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The Sorrows of Young Werther

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: October 31, 2020

Discussion: 2020 Novella Tournament

Discussion leader: Christopher

Why we're reading this: October 2020 Novella Tournament
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What Members Thought

Aug 17, 2018 Henk rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Universal and quite modern in themes at times, but I found Werther a frustrating and overly flowery main character
I have fallen, I see, to ecstasy, metaphors and highfaluting and meanwhile forget to tell... - Werther

Rather flowery and quite a few sentences required careful rereading to understand what exactly our young protagonist is trying to say. Also Werther seems rather prone to the usage of exclamation marks which for me gave the text a bit of a breathless teenager sms language vibe. Later ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Oct 14, 2020 Petra rated it really liked it

Not what I was expecting at all.
This was such a melodramatic story. I felt, though, that it dealt less with love than with mental anguish. Werther seemed so up, down, twisted sideways....sometimes all of these directions at one time. It was a crazy ride to read through.
Werther seems to have been a man with no place to feel at home and that led to a lot of obsessive behaviour. It's too bad he focussed this need for home & family on Charlotte.

I really liked Goethe's writing. His words seems time ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2020 Irene rated it it was ok

This novella of a love sick dandy was far too melodramatic for my taste. He needed a good smack upside the head and told to get over himself. Maybe it is a good thing that I did not pursue a career in counseling.

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2013 Genia Lukin rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, 1001-books

If I have to compare between the Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment, I would have to say that, while the Enlightenment gave us many great ideas, Counter-Enlightenment produced better literature.

Werther is definitely Counter-Enlightenment. He's so counter that he practically dissolves in his own romanticism, in the quintessential image of the pallid, unemployed, meandering, emotional artistic type, all heart, all moodiness, who kills himself for love.

The first half of this book is actually a ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 20, 2013 Lauren rated it really liked it

I am trying to keep my opinion of this book and my opinion of Werther separate.

Book: Well written, has a modern feel, just the right length (any longer would have been annoying and boring and I would have started to skim). Goethe has really captured the manic depressive and utterly selfish nature of Werther, and the epistolary format feels real. When I was young and moody and depressed and had gotten myself all worked up, I wrote journal entries that were just like this.

Werther: Selfish jerk. I ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2021 Pamela rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: guardian-1000-read, boxall-1001-read, tonkin-best-100-translation

This epistolary novel is partly autobiographical, and tells the story of a young man’s passion for the beautiful Lotte, who is betrothed to, and later marries, a local man. The kind but stolid decency of Albert contrasts with the tortured Werther, who advocates passionately for the demands of the heart over those of reason, and is eventually driven by his despair to a tragic end.

This was an immensely popular book in its time, a prototype for Romantic works with its descriptions of nature and the ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2020 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, literature, z-reviewed, roundtable, little-literary-novel, pre-1900, z-read-2020, zy-text

Historically important. I found it to be entertaining and exasperating in about equal proportions. Werther is an overprivileged white man (to use an anachronistic phrase) who is allowed to indulge his melodramatic (and illogical) emotions. His arguments for the validity of his feelings and opinions are completely irrational. That said, I did enjoy the whole over-the-top experience. Also, even if you didn't know it before you read it you can tell quite early that this is not going to end well. (v ...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Alasse rated it it was ok

Shelves: 1001-books

Soo, I know this is part of a historical period, and it's very representative of a literary movement and yada yada yada. But seriously, dude - man up already. And I mean this in a very non-sexist way. ...more

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