Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

It's a decadent history, as the title suggests, that not only speaks of the decline of the family but the people who make it, from every point of view, through four generations are outlined. It was the first work of the author who just received a Nobel Prize for this work was a bestseller and has been made into a film. The most interesting part of the work would be the clear description of his characters. It is part of the culture of the twentieth century even though it is set in the nineteenth century.

Your experience with this book is very similar to mine. I made the resolution to read it, but I struggled through the first 300 pages - it must've taken me a month. Then, however, by chance, I got a 1-week temporary work assignment where all I had to do was sit at a desk and answer a phone that never rang. Having nothing else to do, I plowed through the remaining 300 pages. In doing so, something amazing happened - I really enjoyed the book. It became clear to me that to enjoy this book, one really has to devote 100% attention to it for long periods of time rather than reading bits here and there (as I normally do).
Besides, this novel contained one of my favorite lines in all of literature: "Go to the devil, you filthy, sprat-eating slut!"

The Buddenbrooks motto is: "My son, show zeal for each day's affairs of business, but only for such that makes for a peaceful night's sleep." (page 473). A wise and careful approach to life like that you would think would keep the family going on and on -- but no --- "the storms and shipwrecks of life." (page 590) pull them down. A history (fictional) of a family in a big book that does not seem so big, because of the skillful way it is told, in short well organized chapters.

esta novela es muy buena, esta llena de detalles cotidianos pero de una grandeza incalculable, son los pequenos detalles los que hacen las grandes cosas y esta novela esta llena de ellos. para el lector moderno acostumbrado quiza a un texto corto y a detalles parcos y rapidos, podria resultar tedioso esta sucecion de generaciones, de los budenbrooks. pero esta novela contiene la narracion de una muerte que hasta la fecha no me ha dejado de impresionar, por la riqueza con que es descrita.
muy recomendada. LUIS MENDEZ

A truly sublime work of art. The story is subtle, the writing combines a gift for observation, humor and pathos that really surprised me. Having read "The Magic Mountain", I thought this would have a similar level of accessibility, but instead was treated to a window into another world.

I highly recommend this work -- I was sad when it was over because there was no more of it to read.

Buddenbrooks is Thomas Mann's first novel and arguably his most accessible work. Woods' translation seems to capture a lot of the poetry and musical influences with which Mann imbued the original text, although I don't know how faithful it was to the German. However, what really shines through here is how many of Mann's keen observations about the meaning of family, loyalty, friendship, duty, and simply the nature of life in a small town resonate as powerfully today as they did about 100 years ago when this was written. This is a must-read introduction to Mann.

This is a beautiful narrative, which will stay with you forever, if not in detail then in the musical arc of its composition. The book is about a family, the Buddenbrooks, who are wealthy but not aristocrats, who have as their solid moral foundation the maintenance of the family business. The degree to which each member of the family supports and conforms to this moral code, and the degree to which their personal motives and the turns of fate conflict with them, determines the level of tension at any given point in the narrative.

The narrative moves through the first third of the book in a series of sometimes startlingly short chapters, introducing the characters and the musical threads that will repeat and vary throughout the rest of the novel. It's actually quite refreshing to read, not heavy at all. But the psychological depth is also not there, except in the reader's probable discomfort with the moral code being expressed.

In the second third, after the death of the pious and morally-firm Jean, the first son Thomas assumes control of the family, and the narrative begins to reflect the deep dissatisfaction with the family values that Thomas suppresses for the rest of his life. Thomas's sister, Tony, and his brother, Christian, provide the extremes of adaptation to un-felt values.

Tony begins her theme in a Romeo and Juliet story where Juliet accepts her fate and marries Paris, finding in this surrender the beauty of piety, as exemplified by her father. With great exuberance she literally writes her theme in the family history (a journal/scrapbook). Anyone who does not conform to the moral code of the family is evil (sometimes real, sometimes not), and she finds redemption and purity in expressing her hatred of this evil. At the end, she expresses her doubt in the tenets of Christianity, but never loses faith in the value of the family code.

Christian is the quintessential failure, giving in to personal tastes and psychological self-absorption. He revels in his weakness, constantly referring to his aches and pains, and by being so weak does not succeed in creating an acceptable alternative morality. Thomas sees in his brother that which he hates and suppresses in himself.

Thomas is the balance, and the champion of the moral code. As long as he lives the family business goes on, despite the attacks of global economy and the slippage of occasional moral failures. Only near the end of his life does he question the very values he embodies, in a metaphysical exploration very foreign to the rest of his life.

The final third of the novel is dominated by the music, symbolic and actual, of Thomas's son, Johann. "Little Hanno" is a musical prodigy, a tortured artist if there ever was one. The life and world that he is born into causes him nothing but pain and fear, with his only refuge being his music, and the friendship of a wild aristocratic wolf-boy with literary talent. The final chapters are deep, existential, and brilliantly beautiful in their imagery and metaphor. The end of the novel is nothing like the beginning.

Near the end of the novel, Hanno improvises a piece on the piano which, wonderfully described by Mann, mirrors and resolves the entire narrative. When you read this chapter, you will see that the entire book, and by extension the entire history of this family, has been a musical work.

Sounds very thick, and it is, but it's also a very easy read. You'll be happy you did.

I read the "The magic mountain" by Thomas Mann about a year

ago and was very impressed by it. It was a book about ideas

and discussions, drawing from different standpoints of the

political spectrum. I even went on to rate the magic mountain

as one of the greatest books I had read. Buddenbrooks was

a bit of let down. Its clearly a book written by a coming of

age author, and one can see the author's work mature as the work progresses. I think the Magic mountain is a must read and

Buddenbrooks lacks the intellectual distance that Mann is

capable of. Its a Mann book, and not reading it is like

missing a flower in the garden.

Impossible to explain in words how wonderful I thought this book was. From the first page until the last, I was totally immersed with the story and the characters. I actually felt like I knew these people and felt their joy and pain right along with them. I found it hard to put this book down and was finished with it way before I wanted to be. It's the kind of book you don't want to see end and I feel like I lost some very good friends when it was over. I will definitely re-read this one many times. I highly recommend this book.

Its a great story but some of the descriptions in the book I found to be unnecessarily lengthy and mundane. I was glad when I reached the end of the book rather than the usual feeling one has of having come to the end of a story.

I thought this book was very well written and entertaining but just too long. If you love Mann then read this book, if not, then just read Magic Mountain or Death in Venice.

I've decided to elaborate on my review.

The reason why I think this book is not worth the time is because the topic is too narrow. For the average reader, this book's focus on a German upper-middle class family from the turn of the twentieth century might not grab their attention and hold it for 736 pages. I am interested in German history and culture yet I found myself struggling through sections. I think many people who are introduced to Mann by this work may dismiss him because this book failed to really capture their imagination. For this reason, I think many people can skip this particular work.

As I said I found the book to be quite interesting throughout, but there were sections that did not add to the book. No one but the true Mann fan will read about some of this family's daily minutia completely enthralled. I am a fan of Mann and I certainly had problems with some of the work. I think the book would have been just as good if not better with fewer pages. The book would at least be more accessible if it were shorter.

The writing is superb, the story is very compelling at times and I am glad I read Buddenbrooks, but I can certainly sympathize with some of the negative reviews for this book and I would not recommend this book for any of my friends unless they like Mann to begin with. If I were not interested in Germany, I may have put this book down way before the final page.

This novel, written by Thomas Mann at quite a young age, shows us a novelist who was an excellent observer and chronicler of human characteristics -- the strengths and weaknesses we can see in ourselves and in those around us.

This was my “Big Book Of Summer 2018”.

Many years ago, I saw this book in its original German, and had a fascinating discussion about how this book parallels books like “The Forsyth Saga” and “Upstairs Downstairs”. After reading another review last fall, I decided to give it a chance. There are literally hundreds of pages devoted to this book and this author all over the internet; so I am not going into great detail on the storyline itself, except to say that Mann literally becomes each character in a book that covers four generations of a Northern German family: the Buddenbrooks.

In 1837, as the book opens;Johann Buddenbrook and his wife Elizabeth hold an elegant dinner party. Their four children:Thomas, Antoni, Christian and Clara along with various family members celebrate at a true groaning table, celebrating the end of the Napoleonic conflicts and the beginning of better times.

The story then focuses on the family and its joys and dramas through school, work, love, choices-or lack of them, familial expectations, duty and honor. It is widely believed Thomas’s Mann used his own neighborhood of Lubeck as the basis for this rather long book. However, it reads like contemporary historical fiction (even with this 1993 translation), hooking you early on and keeping you there at births, deaths, struggles and triumphs.

But Mann also stays true to the times, solidly bring this book from 1837-the end of the 1800s; sprinkling historical, theological, ethical, economic and sociological “discoveries”. I do recommend this book with a 4 1/2 star rating and I will be returning to other Thomas Mann books in the future