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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAn isolated community in the Swiss Alps serves as a backdrop for a novel that explores human nature and morality. Distanced from the rest of the world, Castorp finds himself in a place where time can so easily slip away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surrounded by a cast of unusual characters and dizzying miles of snow, Castorp and the reader are caught between reality and ambiguity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Magic Mountain is one of those books that we\u2019re often told we have to read. However, at over 700 pages, it\u2019s not a project you can undertake lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But The Magic Mountain really is as good as everyone says it is \u2014 you just have to be willing to commit to a novel that will shake your own perception of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And speaking of massive books, do you know what is the longest Harry Potter book?<\/a> It’s gigantic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s 1912, and Hans Castorp is about to embark on his career as a shipbuilder. An orphan, he was raised first by his grandfather, and then by his uncle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before starting work, Castorp decides to take a trip to visit his cousin, Joachim Ziemssen. Ziemssen is living in a Swiss Alp sanatorium, where he\u2019s receiving treatment for tuberculosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaving behind his family and obligations in \u201cthe flatlands\u201d, Castorp journeys to the introspective world of the sanatorium. Here he finds fresh air, fresh thinking, and the types of people he\u2019s never met before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Castorp\u2019s attempts to leave the sanatorium are delayed by his ill health. A slight infection soon reveals itself as a potential sign of tuberculosis. Castorp is persuaded to stay in the mountains until his health gets better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the next seven years of treatment, Castorp finds himself exposed to a series of unusual characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the Italian humanist to the Jesuit totalitarianism, Castorp is surrounded by the types of people he never met as a child of Hamburg merchants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But for all that the fresh mountain air might invigorate Castorp\u2019s mind, the threat of tuberculosis prevents life in the Alps from ever becoming idyllic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it\u2019s impossible to ignore the looming presence of war that casts a shadow over even the most remote corners of Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you dive into The Magic Mountain<\/a>, it\u2019s worth understanding the time and place the novel was written in. The Magic Mountain is deeply informed by the surroundings of its creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published in 1924, Mann began writing The Magic Mountain in 1912 as a comedic novella that played on aspects of his earlier novel, Death In Venice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The writing of the novel was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. German Mann was supportive of his nation-state \u2014 at first. He even published essays celebrating the German Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when WWI finally came to an end in 1918, Mann was a different person. He no longer supported the German Empire, had grown critical of European bourgeois society, and was probing deeper into his own long-held points of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1919 Mann returned to writing The Magic Mountain, surrounded by a very different Germany, and a very different mindset, to the one he started with. The novel was eventually published in 1924.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Magic Mountain takes place primarily in a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps. Our protagonist, Castorp, heads to the mountain at the end of the first chapter, and he doesn\u2019t head back down until the very end of the novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life in the sanatorium is full of contrasts. The residents are a diverse group of people, coming from across Europe. Their primary connection is their illness \u2014 those who live in the sanatorium are trapped there by illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each character represents a different attitude of the pre-war years. The Magic Mountain is set in the years leading up to WWI, and the specter of war plays an undeniable role in the unfolding procedures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not quite a classic Bildungsroman, The Magic Mountain depicts Hans Castorp as he journeys from youth into adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But while the Magic Mountain has many of the expected beats and themes of a Bildungsroman, it never sits entirely comfortably in the genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Castorp learns about art, morality, love, and death during his time on the mountain. He hears from different viewpoints, learns about different ways of living, and is ready to leave the sanatorium as a mature member of society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when Hans Castorp finally reaches adulthood as expected in a Bildungsroman, polite society isn\u2019t around to appreciate it. Instead, Europe is at war, and Castorp\u2019s new fate consigns him to life as a faceless soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way, if you need a deeper dive into morality, faith, philosophy, and a host of other great themes, check out our “Is Life of Pi a true story?<\/a>” post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Magic Mountain is an intimidating read. Originally published as two volumes, the average length of the paperback is 720 pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it isn\u2019t the staggering length that makes The Magic Mountain such a difficult book to tackle \u2014 it\u2019s the ambiguity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world of the mountain is both removed from everyday life and unable to escape its influences. With residents coming from across the continent, the sanatorium features a snapshot of life in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as new styles of thought emerge from an old society, opposing attitudes begin to collide in a way that would soon prove violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But The Magic Mountain is also a step away from all that. While it\u2019s hard at first to understand why Castorp is so willing to turn his three-week visit into a seven-year ordeal, over time, can\u2019t we all sympathize with his staying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe it\u2019s the rarefied air of the Alps or maybe it\u2019s the opportunity to distance yourself from the struggles of the flatlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that life on the mountain is without its difficulties. Perhaps Mann\u2019s greatest brilliance is his portrayal of sickness. Illness resonates not just through the bodies of the afflicted but through their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Castorp is diagnosed with tuberculosis and becomes one of the \u201chorizontal\u201d, he almost comes to relish the repetitive nature of the treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Death itself is another figure that exists both in the foreground and the background. The invisibility of death plays heavy on the minds of mountain residents, while also becoming almost the elephant in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drawing from folk tales and mythology (If you like stories based on folk tales, also check out Coraline<\/a>), The Magic Mountain is woven with ambiguity throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The epic chapter \u201cSnow\u201d \u2014 following Castorp as he battles through a blizzard and his hallucinations \u2014 leans heavily into the sense of unreality. At the end of the book, it\u2019s hard to pin down what any of it was really about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, of course, life on the mountain is riddled with magic and allegory. Surrounded by slippery white snow and the constant presence of death, it\u2019s easy to lose touch with what\u2019s real and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the residents, time itself has become almost meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Magic Mountain: Synopsis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Magic Mountain: History And Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Writing Process<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Setting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Style<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Magic Mountain: Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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