Name: The Sorrows of Young Werther
Brand: LIBRAIRIE COREENNE
SKU: 134746
Price: 18.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

The Sorrows of Young Werther

€18,00

The Sorrows of Young Werther

Description

Book Introduction

The representative work of Goethe, a young man who led the Storm and Stress era, Fever of Youth, a name that became a symbol of impossible love, the first German novel to become a world bestseller, “Is it really inevitable that what makes people happy can also be the source of their unhappiness?” In the spring of his 25th year, Goethe fell in love with Charlotte Buff, who was already engaged.
Despairing over his unrequited love for her, Goethe ran away and returned home.
Afterwards, he heard the news that his friend Jerusalem had committed suicide because she had feelings for a married woman.
Goethe, in a state of apparent intoxication, wove together stories from Jerusalem and his own experiences to complete his controversial work, The Sorrows of Young Werther, in just 14 weeks.
As soon as this work was published in 1774, it completely captivated young readers.
There were cases of men who had been disappointed in their love committing suicide like Werther, young men wearing yellow vests and blue shirts, and women wishing to be loved like Lotte.
This masterpiece by the young Goethe, who led the 'Storm and Stress' era, and which has the most readers worldwide, has touched the souls of young people around the world who are suffering from the fever of love.
The vitality and pure passion that comes from the vivid experience of love in youth are rarely depicted so delicately and beautifully.

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Into the book

What breaks my heart is the erosive power hidden within Mother Nature.
What that very power creates is the destruction of that person's neighbors and of that person himself.
Thinking of it, surrounded by heaven and earth and all the forces at work there, I stagger anxiously.
All I see is a monster that devours forever and chews forever.

--- p.88

One hot summer day, while walking with Lotte, I looked down sadly at the shade of the willow tree where I had rested, but now that place was also submerged in water, and even the willow tree was barely recognizable.
I wondered what had become of Wilhelm, her ranch, and the area surrounding her hunting lodge.
I wonder how badly our sperm has become, swept away by the torrent by now.
--- p.170

My dear friend, what is this? I am afraid of myself, I am astonished at myself! Wasn't my love for her pure and holy, a love like that of a brother and sister? Have I ever harbored a single sinful wish or a wicked desire in my heart? Of course, I can't swear.
But I had a dream.
Ah, what a mysterious night it was, with all these contradictory interactions! Even the mention of it makes me tremble.

I hugged her with both arms, held her close to my chest, and kissed her lips with endless passion as she whispered words of love.
My eyes were wandering in her ecstatic pupils.
God, if I still recall that burning joy with a longing deep in my heart, and sink into a state of bliss, am I truly committing a sin worthy of punishment? Lotte! Lotte, I feel I have reached the end! My thoughts are confused, and I have lost my ability to reason for a week now.
My eyes are filled with tears, I feel bad wherever I go, and it doesn't matter where I am.
Since I have no desire for anything, I think it would be better to leave.

--- pp.171-172