808 door Napoleon ontvangen. Of het de werkelijke woorden zijn, valt niet meer te achterhalen, maar de strekking is veelzeggend: de Grote Keizer herkende een man van statuur. Een man die op en top mens was.

Dat is wat Rüdiger Safranski zich ten doel heeft gesteld met Goethe. Kunstwerk van het leven: het nauwgezet schrijven van de biografie van Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) om daarmee te verbeelden hoe der Mensch Goethe in het leven stond. Naast de tientallen meters boeken die al over de grote Duitse dichter zijn gepubliceerd, is dit kunststukje van Safranski een ware openbaring. Op een luchtige, zeer leesbare manier brengt hij de levensgeschiedenis van Goethe in beeld, gekoppeld aan fragmenten uit brieven, dagboeken, gedichten en proza uit diens omvangrijke oeuvre. Zo weet Safranski nog stelliger een complete Goethe neer te zetten, waarbij vele aannames gestaafd worden door originele teksten en talrijke gaten op overtuigende wijze gevuld worden.

Sterrenstatus
Eerst de bekende aanloop: Goethe wordt geboren in Frankfurt, groeit op in de gegoede middenklasse en begint, in de voetsporen van zijn vader, een rechtenstudie in Leipzig. Dat gaat niet al te best, mede door een onstuimige kalverliefde en verkeerde vrienden. Na een kort oponthoud vervolgt hij zijn studie in Straatsburg, waar hij met moeite promoveert, en terechtkomt in Wetzlar als assistent bij de rechtbank. In deze periode wordt de basis gelegd voor zijn brievenroman Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, die te maken heeft met een liefdesgeschiedenis maar ook met de zelfmoord van een goede vriend.

Safranski vergelijkt in zijn meeslepende beschouwing de Werther met Don Quichot, de klassieke roman over de macht van de literatuur. De persoon Werther is een romanfiguur en tegelijk een karakter dat door de literatuur is gevormd. Ook relativeert Safranski de in Goethes tijd ontstane geruchten dat de roman tot vele nabootsende zelfmoorden zou hebben geleid. Het hoorde allemaal bij de enorme hype die het boek veroorzaakte en die de schrijver in één klap een internationale sterrenstatus bezorgde.

Totalkünstler
Deze bekendheid markeert voor Goethe ‘het begin van de rest van zijn leven’. Hij wordt opgemerkt door de hertog van Weimar en sluit zich aan bij diens entourage. Het kleine hertogdom – en de jonge, enthousiaste hertog – bieden hem veel mogelijkheden zich te ontwikkelen op allerlei gebieden. In de jaren die volgen wordt pas goed zichtbaar waar de Totalkünstler Goethe toe in staat is: hij schrijft proza, poëzie en dramastukken en ontfermt zich over het hoftheater, hij legt zich toe op de anatomie, mineralogie, astronomie, plantkunde en kleurenleer. Na zijn benoeming tot Geheimrat krijgt Goethe – niet tot zijn vreugde – steeds meer bestuurlijke functies in het hertogdom en is hij verantwoordelijk voor de ontwikkeling van de mijnbouw in Weimar.

De mens Goethe wordt in Goethe. Kunstwerk van het leven op een uitzonderlijke wijze gepresenteerd. Het is vooral de gepassioneerde eigenzinnigheid waarmee de dichter zijn levensweg weet te bekleden. Met een zekere afstandelijke ijdelheid omgeeft hij zijn positie, maar opvallend is hoe hij op vrijwel alle onderdelen van zijn leven en werk een eigen koers vaart. Al op jonge leeftijd is hij onderzoekend en kritisch over zijn van oudsher meegekregen geloofservaring. Het hele godsbeeld in de christelijke leer is voor hem een sprookjesverhaal dat haaks staat op zijn vaste overtuiging dat de mens én de natuur gezamenlijk dat allesbepalende beeld vormen. De stukgelezen werken van Spinoza vormen in die tijd de basis van zijn denken.

Zelfverworven vrijheid
Op een prachtige manier beschrijft Safranski hoe Goethe, die de wereld aan zijn voeten heeft liggen, zich nestelt in het onaanzienlijke staatje Saksen-Weimar-Eisenach. De wens om zo onzichtbaar mogelijk zijn eigen gedachten vorm te geven, kan hij hier in betrekkelijke rust ten uitvoer brengen. Reizen naar Zwitserland en Italië zijn voldoende om zijn gerichte nieuwsgierigheid te bevredigen en om zich op te laden voor weer een nieuw tijdperk van creatie en onderzoek.

Met dezelfde hartstocht begeeft hij zich op het liefdespad. Door de fragmenten die hij aanhaalt, weet Safranski een mooie verbinding te leggen tussen de vele affaires en verliefdheden die Goethe in zijn leven heeft meegemaakt. Van opgroeiende jongeling tot hoogbejaarde grijsaard: er is altijd een vrouw in beeld die zijn passie aanzwengelt. Het is juist deze menselijkheid, waardoor de omvang van Goethes importantie met een bijzondere uitstraling wordt omgeven, die door Safranski op een indrukwekkende manier naar boven wordt gehaald.

Beschouwd als misschien wel de laatste homo universalis – zoals Napoleon al wist – laat Goethe bij zijn dood een enorme hoeveelheid tekst achter. Alle studies, onderzoeken, ontdekkingen, proza en poëzie zijn volgens Safranski ontstaan omdat Goethe ‘zijn zelfverworven vrijheid creatief heeft gebruikt’. Dat wordt in dit prachtige boek bevestigt met de slotzin: ‘Hij toont hoever je kunt komen als je het als levenstaak opvat diegene te worden die je bent’.

http://8weekly.nl/recensie/voila-un-h...
@8WEEKLY/André van Dijk

[Fasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing something about Goethe is like taking a photo of the sunset and then upload it on social media. You are in the company of millions. Writing a review of a long-winded text that features Goethe, is like adding a comment on said photo on social media. I hope that I can add some information about this book that gives my review a good reason to exist. Other people have already written about the content of this book. Yes, Goethe's complete life (1749-1832) is in it. Circuitous, extravagant, a stickler for details. With this book the word 'exploratory' gets on a whole new level. This book is massive.

Why should everybody read it? Even if you are in a love-hate relationship with Goethe as a reader?

If you had the pleasure to go through the german school system, like I did, you were tortured with compulsory readings of some Goethe and Schiller texts. I guess, the english speaking world has the same problem or pleasure when it comes down to Shakespeare. And if you are learning the german language as a beginner in one of those "Goethe-Institut" they will probably show to you the following poem: "Über allen Gipfeln / Ist Ruh / In allen Wipfeln / Spürest du / Kaum einen Hauch / Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde / Warte nur, balde / Ruhest du auch"

The author, professor Rüdiger Safranski, who is a german philologist and philosopher and a voracious reader, has used a writing technique that almost resembles a theater play in itself. He backs it all up with 4 different annotated and critically researched complete works of Goethe, adds his letters (also academically researched and annotated stuff) and combines this with letters, notes and diary entries of other people in Goethe's times. Even his worst enemies, who spit verbal poison on the narcisstic, bragging giga ego poet laureate. Now comes the big clue: Safranski uses his own knowledge, having written biographies about other people, who make remarkable appearances even in this Goethe biography. Instead of relying on the old fashioned and rather boring citation system that is the common standard in scientifc texts Safranski uses words, phrases and even chosen passages from primary sources – intimate letters for example – and includes them within his flow of sentences. But from an objective point of view! So, here we are, reading about his newest theater play or his newest piece of literature, then we can see the emotional reaction of people who hate him, and, as a cherry on top, Goethe's own reactions and meltdowns in written exchange with his friends and lovers and social contacts. This results in a burning vision of the late 18th century and beginning 19th century. When reading this book, this period of time is more real, more vivid than the actual year a reader lives and breathes in.

Also, there are ways much harder to understand a little bit of this writer and poet and his times. You know, super dry academical research papers, where even the access password costs you half a car. This text is well written, the general comparison would be Charles Dickens prose style, I guess. Mass market paperback with information for the masses, full of brimming humour and even some lessons about literary techniques, philosophical thinking and build up of arguments in different schools. Oh, and of course, lavish, prodigal, spendthrift analyses of each and every major work Goethe created. If you ever whished for an explanation of Faust II, this is your book.

This book is also a warm invitation to finally pick up some works by Goethe and read them with the joy of a child.

[Heike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wieder einmal hat Safranski es geschafft, mich mit einer Biographie in Bann zu ziehen. "Goethe - Kunstwerk des Lebens" ist eine umfangreiche Goethebiographie, betrachtet Goethe von vielen Seiten. Der Schreibstil von Safranski ist wie immer angenehm zu lesen, an vielen Stellen fast so unterhaltsam wie ein Roman. Manche Sätze sind so herrlich formuliert, daß ich sie mehrfach gelesen habe. Er hält eine gute Balance aus eigenem Text und Zitaten, so daß diese die Stimmen von Goethe und seinen Zeitgenossen hervorragend in de Text integrieren und dadurch für ein noch runderes Bild sorgen, ohne daß zu lange Zitate den Text zu sehr unterbrechen (wie ich es in anderen Büchern schon erlebt habe).

Safranski berichtet über die Geschehnisse in Goethes Leben, aber auch, wie sie ihn beeinflußt haben, wie er dachte und empfand. Wir erleben Goethes Verwandlungen im Laufe seines langen Lebens mit, sehen die Lebenskrisen und auch die Selbstzweifel, die sogar einen Goethe nicht verschonen. Die Beziehungen zu Schwester, Mutter, dem Herzog, Anna Amalia, natürlich Schiller und anderen wichtigen Freunden sind gut dargestellt. Die Beziehung zu seinem Sohn kommt leider viel zu kurz, hier hätte es viel mehr zu berichten gegeben.

Ganz ohne Philosophiererei geht es bei Safranski nicht, aber die manchmal recht trockenen und theoretischen Ausflüge hielten sich hier - anders als bei seiner Schiller-Biographie - zum Glück in Grenzen. Die wichtigsten Werke Goethes werden vorgestellt, hier erfolgte wie auch in der Schiller-Biographie immer auch ein informativer Blick auf Lebensumstände und Gedanken Goethes zur Zeit des jeweiligen Werkes, was das Bild gut abrundet. Das Kapitel zu Faust bietet eine hervorragende Einführung auch gerade in die Komplexität von Faust II - für den Leser, der das Werk nicht kennt ist es informativ und nicht überfordernd; für den Leser, der mit Faust II vertraut ist, ist es immer noch eine gute Zusammenfassung mit interessanten Punkten.

Zum Ende hin kann Safranski sehr gut vermitteln, wie der alternde und immer wieder kränkelnde Goethe mit dem Verrinnen seiner Lebenszeit hadert, wie einsam es manchmal gewesen sein muß, nachdem die Weggefährten starben und Goethe merkte, daß seine große Zeit, die Freundschaft und das Arbeiten mit Schiller, für viele nur noch nicht besonders relevante Vergangenheit waren. Auch die Tatkraft dieses Goethe der letzten Lebensjahre kommt hervorragend rüber. Das letzte Kapitel, in dem Goethe sein Lebenswerk ordnet und zusammenstellt, die Plätze seiner Jugend besucht, ist unglaublich berührend.

Ein tiefgehendes, menschliches und anrührendes Werk ist Safranski hier gelungen.

[Caroline Duggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked initially by Safranski's beautiful style of writing, but was soon impressed by his storytelling and the way he weaves philosophical questions that were pertinent to Goethe with modern day perceptions of these same questions. As a reader, I felt like I was able to step in to, and then step out of, Goethe's viewpoint in a way that felt truthful. Safranski was sympathetic to his subject's will to genius, but was equally sympathetic to the plight of those Goethe managed to crush or neglect in his endless quest for his own authentic life. It was refreshing to find a biographer who did not shy away from the worst in Goethe's character, particularly in his shamefully selfish attitudes to women, and hi failure to save his devoted sister. Neither did Safranski gloss over the negative perspectives revealed in others' correspondence and memoirs. He never tried to redact or reduce the importance of these. Overall I felt immersed in the cultural debates, the philosophical questions of the day, and the history of the Weimar republic and surrounding states. Safranski managed to build this world effectively and make Goethe's role in it something I wanted to understand as much as I wanted to understand his impact on German literature. A majestic book.

[Jos dujardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides all the detail ( and something more than this) that you want to know about Goethe. I never understood ( as a Belgian) why this person had such reknown in Germany. After this book I know better, a complete spectre of all endeavours and thoughts of Goethe is provided. Goethe surprised me as a semi-aristocrat, belonging to the "1%" of the German elite in these days and as a protege of the duke of Weimar. That made his life comfortable to engage in literature and science, and a considerable set of (platonic) love stories. Goethe met Napoleon, Schopenhauer and Hegel. What a life! The biography akso provides a side view on the impact of Napoleon on the german society in that age. Also, his popularity was highly boosted with the upcoming literacy of the population. He was the right man with the right skill at the right time.
I appreciated the discovery of how Goethe constructed his works ( especially Faust) and how he was a "spinozist" in his philosophical thoughts. The best part of the book is the last 100 pages where Safranski provides a master review of the content of Faust.

[Riet · Rating 5 out of 5]

een stevige pil over het leven en vooral het denken van Goethe. Safransky is geen makkelijke schrijver, hij geeft veel stof tot nadenken. Goethe was niet alleen dichter en schrijver van romans en toneelstukken, hij vond zichzelf ook een wetenschapper. Dat laatste deed hij behoorlijk dilettantistisch (is dit een woord?. Ondanks, dat ik deze biografie bijzonder interessant vind, voel ik toch niet zo de behoefte om weer van alles van Goethe te gaan lezen. Dit in tegenstelling tot zijn tijdgenoot Schiller. Die laatste was mij toch sympathieker.

[Raymond Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best biographies of Goethe that I have read. Safranski blends biography, philosophy and literary history in an enlightening manner. I feel that I understand Goethe's scientific endeavors and I am inspired to read some of Goethe's works that I haven't touched since graduate school. My only disappointment is learning that those famous last words "More light" probably never crossed his lips.

[Piet · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing magnum opus. The writer knows all about the long life of a very creative person, who has his peculiarities to say the least.
Nowhere does Safranski critically or morally reproach the great man and he is very empathetic overall.
As a reader who was a nitwit in Goethiania I was somewhat overwhelmed by the flood of facts abounding in this book but I certainly feel it was worthwhile to get to know the genius Goethe a little bit better.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Ton ist manchmal leider etwas betulich. Goethe ist nunmal fest im Griff des Gutbuergerlichen und kann sich dem schlecht entreissen. Vielleicht hat Safranski ein Rezept entdeckt, wie man Biographien so schreibt, dass es dem deutschen Durchschnittsgeschmack passt. Wie dem auch sei, etwas dazulernen kann man immer.