The Magic Mountain (Complete in 2 Volumes)
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Summary
The Berghof becomes a "magic mountain" where he loses all sense of time and forgets life's duties and purpose. Seven years later, the First World War breaks out; the guns finally awaken him, and spurred by so-called "patriotism" he goes off to the front. Through dialogue, symbolism, dreams, debate, monologue, and other modern modes of expression, the author brings into full relief the spiritual disorder and ruin of the Western world.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with a strong interest in early twentieth-century European intellectual history and cultural atmosphere
- Literary enthusiasts seeking a deep reading experience and undaunted by long philosophical dialogues
- Thinkers hoping to explore eternal questions of time, illness, death, and the meaning of life
- Readers who appreciate Thomas Mann's delicate psychological portraiture and command of grand structure
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking fast pacing, strong plot, and clear story resolutions
- Readers impatient with philosophical speculation and lengthy argumentation
Reading tips
- Set aside ample, uninterrupted reading time and immerse yourself in the novel's distinctive slow, dense flow of time.
- Pay attention to the core disagreements in the debates among Hans Castorp, Settembrini, and Naphta; this is key to understanding the novel's intellectual conflict.
- After finishing Volume One, pause to consider the shifts in the protagonist's mindset before entering the more symbolic and surreal Volume Two.
About the publisher
The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 魔山（上卷）
- 序一 《杨武能译德语文学经典》序
- 序二 文学经典翻译与翻译文学经典
- 自序 天时·地利·人和 成就译翁“一世书不尽的传奇”
- 代译序 《魔山》：一个阶级的没落
- 引子
- 第一章
- 抵达
- 三十四号
- 在餐厅里
- 第二章
- 洗礼钵和祖父的双重形象
- 在迪纳倍尔舅公家——关于汉斯·卡斯托普的品性德行
- 第三章
- 一本正经
- 早餐
- 愚弄·最后的晚餐·中断了的快活
- 意大利撒旦
- 思想敏锐
- 多说了一句
- 当然，一位女士
- 阿尔宾先生
- 意大利撒旦不体面的建议
- 第四章
- 必要的采购
- 顺便说说时间
- 他试着讲法语
- 政治上可疑
- 希培
- 心理分析
- 怀疑与思考
- 席间对话
- 不断加剧的忧虑——两位祖父荡舟在黄昏时分
- 体温表
- 第五章
- 恒久不变的汤与恍然大悟
- “我的天，我看见啦！”
- 自由
- 喜怒无常的水银柱
- 百科全书
- 关于人体的学问
- 钻研
- 死的舞蹈
- 瓦普几斯之夜
- 魔山（下卷）
- 第六章
- 变迁
- 又来一位
- 关于上帝之国和恶的解脱
- 勃然大怒，再加一点令人十分难堪的情况
- 进攻失败了
- 神圣的事业
- 雪
- 好样儿的士兵
- 第七章
- 海滨漫步
- 荷兰绅士佩佩尔科恩
- “二十一点”
- 荷兰绅士佩佩尔科恩（续）
- 荷兰绅士佩佩尔科恩（完）
- 麻木不仁
- 妙乐盈耳
- 疑窦重重
- 狂躁
- 晴天霹雳
- 附录 我译《魔山》二十年
- 补记
FAQ
Is The Magic Mountain difficult to read?
What symbolic meaning does the "magic mountain" have in the novel?
Why is this novel called a "novel of its era"?
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About the author
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) was a German novelist and essayist and a leading figure of twentieth-century German realist literature. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929 for Buddenbrooks, and his other major works include The Magic Mountain, Death in Venice, and Doctor Faustus. His writing probes the tensions between the artist and society and between reason and decadence, in a style both disciplined and deeply reflective. During his exile he firmly opposed the Nazis, and his stance and creative work together shaped the intellectual image of modern German literature. The library holds 21 of his works, spanning foreign literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and social novels.
Yang Wuneng is a Chinese translator known for his long-term work in introducing German-language literature into Chinese. Public information about him is limited, and his dates of birth and death, nationality, and educational background remain unclear. Judging from the twenty-four works held in the collection, his translating centers on classics of German and German-language literature, including Goethe's Faust and Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund and Siddhartha: An Indian Poem, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, and Schiller's Intrigue and Love, as well as Selected Lyric Poems of Heine and the Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales: The First Edition of 1857. These translations are mostly classified under foreign literature, world classics, and folk literature, indicating that his work spans both retranslating classics and conveying poetry and fairy tales. As far as the visible works suggest, his translations seek to preserve the intellectual depth and linguistic rhythm of the originals while remaining readable, offering Chinese readers a relatively reliable access to German literature.
