The Thomas Mann Group discussion

Dear All,

Tomorrow is the official finishing day for the Group read of Buddenbrooks. Given the interest that most of you have expressed in continuing reading more books by Thomas Mann, Kris and I thought that the best would be to rename this Buddenbrooks Group as the Thomas Mann Group. You will see the change to the Headings and Pictures in the coming days.

Thank you very much to all of you for participating in this group read. Most of you have been very active in the discussions and we have all benefited from different interpretations and viewpoints. There have been great comments on the historical background, on biographical aspects of the author, on psychological nuances, on stylistic details, etc... This has enriched our reading greatly.

One of the benefits of transforming the Group into one of dedicated to the author is that the BB discussion will remain open. Some of you may not have been able to finish it according to the suggested schedule. Or later joiners in the group may want to read BB at a later date.

Since most of us are doing other readings and are participating in other groups we will continue to keep the reading pace rather leisurely and will also establish breaks between novels.

Next novel will be The Magic Mountain (TMM). The suggested reading schedule will be published around mid July, and will start about a month later, in mid August, which gives us one and a half months break. We plan to take around two and a half months to read TMM, because it is longer and more complex than BB. We shall be finishing at the end of October.

For those who will not be reading it in the original, the suggested translation into English will be again by John E. Woods and the Everyman’s Library edition is a lovely hardback at a reasonable price. Of course, any translations into any other language are also more than welcomed.

For those of you who have or will be writing a review of BB, please do not forget to post a link in the Thread dedicated to the Member’s reviews.

Anyway we are looking forward to meeting you again soon with The Magic Mountain.

Kris and Kalliope.

BTW, I am having some technical difficulties when trying to add a new photo for the group. I'll try again a little later.

I've always wanted to read this after reading Buddenbrooks. I have to find my copy up in the attic!

You have some time to locate it, Cynthia! :)

I know it has a yellow cover. The only problem is the heat up there.

Ugh. I remember digging around attics in the summer. Hopefully the temps will cool down a bit soon. (Ha!)

Have just ordered my copy today, a bit surprised that it's not available on Kindle, but hey, the Book Depository is cheaper than You Know Who anyway (even though they are owned by the same people).

I'm so glad you're joining us, Lisa. I was worried about the timing for you.

I have to check the translator of my copy. I read The Brothers K this year only to have a friend, whose knowledge I trust, tell me that my translation was crap.
I don't want that to happen again.

You definitely will want to read John E. Woods' translation -- available in hardcover from Everyman (The Magic Mountain), or in paperback (The Magic Mountain).

I think I'll order my copy tomorrow. Loved the sample bit I read at Amazon. I think this is really going to be good.

So do I. I last read this novel when I was in high school, so I anticipate getting much more out of it in the group read -- and I loved it then.

Kris wrote: "You definitely will want to read John E. Woods' translation -- available in hardcover from Everyman (The Magic Mountain), or in paperback (The Magic Mountain)."

I think I have the VIOLENTLY PINK (srsly, Pepto-Bismol) cover with the seventies fat black lettering, which is probably a shitty translation. Hah.

I had a brain freeze when writing the new group intro, and recommended that everyone looking for an English translation read John Waters' translation -- which would be an entirely different thing (and could be in a violently pink cover with seventies lettering, come to think of it....).

I don't understand why Woods' translation isn't out as an ebook in the US. It's quite frustrating. I like having the ebook as well as the hardcover.

It would be nice to hve the ebook available. One I really wish was available in ebook is A Suitable Boy since it comes in over 1000 pages.

I LOVED Buddenbrooks (my first exposure to Mann) and look forward to reading The Magic Mountain.

I' m looking forward to this one as well. Buddenbrooks was my first group read, and the comments and background from other readers was invaluable.

I will be on holiday in mid August but I'll try to catch up with the reading schedule when I come back. Really looking forward to this group read because I felt out of my depth when I read TMM some years ago and I know it'll be a different experience now thanks to all the enlightening comments that will be sure to ensue.

Hi everyone.
I joined the Buddenbrooks discussion too late to get to know you all or to take part properly but I hope to participate more fully in The Magic Mountain discussion.
Thanks to Kalliope and Kris for setting up this Thomas Mann group.
I look forward to reading other Thomas Mann works, in particular, Doctor Faustus, in the future.

I'm looking forward to this group read also. Really enjoyed Buddenbrooks. I have a copy of MM already.

This is cool! Will you guys be setting up threads for his other works as well?

To my shame, I must admit that I'm a Thomas Mann virgin, to the extent even that I've not even read Death in Venice yet, a lack which I am working at repairing as we speak. Luckily it's short..

I'm so glad to see so many people returning for TMM read -- Dharmakirti, Diane, Dolors, Laima. Fionnuala, so glad you're joining us from the beginning. And great to see you, Trav! We are planning to read more of Mann's work as time goes on, definitely.

I'm here for TMM too! Hello, all!

I'm so glad, Teresa!

I'm in. Book ordered.

That's great, Kim -- so glad you are joining us. :)

Thanks, Kris! I would really like to read this book. I may in fact join you. :)

That would be lovely, Jason. :)

How was your vacation?

It was fantastic.

Oh, wow!!!!

I met some Goodreaders while I was out in Seattle, too!

Whom did you meet?

Oooh, nice grammar. I met Eh?Eh! and Sarah Montambo. I don't know if you know them. Eh?! is very active on here. Sarah used to be. I put a picture in my profile.

http://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/4...

They were both super sweet. We all went out to dinner and ate delicious food. It was perfect.

That's a great photo. I'm so glad it was such a great trip. :)

It was! Coming back was pretty exhausting though. We were supposed to fly back through a layover at SFO, but then that plan changed due to the crash. (This was Saturday.) So we were stuck in Seattle for an additional 12 hours and then were re-routed through DCA.

Oh, well. (It's tough to complain when you weren't on the plane that crash-landed.)

I understand what you're saying -- it's tough to have travel plans up in the air for so long, especially when traveling with kids at the end of a vacation. Thank goodness you just had to deal with delays and not crashes, though.

We definitely made it home in one piece!

(Well. Four pieces.)

I'll definitely join you as well - this has been on my list for a long time and I've tremendously enjoyed both the Buddenbrook's themselves as the discussion here.

I'm so glad you are joining us again, Julia!

I really want to read more of Thomas Mann too. I'm a little behind with Buddenbrooks but I'm almost done with it, I just have the final part left.
I'll join you again with the next group reads.

Hi there, I'm hoping to join you for The Magic Mountain. I'm another one who'll need to go hunting the shelves for our copy. It must be hiding somewhere.

Well done on your progress in Buddenbrooks, Ellinor. I'm so glad you'll be joining us for TMM too.

And hooray Karen! So happy to have you along. I may end up finding my battered copy that I got in high school in 1984, just to look at it -- I have a feeling the translation is awful. I'll be sticking with my new Everyman edition this time through.

Kris wrote: "I had a brain freeze when writing the new group intro, and recommended that everyone looking for an English translation read John Waters' translation -- "

HA, THAT IS AWESOME. Now I am sad it does not exist.

Ellinor wrote: "I really want to read more of Thomas Mann too. I'm a little behind with Buddenbrooks but I'm almost done with it, I just have the final part left.
I'll join you again with the next group reads."

You still have one month until we start TMM, Ellinor.

·Karen· wrote: "Hi there, I'm hoping to join you for The Magic Mountain. I'm another one who'll need to go hunting the shelves for our copy. It must be hiding somewhere."

Great...!!!, and you will read it in the original...!!!

Kris, my copy is the wrong translation. How big is the print in your copy? The library copy has very small print. I think it's Vintage.

Cynthia, I have the Everyman's hardcover. Print is definitely on the smaller side, although not as small that in the copy of The Island of Second Sight that I just read. And there's a reading ribbon!

Kalliope wrote: "and you will read it in the original...!"

Ooh, someone we can pester with translation questions!

Moira wrote: "Kris wrote: "I had a brain freeze when writing the new group intro, and recommended that everyone looking for an English translation read John Waters' translation -- "

HA, THAT IS AWESOME. Now I a..."

That's one I'd read...especially if it was abridged.

And the film version would be a must-see. :)