Poll

Can I just make a suggestion for Faust (in case it gets chosen)?

There is a first and a second part. When people generally talk about the story, they almost always talk about Faust I. The second part is generally not seen as being that good. Even Bruno Ganz, a famous (German) actor who portrayed Faust in one of the most iconic productions (of both parts) ever, said in an interview that he has no idea what is going on in the second part of Faust. Our German teacher in high school agreed (I'm Austrian in case you are wondering). She said Faust II is a confusing mess. Because of that, we read Faust I in class, but not Faust II.

The book ID used for the poll contains Faust I AND Faust II:
Faust

If it gets chosen, I would suggest only to read the famous first part:
Faust: First Part.
Faust I is what people usually talk about when they talk about Faust, unless they explicitly specify that they mean both parts or Faust II.

Of course you can read whatever you want, I'm not trying to stop you.
I just wanted to make people aware of this and would like to ask for separate discussion threads for Faust I and Faust II if it gets chosen.

Goethe is to German speakers what Shakespeare is to English speakers (with exceptions, of course). And Faust might be his most iconic work. It's a really great story with lots of layers to uncover and lots to think about if someone is inclined to do so.
I hope it gets chosen, but I think I'm going to read it anyway.

Thanks for all the information regarding Faust. I had no idea about there being parts 1 and 2. Where there are different editions we usually leave members to decide which to read, but it sounds like separate discussion threads for the two parts might be a good idea here. If it wins of course! It's still pretty close at the top!

I am voting for Faust. My translation only has part 1 and is 350 pages (plus notes). The one linked in the poll ”Includes Part One and selections from Part Two ”. I am only planning to read part I – the famous part.

The important thing is not to be put off by the 500+ pages. Part I is not that long.

Pink wrote: "Thanks for all the information regarding Faust."
I'm glad I could be of help :-)
Just to clarify: those are not different editions of the same book. They are different story lines, only connected by a few common characters.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "The important thing is not to be put off by the 500+ pages. Part I is not that long."
Absolutely. That was one of the reasons why I wrote this.
Thanks for voting for it!

I'm voting for something else at the moment but it's far behind right now.

I'd personally love to give Faust another try.
I attempted it a few years back with a bad translation, and just haven't gotten around to getting a better one.

I figured it was going to win, so I'm reading it now, I'm not a fan.

Oh dear Bob. I'm interested to see how it compares to Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe which I enjoyed a lot.

Faust-list with 36 books:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

I did not realise the Faust story had been told so many times.

re Faust I'm not usually keen on reading plays, but apparently (according to wikipedia) it's not a play as such but rather a "closet drama" which is "a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes, out loud in a small group."
so er... I'm in!

J_BlueFlower wrote: "The important thing is not to be put off by the 500+ pages. Part I is not that long. ..."

I actually found the default edition at my local bookstore. Part 1 is actually 420 pages and part 2 is only 80 (it's abridged).

That particular edition is a facing page translation with both German and English. That's why it's so long.