ゲーテはすべてを言った

by 鈴木 結生

【第172回芥川賞受賞作】
高明なゲーテ学者、博把統一は、一家団欒のディナーで、彼の知らないゲーテの名言と出会う。
ティー・バッグのタグに書かれたその言葉を求めて、膨大な原典を読み漁り、長年の研究生活の記憶を辿るが……。
ひとつの言葉を巡る統一の旅は、創作とは何か、学問とは何か、という深遠な問いを投げかけながら、読者を思いがけない明るみへ誘う。
若き才能が描き出す、アカデミック冒険譚！

Genres: Japanese Literature

200 pages, Paperback

Published January 15, 2025

Reviews

[CJ Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is both the best debut and best Akutagawa winner I have read in a VERY long time. The writing is so assured and fits the tone of the novel perfectly. The ideas on writing and how we interact with the written word are all really intriguing. For a novel that spends most of its time quoting famous writers, it is completely unique amongst contemporary Japanese literature. Can’t wait to read more from Suzuki!

[Michael Choi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's evident that the author is extremely well read. In fact, Suzuki is reported to read around 1,000 books each year. He makes use of his library of references by dropping a lot of literary breadcrumbs throughout the plot, so much so that it does get a bit difficult to read organically. I can see how this could be a bit off-putting for some readers.

The story explores themes of literature, academic integrity, intergenerational dialogue, and the value of derivatives.

Doichi (a fun play on word since the name reads in Japanese like "Deutsche") is an expert in all things Goethe. One day, he comes across a famous line printed on a teabag that appears to have been said or written by Goethe: "Love does not confuse everything, but mixes." As a Goethe expert, Doichi is at once fascinated and disquieted by this line because not only does he not know where it is from, but he also starts doubting his own understanding of the German icon. He then goes down a rabbit hole trying to ascertain the veracity of the source, which leads him to many walks down memory lane, eventually taking him back to Germany itself. Doichi's dilemma is compounded by family drama and the professional downfall of his close colleague, Shikari, who was alleged to have been a bit lax, if not reckless, in checking the references embedded throughout his scholarship.

Doichi's pursuit of the "truth" eventually reaches a fever pitch. Throughout this process, he learns that the derivative of a phrase may resonate with its beholder more so than the original--if such a thing even exists. Everything may have already been said (by Goethe or otherwise), but its the re-wording, re-interpreting, and re-uttering of the same words that often provides a novel and even more compelling meaning. Instead of fixating on who has said what and when, it may be worth taking the statement at face value in the context in which it is said, which meaning will constantly change for many utterances to come. As the author notes at the end: amicorum communia omnia ("between friends, all things are common").

[Jin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to start... First of all, this book has been (or currently still is) a huge bestseller in Korea which was one of the reasons why I read it. The title "Goethe said it all" was intriguing as well since I've chosen Goethe's Faust for my Abitur and had read tons of Goethe literature during my school time. Also, living in Germany, I was curious to see how the author would incorperate Goethe and Germany in his story and I was hoping not to feel an eeriness while reading about Goethe from a Japanese author in a translation to Korean.

To start with: The book is not really about Goethe (obviously). It's more about a person going on a search of honesty, wisdom and transparency within his environment and also his own mind. I do understand why this book has been praised and won a prize. But I don't understand how this could be so popular.

It's not easy to read. When I discussed this book with my husband, he told me that all the literature references were exhausting at some point and I totally agree. I was thinking about a good written homework all the time while going through the pages. Even though I'm a heavy reader myself and know one or two references, this book was loaded all over with some intelligent remarks from well known (literature) names. It was just too much.
This book is definitely not for everyone and even though the author kept a clear line of storytelling and a well crafted story, unfortunately, I wouldn't really recommend this book. One can see that the author put a lot of effort into it but I can't guarantee that this will translate well to a fun journey of reading.

[Juan Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been the best seller in Korea.
While reading this book, I couldn’t stop asking myself this question “Do people actually follow this and understand?”
Before reading this book, I would say my brain had been heavily consumed by IG reels and YouTube shorts for meaningless pleasures.
And I could feel that even more, having a hard time understanding sentences of this book.
I would say it has tons of references so that it might be hard for you to focus on the plot since you have to keep looking up for the citations.
Anyway, to keep it short, I couldn’t believe that my attention span and my reading skill have gotten so bad, convincing myself to blame on the book’s difficulty. (It’s not actually, it was just my inability to lock in)

But at the end, I realized that it is fine to think this book is hard. All the words that famous people have said mean nothing if I don’t consider them meaningful or apply them to myself. What’s important is not living my life by the rules of others, I will say what I feel no matter it’s right or wrong.

If you read this review after finishing the book, you might think this is nonsense. Well, it could be right because you believe it that way!

[📷]

completed in edinburgh:

this is a book that feels enjoyable upon completion.. the reading experience overall felt difficult because there are just way too many references to major authors that im not familiar with (but when camus, dostoevsky, borjes were mentioned i did smile and feel happy)

this also felt like a really long conversation the author wanted to have, has imagined having, or has had in his own life.. felt really real and i could relate to wanting to discuss a great philosopher/thinkers work with family friends and colleagues the way the characters of this novel do ^^

anyway, quite a difficult read (esp in korean as.. i haven’t completed very many books in korean yet) but i’d love to return to it in the future.

it also reminded me of stoner by williams - the bits of academic politics, passion for learning,, the epilogue was also really interesting! great read, im happy i got to pick it up and read it in my mother language.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

ストーリー構成とアカデミアの世界にいる主人公たちの考えや、会話や不器用さが面白く、知識好奇心をくすぐられる本だった。でもやはり私自身にそこまでシェイクスピアや他の引用文献に関する知識がないため、難しいなと思いながら読み進めたページも多々あったので本評価。あと10%くらい難易度が低かったら、毎ページ登場してくる文献や人物についてグーグルに助けを求めずに読み進めることができたはず。それだったらより高評価につながるかな。

[tomo]

• 言葉の“出所”をめぐる探究 → ゲーテの言葉を求める過程が、研究者のキャリアと記憶の地層を掘り下げる旅に変わる。
• 「本当」の意味とは何か？ → 歴史的事実か、心が信じたい「本当」か。問いは読者にも投げかけられる。
• 学問と創作の境界 → 最終的に、研究者としての厳密さより、創作家的な信じる心が勝る瞬間がクライマックス。
• 言葉は祈りである → 結論として、「善い言葉」そのものが、内容や裏付けを超えて、未来への祈りとなる。
• 余韻の余白 → 重くならず、静かに、しかし確かな光を残して物語は終わる。読者自身が“信じる”という行為に立ち会う余地がある。

[Akari · Rating 4 out of 5]

読むだけで、沢山の名言を浴びて少し頭が良くなった気分です。1番のplot twistは、最後の作者紹介で鈴木氏が2001年生まれということかもしれません（もっと歳上の方の著書だと思ってました…！）

[Miyon Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will read again to digest.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

200쪽 남짓의 소설이라고는 믿기지 않을 정도로 높은 밀도를 자랑하지만, 그럼에도 불구하고 플롯을 밀고 나가는 저자의 글맛이 새삼 존경스럽다. 독창성이나 진부함 따위에 유달리 집착하는 이들에게는 특히나 좋은 길잡이가 되어 줄 소설. “모든 것은 이미 말해졌지만, 모든 사람이 말한 것은 아니다.”

[Rachel Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot was not bad. I could see a little bit of Japanese mystery style of plot. All the philosophical talk was not my cup of tea.

[Tu K · Rating 3 out of 5]

참 단란한 가족

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

intellectually academically philosophically pleased fiction

[Sueon · Rating 2 out of 5]

문학더쿠가 책을 쓰면 이렇군뇨..,. 책에 집중을 잘 하진 못햇지만 다시 읽을 것 같진 않아요…,. 약간 논문 읽는 느낌이고 마음의 준비를 하지 못했음 ; 파우스트를 읽도록 동기부여해줌