About this title: Mann's first novel was unusual for its time (1901) because, instead of focusing on a single character (as in the popular Bildüngsroman), it was a family saga, a chronicle of the Buddenbrook family over four generations. This large and multi-faceted family, its business successes combined with an intense interest in music and the arts, is shown at the height of its power and wealth, and is followed through its slow decline, culminating in the death of young Hanno, the last of the line, at the age of 15. The novel was an imperfectly disguised biography of Mann's family, and shocked his home ...
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Description: Very Good. 0394701801 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780679752608ISBN:0679752609
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Near very good, tightly bound, little edge wear, some underlines etc. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 736 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Acceptable. May have wear or tear to spine, edges and or cover. Creases in spine. Bent/rounded corners. May have highlighting/notes. read more
Binding: Mass Market
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1957
ISBN-13:9780140012149ISBN:0140012141
Description: Fair. 1957 Mass PB. Penguin Books. 591 Pgs. Some reader notes/underlining. Binding solid with bottom third of spine reinforced with clear tape. Cover with heavy shelf/edge wear. Corners bumped/creased. Few inside pages with corner creases also. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York
Date Published: 1961
ISBN-13:9780394701806ISBN:0394701801
Description: Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. Light edgewear to the covers. Some page toning. Otherwise a clean, tight copy with an uncreased spine. Translated by H.T. Lowe-Porter. Later printing. read more
Edition: V-180.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1961
ISBN-13:9780394701806ISBN:0394701801
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover and spine creasing, Moderate cover soiling, top corner page edges. Age-toning. Trade paperback (narrower than standard). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. Mann's first novel, published originally in 1924 in English, copyrighted in Germany, 1901. Consul Buddenbrook and his family in the late 1800s represented a cultural lifestyle in Germany during an era that would bring change to their family unit. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Knopf, NY
Date Published: 1953
ISBN-13:9780140012149ISBN:0140012141
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Signed by previous owner. Text in English, German. 587p.; 19 cm. Cardinal edition. Vintage paper/ This translation originally published in 2vols., London: Secker, 1924. Originally published as 'Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie'. Berlin, 1902. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780679752608ISBN:0679752609
Description: Good-Used in None as Issued jacket. / 0679752609. First Vintage International Edition. Has some shelf wear. Ships with confirming email. 100% money back guarantee. read more
Description: Good. 0679417370 Ex-library, with expected library markings. Binding is tight & square. Contents are crisp, clean, complete and undamaged. Book was donated to Friends of the Omaha Public Library. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Date Published: 1957
ISBN-13:9780140012149ISBN:0140012141
Description: Good. Book cover-The cover of this book is creased or has markings in accordance with the book's age. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
"Buddenbrooks (subtitled 'Decline of a Family') is a lengthy family saga set in Germany in the mid-19th century. The most prominent character is Antonie ('Tony') Buddenbrook, who is introduced as an eight year old child at the opening of the novel, and is present as a fifty-year old at the end. Only slightly less prominent is her brother Thomas, upon whose death near the end of the story the family business is broken up, marking, in an economic sense, the end-point of the family's decline. A third sibling, Christian, makes episodic appearances.
The book deals with the merchant class of an unnamed North German town, and their peers, and Mann describes in immense detail their houses, dress, social customs and physical appearance.
The story consists of a chronological sequence of events such as banquets, christenings, council elections and discussions of family affairs. The principal characters are devoid of significant moral or intellectual qualities or force of character, and indeed possess virtually no qualities that the reader might admire.
Although the theme of the story is ostensibly the decline of the economic fortunes of the Buddenbrook family, Mann provides virtually no information about the detail of the family's business activities and thus about the play of forces that reduces the family's fortunes.
Mann deals with the decline of the family in a dynastic sense by the simple expedient of giving only one of the siblings, Thomas, a male child, and killing off this child, Johann ('Hanno'), in his mid teens, shortly after the death of his father. Mann describes Hanno's death from typhus over four pages with an immense amount of clinical detail but total lack of empathy. Christian's slow decline into insanity, and Tom's painful death as the consequence of an infected molar and a botched attempt to remove it, are described in a similarly detached manner.
This is a desolate, soulless and ultimately pointless book."
"Epic. Never really a fan of family sagas, but picked the book up anyway because it is Thomas Mann. This guy is an absolute genius. The book, despite its bulk, is very accessible without being tedious, maybe because of its translation, but Thomas Mann is known for his leisurely prose. He could be funny even when the subject is depressing, and every sentence is pumped out without being overworked.
Sadly, you probably would appreciate this book more if you were German from the Hamburg sort of region. There are times when you know that the dialogues carry a lot ofmeaning, but it isn't really transparent in its English translation. Mann is a master of the German vernacular, but this lustre is lost in English, unavoidably. The translator of my old Penguin version, Lowe-Porter, acknowledged this before anything else, so all is forgiven."
Trente ans après sa parution, Les Buddenbrook figure au nombre des livres brûlés dans les autodafés. Les chemises br
unes hurlent sous les fenêtres de Thomas Mann qu'une " famille allemande, une famille de la race élue ne peut jamais déchoir ".
Les Buddenbrook est le roman du déclin, le livre de l'essoufflement.
Thomas Mann traque dans cette dynastie marchande les prodromes du désastre. L'observation de soi-même est le premier pas vers le déclin. Car s'observer, c'est s'empêcher d'agir, s'empêcher de vivre.
*
L'action se situe à Lübeck entre 1800 et 1875.
Ce roman décrit l'histoire d'une riche famille de négociants. A la fin du XVIe siècle, un Buddenbrook, le premier de ce nom, vit à Parchim ; son fils est élevé à la dignité d'échevin à Grabau.
Un autre Buddenbrook, tailleur d'habits, s'est marié à Rostock.
Plusieurs années plus tard, le grand-père de l'aïeul est venu s'installer pour y fonder un commerce de grains. Le 7 juillet 1768 marque dans les archives familiales la date de la fondation de la raison sociale "Buddenbrook".
Le centenaire est fêté dignement par leur descendant, le sénateur Thomas Buddenbrook."
"An eye-opening epic tale of the decline of an aristocratic family as told by one of the world's great authors. It is the story of what happens to a family clinging to the antiquated tradition that your birth determines your destiny, not hard work or personal gifts.
What works for this novel is that none of the characters are particularly loathsome. It's easy to hate the rich man who treats people poorly, but what of those well-born people who are kind to their servants and are truly nice people? It opens your eyes to the reality that there were (dare I say are) decent people in the world who (still) believe that the family into which you were born makes some people more worthy of money than others. And that's a hard pill to swallow, even in 2009."
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