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Atlantis
This story, which tells the tale of a doctor who travels to the United States in search of a cure for his ailing wife, includes the tragic sinking of an ocean liner after it strikes an object at sea, strangely resembling the factual sinking of the RMS Titanic.
423 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1912
31 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Gerhart Hauptmann
952 books77 followersGerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.
Life Hauptmann's first drama, Before Dawn (1889) inaugurated the naturalistic movement in modern German literature. It was followed by The Reconciliation (1890), Lonely People (1891) and The Weavers (1892), a powerful drama depicting the rising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 for which he is best known outside of Germany.
Hauptmann's subsequent work includes the comedies Colleague Crampton (1892), The Beaver Coat (1893), and The Conflagration (1901), the symbolist dream play The Assumption of Hannele (1893), and an historical drama Florian Geyer (1895). He also wrote two tragedies of Silesian peasant life, Drayman Henschel (1898) and Rose Bernd (1903), and the dramatic fairy-tales The Sunken Bell (1896) and And Pippa Dances (1906).
Hauptmann's marital life was difficult and in 1904 he divorced his wife. That same year he married the actress Margarete Marschalk, who had borne him a son four years earlier. The following year he had an affair with the 17-year-old Austrian actress Ida Orloff, whom he met in Berlin when she performed in his play The Assumption of Hannele. Orloff inspired characters in several of Hauptmann's works and he later referred to her as his muse.
In 1911 he wrote The Rats. In 1912, Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."
During the First World War Hauptmann was a pacifist. In this period of his career he wrote several gloomy historical-allegorical plays, such as The Bow of Odysseus (1914), The White Saviour (1912–17), and Winter Ballade (1917). After the war, his dramatic abilities appeared to diminish. He wrote two full-length plays that are similar to the early successes: Dorothea Angermann (1926) and Before Sunset (1932). He remained in Germany after Hitler's Machtergreifung and survived the bombing of Dresden. His last work was the Atriden-Tetralogie (1942–46). His works in German were published by S. Fischer Verlag.
Hauptmann died at the age of 83 at his home in Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków, Poland) in 1946. Since the Polish communist administration did not allow Hauptmann's relatives to bury him in Agnetendorf (although even the Soviet military government had recommended this), his body was transported in an old cattle wagon to occupied Germany more than a month after his death. He was buried near his cottage on Hiddensee.
Under Wilhelm II Hauptmann enjoyed the reputation of a radical writer, on the side of the poor and outcasts. During the Weimar Republic (1918–33) he enjoyed the status of the literary figurehead of the new order, and was even considered for the post of state president. Under Hitler he kept his distance from the regime, but never publicly criticized it. This, and the fact that (unlike so many writers and academics) he stayed in Germany, was strongly held against him after the war. A superb collected edition of his works appeared in the 1960s, and stimulated some impressive studies of his work (e.g. those by Peter Sprengel), but the tide of critical and public opinion remained negative. A few of his plays are still revived from time to time, but otherwise he is neglected. He was certainly an uneven writer, but at his best (as in 'The Weavers', his novel 'The Fool in Christ Emmanuel Quint', and the Novellen 'The Heretic of Soana' and 'Das Meerwunder') he can arguably rank with the best of his German contemporaries.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhart_...
Life Hauptmann's first drama, Before Dawn (1889) inaugurated the naturalistic movement in modern German literature. It was followed by The Reconciliation (1890), Lonely People (1891) and The Weavers (1892), a powerful drama depicting the rising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 for which he is best known outside of Germany.
Hauptmann's subsequent work includes the comedies Colleague Crampton (1892), The Beaver Coat (1893), and The Conflagration (1901), the symbolist dream play The Assumption of Hannele (1893), and an historical drama Florian Geyer (1895). He also wrote two tragedies of Silesian peasant life, Drayman Henschel (1898) and Rose Bernd (1903), and the dramatic fairy-tales The Sunken Bell (1896) and And Pippa Dances (1906).
Hauptmann's marital life was difficult and in 1904 he divorced his wife. That same year he married the actress Margarete Marschalk, who had borne him a son four years earlier. The following year he had an affair with the 17-year-old Austrian actress Ida Orloff, whom he met in Berlin when she performed in his play The Assumption of Hannele. Orloff inspired characters in several of Hauptmann's works and he later referred to her as his muse.
In 1911 he wrote The Rats. In 1912, Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."
During the First World War Hauptmann was a pacifist. In this period of his career he wrote several gloomy historical-allegorical plays, such as The Bow of Odysseus (1914), The White Saviour (1912–17), and Winter Ballade (1917). After the war, his dramatic abilities appeared to diminish. He wrote two full-length plays that are similar to the early successes: Dorothea Angermann (1926) and Before Sunset (1932). He remained in Germany after Hitler's Machtergreifung and survived the bombing of Dresden. His last work was the Atriden-Tetralogie (1942–46). His works in German were published by S. Fischer Verlag.
Hauptmann died at the age of 83 at his home in Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków, Poland) in 1946. Since the Polish communist administration did not allow Hauptmann's relatives to bury him in Agnetendorf (although even the Soviet military government had recommended this), his body was transported in an old cattle wagon to occupied Germany more than a month after his death. He was buried near his cottage on Hiddensee.
Under Wilhelm II Hauptmann enjoyed the reputation of a radical writer, on the side of the poor and outcasts. During the Weimar Republic (1918–33) he enjoyed the status of the literary figurehead of the new order, and was even considered for the post of state president. Under Hitler he kept his distance from the regime, but never publicly criticized it. This, and the fact that (unlike so many writers and academics) he stayed in Germany, was strongly held against him after the war. A superb collected edition of his works appeared in the 1960s, and stimulated some impressive studies of his work (e.g. those by Peter Sprengel), but the tide of critical and public opinion remained negative. A few of his plays are still revived from time to time, but otherwise he is neglected. He was certainly an uneven writer, but at his best (as in 'The Weavers', his novel 'The Fool in Christ Emmanuel Quint', and the Novellen 'The Heretic of Soana' and 'Das Meerwunder') he can arguably rank with the best of his German contemporaries.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhart_...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 10, 2020
It's clear why Gerhart received Nobel Prize in literature. It's a great story, a bit heavy and long but it breaks you down, it makes you think and feel. It's a mix of philosophy and history, and drama. Do read.
June 4, 2021
Oleks ehk kiusatus rõhutada seda, et vaid mõned kuud enne "Titanicu" uppumist ilmunud raamat kirjeldab kummaliselt täpselt nii mõndagi detaili sellest ajaloolisest tragöödiast, aga Hauptmanni jaoks pole laevahukk siiski mitte romaani põhiteema, vaid pigem võimalus näidata seda, kuidas jõulised sündmused panevad inimest oma elu ja vaateid ümber hindama.
February 22, 2020
Published a couple of months before the sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ship in this story had eerie overtones.
May 29, 2017
Hasta karısını ve üç çocuğunu geride bırakarak takıntılı bir aşkın peşinden New York'a gitmek için Almanya'dan Roland adlı gemiye binen Dr. Frederick von Kammacher bu yolculukta aslında kendini bulmaya çalışır. Ancak Roland'ın başka bir gemiye çarparak batması gemideki diğer insanlarla birlikte onun da yaşamını değiştirir. Frederick, kazadan sağ kurtulanlar arasındadır. Ve New York'taki yaşamı onu beklemediği serüvenlere sürükler. Kitabın ilk kısmı, Titanik kazasını hatırlatmaktadır. İşin ilginci kitabın yayınlanması ile Titanik kazası aynı yıl gerçekleşmiştir. Hauptmann bu romanını yayıncısına teslim ettikten bir ay sonra Titanik faciası meydana gelmiş. Hauptmann'ın oldukça akıcı ve etkileyici bir anlatımı var. Diğer kitaplarının da en kısa zamanda dilimize kazandırılmasını temenni ediyorum.
April 14, 2020
This novel by the 1912 Noble Prize winner for Literature, was first published in that year. In my honest impression, it isn’t very good. The split plot: part ocean voyage, part settlement in America within a community of artists and later in a rural backwater, when added to the weakness of its central character and the rather tepid attempts at social criticism, all left me somewhat disengaged when not actually quite frustrated. The climatic incident which occurs about halfway through the story was truly horrifying, However, this was told in such a brief manner as to make one wonder if this was such a pivotal turning point for his protagonist in Hauptman’s mind.
In large part a young man’s sturm und drang story, Frederick von Kammacher is simply just not all that likeable a persona. At thirty years of age, he has left his wife in a sanatorium and their three children at a boarding school. His profession as a doctor and career as a writer on bacteriology are similarly abandoned. Besotted with a teenage dancer who truly personifies the thoughtless coquette, he books passage to America on a ship on which he knows her to be a passenger. Of undoubted intelligence and discerning character, he realizes the absolute silliness of his infatuation, but seems powerless to overcome it. In this, the story strongly echoed Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. The panorama of varied characters he meets on the ship brought to mind the similar variety brought to life by Katherine Anne Porter in Ship of Fools. Could both these later works owe something to Hauptmann’s story? I doubt it.
There is the obligatory questioning of the meaning of life, a somewhat absurd willingness to believe in dreams as premonitions and some superficial social commentary on the contrast between the self-indulgent of the hundred or so first class passengers above decks and the four hundred poor below decks in steerage. There are some good passages of writing describing the horrific weather conditions in the north Atlantic during the winter and marvelling at the engineering might of the steamship which fights against these elements. Later, in New York, there is some true soul searching carried on while Frederick tries to develop yet another whim: that to become a sculptor. Then, there is the best part of the work: a rather pointed description of post traumatic stress disorder, from which physicians were to be perplexed encountering it as an effect of the trench warfare conditions in the impending war. They called it ‘shell shock’. That Frederick recovers to a sensibility in which his ‘newly awakened love for the superficial’ leads him to identify himself as a ’bourgeois’ was a conclusion tepid in the extreme.
As a coming-of-age work, this novel fails to engage at anywhere near the level achieved by Salinger’s Holden Caulfield or Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus. It is more of a premature mid-life crisis novel, should there be such a thing. I have to believe that it was more the horrific shock of the Titanic story, coming as it did just after the publication of this work that gave it its status and led to the Nobel.
I’m now going to watch the 1913 Danish silent movie which was based on this book: one of the first instances that I know of in which a novel became the basis for a film.
In large part a young man’s sturm und drang story, Frederick von Kammacher is simply just not all that likeable a persona. At thirty years of age, he has left his wife in a sanatorium and their three children at a boarding school. His profession as a doctor and career as a writer on bacteriology are similarly abandoned. Besotted with a teenage dancer who truly personifies the thoughtless coquette, he books passage to America on a ship on which he knows her to be a passenger. Of undoubted intelligence and discerning character, he realizes the absolute silliness of his infatuation, but seems powerless to overcome it. In this, the story strongly echoed Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. The panorama of varied characters he meets on the ship brought to mind the similar variety brought to life by Katherine Anne Porter in Ship of Fools. Could both these later works owe something to Hauptmann’s story? I doubt it.
There is the obligatory questioning of the meaning of life, a somewhat absurd willingness to believe in dreams as premonitions and some superficial social commentary on the contrast between the self-indulgent of the hundred or so first class passengers above decks and the four hundred poor below decks in steerage. There are some good passages of writing describing the horrific weather conditions in the north Atlantic during the winter and marvelling at the engineering might of the steamship which fights against these elements. Later, in New York, there is some true soul searching carried on while Frederick tries to develop yet another whim: that to become a sculptor. Then, there is the best part of the work: a rather pointed description of post traumatic stress disorder, from which physicians were to be perplexed encountering it as an effect of the trench warfare conditions in the impending war. They called it ‘shell shock’. That Frederick recovers to a sensibility in which his ‘newly awakened love for the superficial’ leads him to identify himself as a ’bourgeois’ was a conclusion tepid in the extreme.
As a coming-of-age work, this novel fails to engage at anywhere near the level achieved by Salinger’s Holden Caulfield or Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus. It is more of a premature mid-life crisis novel, should there be such a thing. I have to believe that it was more the horrific shock of the Titanic story, coming as it did just after the publication of this work that gave it its status and led to the Nobel.
I’m now going to watch the 1913 Danish silent movie which was based on this book: one of the first instances that I know of in which a novel became the basis for a film.
May 18, 2020
I enjoyed the plot and the tension in the first half of the book. Definitely engaging and a nice flow to it. The last several chapters were a bit slow for me, but it was interesting to think of the people during that time in history and the things that were said about the Roland that directly relate to the Titanic.
November 30, 2013
A good, story, but not memorable.
May 19, 2020
Hauptmanns andra roman, utgiven 1912, har kallats han första 'populärroman'. Jag är nog alltför blasé för att uppleva katastrof-temat så thrillerartat. Men filmatiserades redan 1913! (Som dansk stumfilm.) Att den slog an så pass hänger antagligen ihop med parallellerna till att Titanic förliste samma år (14 april). Boken tilldrar sig dock 1892 - och hänvisar till 400-talsjubiléet av Columbus landstigning i Amerika. Romanens tema rör en oceanångares undergång, ur symbolisk och psykologisk synvinkel. Rent Symboliskt är det en hel kulturepoks undergång. Så när skrevs boken? Före eller efter Titanic? Förordet till en tidig svensk upplaga menar att Hauptmann skrev den före skeppsbrottet. Men det är inte säkert att texten var färdigredigerad, även om den symboliska idén fanns redan före Titanic.
En intressant blinkning från författaren, är en replik direkt efter oceanångarens skeppsbrott, när några av de chockade överlevarnas tankar kretsar kring 'om' respektive 'om inte': "You can't undo what has been done. The event is too general, too titanic, to be thought of in such a way, it is too fearful" (p.162) Obs! 'too titanic = alltför gigantiskt. En ledtråd som syftar på fartyget Titanic?
1912 är också året då Hauptmann fick nobelpriset, men han fick det för sin dramatik, även om hans poesi respekterats mer. Sedan skrev han alltså romaner, oavsett om de var populära eller inte. Ett socialt tema som dröjer kvar från hans kollektiva dramatik, är vardagen ombord på ångaren (i romanen kallad Roland) skildrat genom olika samhällsklasser, från lyxen i första klass, betjänter imigranter på mellandeck, ochd e sotiga eldarnas riskfyllda arbete i skeppets mörka innandöme.
Jag har alltså läst denna roman i engelsk översättning, men språket känns så trögflytande, att jag undrar om översättningen påverkats av tyskan, som om översättningen inte är perfekt. I synnerhet som Hauptmanns dramatik har ett lätt flytande språk, och han är ansedd som poet.
Andra delen är något kortare, och intressantare för mig. Den rör vad som händer det lilla antal överlevare från skeppsbrottet, som plockas upp av en liten båt och för dem till New York i ett lugnare tempo. Väl framme chockas de av larmet, stressen, teknikhetsen, komersialismen, enorma skrivmaskinsslamrande advokatkontor, köpta politiker, hyckleri och spel för gallerierna. Allt vi idag ser som USA:s kulturella baksida - fanns alltså redan här. Och här är ännu en skildring av skillnader Amerika vs Europa. Mängder av intressanta symboliska bilder skapas.
Hauptmann använder inga pekpinnar, läsaren får själv avgöra hur texten ska tolkas. Paranormalt elle psykologiskt. Skeppsbrottets 900 drunknade passagerare och några få överlevare som alla exploateras i pressen och på annat sätt, väcker frågor kring meningen med livet. Fann det förutsägelser vi borde ha lyssnat till? Är hela vårt samhälle på väg mot en katastrof? Finns det något vi borde lyssna till och försöka ändra?
Hur än trög min första läsning av första delen var, så känns detta som en roman som akn vinna på att läsas flera gånger. När jag väl läst hela boken blir även första delen av boken mer begriplig.
En intressant blinkning från författaren, är en replik direkt efter oceanångarens skeppsbrott, när några av de chockade överlevarnas tankar kretsar kring 'om' respektive 'om inte': "You can't undo what has been done. The event is too general, too titanic, to be thought of in such a way, it is too fearful" (p.162) Obs! 'too titanic = alltför gigantiskt. En ledtråd som syftar på fartyget Titanic?
1912 är också året då Hauptmann fick nobelpriset, men han fick det för sin dramatik, även om hans poesi respekterats mer. Sedan skrev han alltså romaner, oavsett om de var populära eller inte. Ett socialt tema som dröjer kvar från hans kollektiva dramatik, är vardagen ombord på ångaren (i romanen kallad Roland) skildrat genom olika samhällsklasser, från lyxen i första klass, betjänter imigranter på mellandeck, ochd e sotiga eldarnas riskfyllda arbete i skeppets mörka innandöme.
Jag har alltså läst denna roman i engelsk översättning, men språket känns så trögflytande, att jag undrar om översättningen påverkats av tyskan, som om översättningen inte är perfekt. I synnerhet som Hauptmanns dramatik har ett lätt flytande språk, och han är ansedd som poet.
Andra delen är något kortare, och intressantare för mig. Den rör vad som händer det lilla antal överlevare från skeppsbrottet, som plockas upp av en liten båt och för dem till New York i ett lugnare tempo. Väl framme chockas de av larmet, stressen, teknikhetsen, komersialismen, enorma skrivmaskinsslamrande advokatkontor, köpta politiker, hyckleri och spel för gallerierna. Allt vi idag ser som USA:s kulturella baksida - fanns alltså redan här. Och här är ännu en skildring av skillnader Amerika vs Europa. Mängder av intressanta symboliska bilder skapas.
Hauptmann använder inga pekpinnar, läsaren får själv avgöra hur texten ska tolkas. Paranormalt elle psykologiskt. Skeppsbrottets 900 drunknade passagerare och några få överlevare som alla exploateras i pressen och på annat sätt, väcker frågor kring meningen med livet. Fann det förutsägelser vi borde ha lyssnat till? Är hela vårt samhälle på väg mot en katastrof? Finns det något vi borde lyssna till och försöka ändra?
Hur än trög min första läsning av första delen var, så känns detta som en roman som akn vinna på att läsas flera gånger. När jag väl läst hela boken blir även första delen av boken mer begriplig.
October 7, 2024
Der Arzt Friedrich von Kammacher hat berufliche Probleme und ist unglücklich mit seiner Frau, zudem unterliegt er einer Faszination für eine sechzehnjährige Tänzerin. Und so beschließt er nach Amerika zu fahren an Bord der Roland, um gleichzeitig zu fliehen und dem Objekt der Begierde nahe zu sein.
Das Buch erschien 1912, noch vor dem Untergang der Titanic, und wie an Bord der Titanic fühlt sich der Leser. Die junge Tänzerin mit dem schönen Namen Ingigerd ist nicht so ganz überzeugt, dass der Mann zufällig an Bord ist, und den von seiner Seite auch irgendwie widerwilligen Annäherungsversuchen, kann sie zumindest halbwegs standhalten. Es gibt noch eine paar andere Gestalten an Bord, so ein Heizer, der leider stirbt, aber eigentlich führt alles schnurstracks zum Kentern des Schiffes.
Und dann endlich, so hoffte ich, würde es nach Atlantis gehen. Aber weit gefehlt, von Atlantis keine Spur. Wahrscheinlich ist Atlantis eine Metapher für irgendwas. Aber wenn, dann nur für schlauere Leser erkennbar.
Das plätscherte so dahin, aber statt nun Fahrt aufzunehmen, kommt nun ein elend langer Antiklimax. Friedrich und Ingigerd und eine Handvoll anderer überleben und richten sich nun in den USA ein. Friedrich und Ingigerd haben ein Verhältnis, aber auch kein wirklich innigliches. Er spielt sich als Beschützer auf. Da minderjährig, ist der Vertrag, ihr abgesoffener Vater wollte sie in der neuen Welt tanzen lassen, eigentlich ungültig. Andererseits, als Unglücksüberlebende könnte sie nun richtig Kohle machen.
An der Stelle war ich kurz davor, die Lektüre abzubrechen, aber irgendwie habe ich mich zum Ende gequält. Der Protagonist findet eine andere Frau und wird, glaube ich, Bildhauer und kehrt geläutert in die Heimat zurück. Oder so ähnlich.
Schade, vielleicht ist das Buch gar nicht schlecht, und ich habe mich nur wegen des fehlenden Atlantis in eine Abneigung hineingesteigert, die es nicht verdient.
Hauptmann selbst hatte auch ein Verhältnis zu einer sechzehnjährigen mit Namen Ida Orloff, irgendwo müssen die Stoffe ja herkommen. Und die spielte, lese ich in der Wikipedia, in der Verfilmung des Romans 1913 die Hauptrolle.
Das Buch erschien 1912, noch vor dem Untergang der Titanic, und wie an Bord der Titanic fühlt sich der Leser. Die junge Tänzerin mit dem schönen Namen Ingigerd ist nicht so ganz überzeugt, dass der Mann zufällig an Bord ist, und den von seiner Seite auch irgendwie widerwilligen Annäherungsversuchen, kann sie zumindest halbwegs standhalten. Es gibt noch eine paar andere Gestalten an Bord, so ein Heizer, der leider stirbt, aber eigentlich führt alles schnurstracks zum Kentern des Schiffes.
Und dann endlich, so hoffte ich, würde es nach Atlantis gehen. Aber weit gefehlt, von Atlantis keine Spur. Wahrscheinlich ist Atlantis eine Metapher für irgendwas. Aber wenn, dann nur für schlauere Leser erkennbar.
Das plätscherte so dahin, aber statt nun Fahrt aufzunehmen, kommt nun ein elend langer Antiklimax. Friedrich und Ingigerd und eine Handvoll anderer überleben und richten sich nun in den USA ein. Friedrich und Ingigerd haben ein Verhältnis, aber auch kein wirklich innigliches. Er spielt sich als Beschützer auf. Da minderjährig, ist der Vertrag, ihr abgesoffener Vater wollte sie in der neuen Welt tanzen lassen, eigentlich ungültig. Andererseits, als Unglücksüberlebende könnte sie nun richtig Kohle machen.
An der Stelle war ich kurz davor, die Lektüre abzubrechen, aber irgendwie habe ich mich zum Ende gequält. Der Protagonist findet eine andere Frau und wird, glaube ich, Bildhauer und kehrt geläutert in die Heimat zurück. Oder so ähnlich.
Schade, vielleicht ist das Buch gar nicht schlecht, und ich habe mich nur wegen des fehlenden Atlantis in eine Abneigung hineingesteigert, die es nicht verdient.
Hauptmann selbst hatte auch ein Verhältnis zu einer sechzehnjährigen mit Namen Ida Orloff, irgendwo müssen die Stoffe ja herkommen. Und die spielte, lese ich in der Wikipedia, in der Verfilmung des Romans 1913 die Hauptrolle.
May 29, 2025
It was difficult to read this book, not because of the language or the style or the plot... It was diffucult because the main character got under my skin.
The man is a medical doctor, married with three young children.
He is facing some difficulties in his research career, and his wife is so sick that she is sent to a sanatorium (we do not really know what happened to her, maybe tuberculosis).
So, instead of finding another job as a medical doctor and taking care of his children along with some help, he becomes infatuated with a 16 year old dancer and decides to stalk her all the way to the United States. She is boarding a ship that ressembles the Titanic, along with her father. The ship bears my family name (this has nothing to do with the plot, but it was amusing). She is not in love with him at all, and did not invite him to cross the Atlantic with her.
Our man is clever and educated, but he is also a complete coward. He is also sexist and lacks empathy (that is not surprising since he does not give a second thought to his wife and young children after abandoning them during a difficult time). And it keeps getting worse along the book. Other characters are trying to open his eyes, reason him, educate him even - to no avail.
At least, the sinking of the ship is very detailed and interesting to read.
But wow, not a fun and relaxing read. It feels like reading through 350 pages in the mind of someone you despise.
The man is a medical doctor, married with three young children.
He is facing some difficulties in his research career, and his wife is so sick that she is sent to a sanatorium (we do not really know what happened to her, maybe tuberculosis).
So, instead of finding another job as a medical doctor and taking care of his children along with some help, he becomes infatuated with a 16 year old dancer and decides to stalk her all the way to the United States. She is boarding a ship that ressembles the Titanic, along with her father. The ship bears my family name (this has nothing to do with the plot, but it was amusing). She is not in love with him at all, and did not invite him to cross the Atlantic with her.
Our man is clever and educated, but he is also a complete coward. He is also sexist and lacks empathy (that is not surprising since he does not give a second thought to his wife and young children after abandoning them during a difficult time). And it keeps getting worse along the book. Other characters are trying to open his eyes, reason him, educate him even - to no avail.
At least, the sinking of the ship is very detailed and interesting to read.
But wow, not a fun and relaxing read. It feels like reading through 350 pages in the mind of someone you despise.
August 14, 2018
The storyline itself was good, but the text is full of description of non-essentials and full of philosophical thoughts. Do we really need a minute description of every painting in a New York City pub, for example? I can understand some of the philosophy being in there, but there was a LOT of it. Things like these slowed down the story to a crawl; it could have been told in 1/3 less time and have been vastly improved (IMHO) by the editing.
September 21, 2020
I read this book because the author was a Nobel literature prize winner. Atlantis was interesting, but more as s period piece (written 1912) than anything else.
September 25, 2023
Federico no viaja para buscar la cura para su esposa enferma, viaja siguiendon una absurda obsesión y para curarse a sí mismo, aprendiendo a conocerse y encontrar una razón para vivir.
October 22, 2012
Reminded me of why I hate Victorian literature.
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