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This is another book that I had never heard of before reading from this list, although I had heard of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The initial premise of comparing human relationships to the scientific was interesting to me, and I did enjoy the philosophical aspects and discussions contained within the story. The beginning started out strong, and I was intrigued to see how the characters were brought together and began developing more complex relationships. However, it really dragged for me through the middle. Then in the end, things started happening again in tragic style, but I didn't feel any strong emotional connection. I didn't care at all which characters died or what happened to them otherwise, and that means that to me something is missing from the story.

Rating: 3 stars

A couple of my GR friends gave this a 5 star rating, so I was curious. In hindsight, I'm not sure why they gave this the rating that they did. I read his more famous book, The Sorrows of Young Werther, a few years back and liked it. In the book, a wealthy couple welcome some younger visitors into their home. The couple each fall for one of the guests. While one of the spouses decides to stay true to the marriage, the other decides to follow through with the new relationship. Like a lot of books from this time period, tragedy ensues, leading to a dramatic conclusion.

I thought this would be difficult to read because, you know, it’s Goethe. I understand it’s supposed to be an exploration of a scientific principle applied to humans, but it’s really a soap opera. I enjoyed it well enough until the final few chapters, which didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the book.

⭐⭐�� 1/2
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Goethe advocating shopping: “Since what is pleasant about you extends even to your clothes, your good qualities seem to appear in a new and more charming light if you provide them with a new background.��

“Actually my dear, it is our own fault if we are surprised in this fashion. We do so like to imagine that earthly things are so very permanent, and especially the marriage tie. And as to that, we are misled by all those comedies we see so much of into imaginings which are quite contrary to the way of the world. In a comedy we see a marriage as the final fulfilment of a desire which has been thwarted by the obstacles of several acts. The moment this desire is fulfilled, the curtain falls, and this momentary satisfaction goes on echoing in our minds. Things are different in the real world. In the real world the play continues after the curtain has fallen, and when it is raised again, there is not much pleasure to be gained by seeing or hearing what is going on.��

I wouldn't really call this a novel. More a social philosophy treatise. Scenes are constructed so that characters can give monologues. Most characters don't have names, just roles (the Baron, the Architect, the Assistant). There is a stretch of a journal filled with aphorisms. And as daring and modern as it seems at first, with an argument being made that marriages should be allowed to be ended so that people can follow new passions, it ends with saintly renunciation and miracles, so where is his heart really? I am currently listening to Sense and Sensibility and it seems to me Goethe is all in with the sensibility aesthetic - long mooning passages and grand gestures - because really what would he do if he got his way and love wasn't crossed? Something sensible and acceptable would get boring, and require moving on to a new thwarted object over which to mope about with big emotions. Thus he has to deprive his scandalous suggestions from actually being fulfilled, consummation would would rob them of all romantic power.

This novel examines the marriage of Eduard, a wealthy baron, and Charlotte, and how it is threatened and redefined by the addition of guests: an army captain who helps with redesigning the park of their country mansion, and young beauty Ottilie, Charlotte's niece, who captivates Eduard. At the same time, it's very stylised, and follows a German "novelle" format which is different from a regular novel. So a certain amount of divergence from realism has to be expected. The introduction to the Penguin edition was very helpful in this respect.

Nevertheless I found it hard to stomach Ottilie's depiction as a "saintly child" while she was having an affair (consummated or not) with her aunt's husband. Perhaps because it was written by an older man (Goethe was 60 when this was published), this book idealises the relationship between an older man and a very young woman... fantasy in novel form.

Reason read: Apr botm. I didn't mind this one. A book about gardens, landscaping, math, and romance. "The powerful relationships that crystalize under changing conditions. Themes; love, conflict, Fate, conflicting lotalties. Destruction consequences of pursuing and suppressing passion. Chemical affinities: predetermined nature of relationship. Marriage and Idolatry. Fate and Free Will. It is a social commentary on societal norms and expectations surrounding love and marriage. I'd rate this 3.5 stars.

I have only read one other Goethe; Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, and although I did not love that book it was full of a broad spectrum of characters with a variety of emotions that played out the themes of the arts versus commerce but also lustful love versus companionship and many of the same themes found in this book: duty and societal norms versus passion. I did not enjoy this book as much. The characters were meant to be simplified (according to a Germanic romantic form as spelled out in the introduction of the Penguin edition to this book) but they were too simplified for this reader to care about them. Strangely, I cared more for the gardener, Mittler, and the architect than the four main characters. Goethe writes well, obviously, and the flow was great but ultimately it did not grab me in any way, either as a study in human behavior or as a philosophical metaphor.