Goethe: Life as a Work of Art Hardcover – May 16, 2017

This substantial new biography is the first of Goethe in a generation. What is distinctive about it is the author’s interpretations of Goethe’s major works, and his stress on Goethe’s mind. From a young man’s preoccupation with poetry he later focused on living a practical life and was given important government responsibilities in the duchy of Weimar, including supervision of mines and theatre. He also gained scientific interests, particularly mineralogy, and his Theory of Color, on which he spent much time and effort. He had an interest in philosophy. He identified with the pantheism of Spinoza, and took an interest in Hegel and Fichte also.Safronski gives a full explanation of the biographical and historical background of The Sorrows of Young Werther, and his comments on the structure and meaning of Faust, especially Part II are interesting. Hermann and Dorothea he calls an epic, with Homeric aspects, which may be surprising to some. His account of Wilhelm Meister makes no reference to it as a Bildungsroman and regrettably will not give anyone much of an idea of what this book is about. But what he says about The Roman Elegies and West-Eastern Divan is good.Goethe had strong opinions about his fellow writers, mostly negative in the case of the German romantics. He liked Herder and Wieland, and there are many references to the latter writer, but the reader will need to look elsewhere for any kind of introduction to Wieland’s thought and work—a significant lack in Safronski’s book. The account of Goethe’s friendship with, and admiration for, Schiller—which surprisingly lasted for only about ten years before Schiller’s death--was much betterGoethe’s political leanings were neither liberal nor nationalistic. He admired Napoleon—the feeling was mutual—and accepted membership in the French Legion of Honor from Napoleon. He also approved of Metternich’s restriction on press freedom. Something all writers will applaud, however, was Goethe’s success in gaining copyright protection—admittedly applying specifically to his own publications.Goethe loved many women—from his youth to his old age--and might have married any of several. He was not a seducer but he was reluctant to commit, especially in his younger years when he wanted to keep himself free for poetry and from any expectation that he would pursue wealth. Goethe’s own account of his early life in Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth) is more interesting than Safronski’s summary. Goethe had his share of disappointments in love and broke a heart or two. He maintained friendships with a number of women, evidenced by his large and lengthy correspondence with them. After he moved to Weimar and travelled to Italy he became acquainted with sensuality and on his return married a woman very different from all the others. Interestingly, in his later years when the Lotte who inspired The Sorrows of Young Werther became widowed and visited Goethe, they found they had little to say to one another. As a widower in his seventies Goethe fell in love with a very young woman and actually proposed marriage through the intercession of a duke, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. She saw him more as a father figure and never directly responded but he got the message. The poetic consequence of this was one of his most highly regarded poems, the Marienbad “Elegy.”

Several decades ago I took a course on the life and works of Goethe (1749-1832) at the University of Louisville. Since that distant day I have been interested in Johann von Goethe of Frankfurt. He was born into a well to do family and studied law at the University of Leipzig. Goethe was a precocious lad and was close to his sister who died young. He engaged in several love affairs and enjoyed wine, women and song. Goethe became a privy councilor in the small duchy of Weimar in 1775. The self confident young man was a good friend to Duke Karl August. He even accompanied him on military expeditions against the French in 1793-94. Goethe became the rage of literary Europe in `1776 with the publication of his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. He went on to write novels The Apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister and the late work Elective Affinities. He wrote poetry throughout his long life. He enjoyed travel and his favorite location was Italy. He published Italian Journey to acclaim. Goethe had a son August by his longtime mistress Christine whom he finally married. He had many friends including Schiller who induced him to complete his great plays Faust Parts One and Two. Goethe also worked as a privy councilor in Weimar working in the areas of mining, road construction, military conscription and finance. He lived a life of relative affluence and became known as a wise and supreme artist. He was a pantheist and admired Spinoza. In 1808 he met Napoleon. The French Army occupied Weimer during the Napoleonic Wars. Goethe's autobiography is Poetry and Truth. This book is not an easy read. The author Rudiger Safranski delves deeply into the mind of his subject. Quotes by Goethe and others are included within the text. The book has no illustrations. I gave it five stars because of the research by the author and his detailed account of the life of a great artist. David Dollenmayer is the English translator. Goethe comes across as self-centered and his personality could vary from cold to warm. A complicated and brilliant chap! Get to know him better ion this fine one volume life.

A fantastical life led by a brilliant person. He was a conqueror, not of lands but of human creativity and potential. His personal interests stretched from foreign languages, writing, poetry, painting, drawing to science like mineralogy and physics like colors and lastly administrative tasks like minister of state and privy councelor of The Duke of Weimar. His vast interests and achievements rival with that of Da Vinci’s and Leibniz, he is the epitome of the universal man. Even though he wasn’t a genius in everything he did. I must say it was a daring attempt.

Goethe was one of the very interesting creatives from both his own era and European history in general.This publication is everything one could hope for in covering the life of the man and his major works.I thoroughly recommend.

A good translation from the original German. An interesting read, somewhat intellectual, but this is a book essentially for lovers of Goethe - and if you love the man and his works (as I do) you will enjoy this book.

You can’t go too far wrong as a biographer with a life as talismanic, interesting, diverse and eventful as Goethe’s. Safranski gives us all the key episodes and it’s an interesting read.

well written. good translation.

Extraordinario, extraordinario, extraordinario, extraordinario, extraordinario, extraordinario, t asi sucesivamente hasta cumplir con las palabras requeridas para cumplir con su perición