Itemize Based On Books The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
| Title | : | The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life |
| Author | : | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 660 pages |
| Published | : | August 21st 2003 by University Press of the Pacific (first published 1833) |
| Categories | : | Biography. Autobiography. Nonfiction. European Literature. German Literature. Classics. History |
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Paperback | Pages: 660 pages Rating: 3.83 | 222 Users | 20 Reviews
Interpretation Conducive To Books The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
Poetry and Truth, it says in the English translation.Goethe chose “Dichtung und Wahrheit” as the title for his original autobiography, and it would never have occurred to me to translate the word ”Dichtung” with “poetry” in this context. It means fiction, or literature in general as well, and his idea with the title is explained in the beginning of his monumental 1000-page-reflection on his own life and achievements.
Arguing that an autobiography is concerned with an individual person in a specific time and environment, Goethe raises the question whether it is even possible to know your own history.
Does it not require some distance to gain enough reflective power to judge a life’s achievement within society? On the other hand, the individual himself is the only one with all the “facts”.
Goethe’s aim, knowing of the inherent contradiction, is to interpret his own life through the major events and developments he experienced, while admitting that every interpretation contains a fictional element, a dramatisation of the randomness and chaos of everyday occurrences. Every memory is a deliberate choice.
Goethe being the literary giant of his days, and knowing the major representatives of art, literature and academia very well, the autobiography reads like a journey through the minds of the era later labelled “Goethezeit” in Germany. We meet his favourite artists and writers, we follow his travels to different art galleries, we encounter his literary characters in his thoughts, thus putting them into the context of Goethe’s own life.
Of course, a fiction of his life is established through careful omission of facts as well. Goethe sticks to the path he has set for himself: a biography explaining his artistic, literary and scientific development. He delves into private life and circumstances occasionally, but he keeps a certain distance, sometimes brightened by a strong sense of humour. His very first paragraphs are a great example of his approach to the habits of his era. He proudly announces the day and time of his birth, adding - tongue-in-cheek - that astrologers were immediately convinced that he was born under an especially lucky constellation of stars. Putting it into the context of the actual circumstances of his birth, he ponders that the lucky constellation probably saved his life, as it counterbalanced the clumsiness of the midwife, who almost killed him within the first hour of his life!
Luckily, the stars prevented human failure from depriving us of the life of Goethe, and he lived to write his plays, stories, essays, poetry and biography.
“Dichtung und Wahrheit” is highly entertaining, wonderfully ironic, and erudite and eloquent, and a source for bibliophiles and art lovers alike. When Goethe talks about his own art collection, or artist friends’ work, or his own attempts at drawing, he always delivers the professor’s honest feedback in the next paragraph, thus offering both the genius’ passion for beauty and the lecturer’s rational appraisal.
His reflections on Voltaire, Diderot, Montaigne and Lavater are personal, yet brilliantly accurate, and he does not shy away from telling stories of controversies surrounding his own work. His anecdote on how the ending of Werther was changed, into a happy marriage between Werther and Lotte, is priceless, as is his own need to get back to finished work and dramatize it, to look at it from different perspectives, while writing witty dialogues. He is always both artist and analyst.
It is a slow read, and one that requires a lot of background knowledge to fully enjoy. The Enlightenment thinkers and artists are vital parts of Goethe’s life. As for the truthfulness of his account, his interpretations and poetical choices highlight his priorities in life, but they are nothing like the randomness and arrogance with which many people treat truth today.
His fiction contains more truth than our facts.
And he ends with a beautiful anecdote on saying goodbye before embarking on new adventures. Quoting his own fictional character Egmont, he gives the reader food for thought beyond the thousand and one (or so) pages of wisdom contained in “Dichtung und Wahrheit”:
“Kind! Kind! nicht weiter! Wie von unsichtbaren Geistern gepeitscht, gehen die Sonnenpferde der Zeit mit unsers Schicksals leichtem Wagen durch; und uns bleibt nichts, als, mutig gefaßt, die Zügel festzuhalten und bald rechts bald links, vom Steine hier vom Sturze da, die Räder wegzulenken. Wohin es geht, wer weiß es? Erinnert er sich doch kaum, woher er kam.”
List Books In Pursuance Of The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
| Original Title: | Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit |
| ISBN: | 1410207706 (ISBN13: 9781410207708) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Voltaire, Oliver Goldsmith, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Georg Hamann, Shakespeare |
Rating Based On Books The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
Ratings: 3.83 From 222 Users | 20 ReviewsAssessment Based On Books The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
I read this in German, and as you can see it took me an age! While this isn't Goethe's greatest book, it is certainly a moving and informative one. I found the first and fourth parts particularly affecting. The first part describes his childhood in Frankfurt, in wonderful detail, weaving together stories of his life at home and in town with sketches of the historical background. Goethe says that a biography should show the relationship between life and history, and this first part of theDie erste Hälfte fand ich sehr spannend und inspirierend. Goethes Leben ist Beispiel und Vorbild, etwas, woran man sich hochziehen kann, selbst, wenn man eine etwas andere Stoßrichtung hat.Da ich noch mit keiner Biographie über Goethe vertraut bin, vermag ich nicht zu sagen, wo die Grenzen von Wahrheit und Dichtung hier verlaufen. Ich las nur irgendwo, dass Goethe bei seiner Autobiographie gerne auch ein paar Sachen "erlogen" hat.Besonders gefiel mir, seinen Bildungsweg nachzuvollziehen, seine
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, humanism, and science. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust. Goethe's other well-known literary works include
waduh teuing tah beres na iraha...
El libro no es malo como tal, pero Goethe tarda hojas y hojas en describirte cosas no tan relevantes-interesantes, datos e información que no recordarás; aun así el libro cuenta con relatos memorables, cosas interesantes para el lector común. Solo verdaderos dedicados a Goethe y curiosos sin miedo a sus 500 páginas deberían leerlo.
This I very much like because the author is not crazy like most people but just loves to write and thinksabout it. ?He also contemplates nature and such and this in a very gentle, non-egoistic way.
Rückblick auf das eigene Leben, zeitweise sehr betuhlich und aggregiert, gbt manchmal mehr vom 'alten Goethe' preis, als von der beschriebenen Zeit. Man merkt, dass auch solche 'großen Geister' 'Kinder ihrer Zeit' sind, wenn sie Menschen und andere Künstler beschreiben, die heute (2015) kaum die gleiche Reputation haben wie damals, sei es die vielen erwachsenen Zeitgenossen der Jugend in Frankfurt, die in ihrer Aufzählung ohne Bedeutung sind. Die Schilderung besonderer Situationen habe ich in
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