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Reading Thomas Mann in German | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6649 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 9 of 13 17 September 2011 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | |||||
COuld you perhaps post that sentence here, just to.. show? I’m very curious :P. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emiliana Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 5104 days ago 81 posts - 98 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Arabic (classical) | Message 10 of 13 17 September 2011 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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comparing Fontane and Mann from the point of view of a native speaker:
I think Fontane is more difficult in terms of vocab, because he uses more old-fashioned expressions and constructions. For me, Mann's writing style is very clear and easy to understand. On the other hand Mann is tending to rampant descriptions of every single detail that comes across, while Fontane is concentrating on the story itself. Also, Fontane is regarded as being very talented in writing dialogues, they are very lively and close to reality (at least how we imagine reality ~100 years ago). Anyway, I like both very much, but Mann definitely requires mire patience... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| dglass48 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5786 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: German, Italian, French | Message 11 of 13 17 September 2011 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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since posting my original query last January, practice has improved my overall reading ability and I no longer am finding Mann's writing to be so difficult. He does use an extensive vocabulary, so until one's overall vocabulary knowledge has reached a certain point, he, as well as other authors, will seem difficult, not due to grammatical constructions, but by the careful variety of words employed.
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| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4818 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 12 of 13 18 September 2011 at 12:22am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks Emiliana. Yes, Fontane does put in a lot of dialogue, doesn't he? It's almost "Filmic" in quality. I used to think he was rather conservative and conformist, but I have come to realise that (at least for a Prussian :-) ) he was relatively progressive and clear-sighted, and his emphasis on women's themes was, I suppose, ahead of its time. And I have been pleasantly surprised by the little nuggets of humour in the books. As for Mann, for someone wanting to start reading him, could you suggest a good book to begin with? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4834 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 13 of 13 18 September 2011 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
I begun my voyage through the realm of Thomas Mann's works with "Der Tod in Venedig". It's a short and concise story and not as challenging as the "Buddenbrooks" or "Der Zauberberg". For anyone interested in music and German history, I can also recommend "Doktor Faustus" although the language might be more challenging here. Nevertheless Thomas Mann is a great author (my personal favourite) and every single of his works is worth reading, challenging though it may be. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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