Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Metropolis by Thea von Harbou

Find the pdf version here:
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601...

The story is set in 2026 in a technologically-advanced city, which is sustained by the existence of an exploited class of labourers who live underground, far away from the gleaming surface world. The two classes begin to clash for lack of a unifying force.

Enjoy everyone!! :D

I'm in!

Sounds kind of like The Time Machine.

Anyway I'll start in a couple of days but I keep asking for opinions: book first or movie first?

Good question. Usually I read the book first.

I’d read the book first but that’s only bc I like to see the characters in my mind first.

I'm about halfway through. It's very lyrical and poetic. All about how people were afraid of losing their humanity to industrialized society back then.

Sounds like my kind of book.

Glad you’re enjoying it Book Nerd!

So what does everybody think of the tons of symbolism in this?

The back of my book says "In the literature of Science Fiction, there is no more an underappreciated and ignored piece of writing than Thea Von Harbou's magnificent Metropolis."
I have to agree. This belongs up there with the greats of sci-fi. Some parts are a bit hard to get through because of the language, maybe it's better in German, but totally worth it.
Now I have to watch the movie. I didn't realize it was silent. An almost three hour silent film might be tough to get through too. But it's so highly praised I want to check it out.

I plan on starting the book this weekend.

I am also hoping to start this weekend, I’m glad you enjoyed it Book Nerd. I was debating if I could squeeze it in this month, but will find time as you found it so good.

It's not very long but the language can be a bit complex. I read it in around ten hours, you can probably do it quicker.

I've just finished the first chapter, which is very poetic.
It has also introduced a number of elements which give an indicator of the plot of the book. I'm impressed by the way the author succeeds in doing this.

The movie was weird. In silent movies they have to be really expressive with gestures. The woman who plays Maria plays two parts and the faces and head movements she makes as "evil" Maria were so funny.

I have just finished the book-it was an interesting book. I agree that there is a lot of symbolism in this book.

Book Nerd wrote: "Maybe it's better in German."

The idea that this might be better in German makes me feel better. I didn't know I was reading a translation. I hate to be a downer but what others are calling poetic felt to me laborious and sentimental. And while I respect the ambition of the work, I felt like she crammed too much into too few pages to keep track of. I had a hard time finishing it.

John_Dishwasher wrote: "The idea that this might be better in German makes me feel better. I didn't know I was reading a translation. I hate to be a downer but what others are calling poetic felt to me laborious and sentimental. And while I respect the ambition of the work, I felt like she crammed too much into too few pages to keep track of. I had a hard time finishing it."
Yeah I thought it was poetic but the language was just a little weird sometimes.

I was wondering what Yoshiwara was. It's only mentioned a couple of times and it's not really clear. I found this Yoshiwara

So you have the New Tower of Babel, no mystery there.
You have Rotwang's house that they're constantly reminding you has hexagrams on the doors, representing technology as some kind of new age sorcery. (I would wonder if his name was some kind of joke except it was written in German).
There's Yoshiwara, their Sodom maybe?
And there's the cathedral left over in this city that seems to have no use for it.

Book Nerd wrote: "I was wondering what Yoshiwara was...."

Yeah, the density of her symbolism makes the book enigmatic. One could write a really long review just dissecting all the religious references. I'm about halfway through the movie on YouTube. Silent films are kooky.

John_Dishwasher wrote: "I'm about halfway through the movie on YouTube. Silent films are kooky..."

I think having read the book enhanced my enjoyment of the film. I usually like books better, but this movie was just epic. And since I've never watched a silent film it felt totally fresh. The motivation behind the climax is altered, or maybe left unsaid in the film. That Fritz Lang dude knew what he was doing (understatement). Weird to reply to my own post. :)

I finished this a few days ago and I thought the story was great, but somehow it didn’t hold my attention when I was reading it, even though I wanted to know how it worked out. I’m pleased to have read it but not sure I can sit through the silent film now though.

That might be too much at once, since so many things happen in the book.