For beginners Reading tips for the “Magic Mountain”

Thomas Mann’s novel “The Magic Mountain” has the reputation of being a book for “true intellectuals”. It need not be quite so daunting, however: we have some tips for the less scholarly inclined and for Thomas Mann novices determined to give this literary classic a chance.

Published in 1924, Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain is considered one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. And by many people – especially those who haven’t yet read it – also one of the most difficult.

The novel’s plot is relatively easy to summarize: Hans Castorp, a young engineer, visits his cousin at a tuberculosis sanatorium up a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Though he was planning to spend only a few weeks there, he ends up staying seven years – one reason being that he falls in love with one of the female patients. He only leaves the mountain when he joins the fighting in the First World War. In the meantime, Hans engages in long and complicated discussions with various people about philosophy, theology, politics and history and delves into the mysteries of botany, astronomy and evolutionary theory.

The novel quickly acquired the reputation of being a book for “true intellectuals” and the “sum of European culture”. Consequently, many people who are toying with the idea of reading the novel feel one emotion in particular: trepidation.

But is there really any need to fear the novel? Not necessarily. It is also possible for those of a less scholarly bent, for non-experts and indeed for people who are perfectly sane to enjoy reading The Magic Mountain. Here are some tips to help you tackle The Magic Mountain in a way you will find not only rewarding but also entertaining.

1. Let the novel enchant you

In the foreword to The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann – or rather the narrator – explains that Hans Castorp’s story has “something of the legend about it”. This legendary (and indeed mythological) quality is evident in various aspects of the novel: in the recurrent use of the number seven, in the otherworldly natural landscape in which the story is set – the “Berghof” sanatorium, a place of climatic extremes in which time does not appear to follow its usual course and that only few people leave alive – and in the appearance of archetypal characters. We have of course our inexperienced hero, Hans, who embarks on an uncertain journey. But also Dr Behrens, the mysterious and peculiar director of the sanatorium; Lodovico Settembrini, the Italian “humanist” and the hero’s spiritual leader; the dangerous seductress Clawdia Chauchat and a waitress who is confusingly described in the book as a “dwarf”.

So take Thomas Mann – or at least the book’s narrator – seriously (albeit to a moderate extent, see tip no. 5): read the novel as you would an ancient legend and be ready to accept events and protagonists that are odd or in some cases unfathomable.

2. Dare to skip parts

There are long sections of The Magic Mountain that are fairly accessible and make for enjoyable reading. And those passages that are trickier can be simply skipped without missing out on anything overly significant (at least at the first reading; see tip no. 7). Like the dauntingly long discussions between the enlightened and perhaps somewhat too optimistic Settembrini and his counterpart, the reactionary and dark Leo Naphta. As the English playwright W. Somerset Maugham once wrote, skipping is perfectly fine because “a sensible person does not read a novel as a task. He reads it as a diversion”.

3. Seek help!

You are not alone – or at least you do not have to be. You have two options: start a Magic Mountain reading and discussion group, which may well end up turning into a kind of group therapy session. You will be amazed to discover how many people are keen, and perhaps also a bit afraid, to tackle the book. And you will realize the extent to which talking about literature can help give you a dopamine rush.

If you’d rather experience the book on your own, however, a wealth of reader’s guides can be found in libraries and on the internet. Alongside leading Thomas Mann biographies such as Hermann Kurzke’s Thomas Mann: Life as a Work of Art and Dieter Borchmeyer’s Thomas Mann: Werk und Zeit (Thomas Mann: Work and Time, available only in German) the following handy books (only available in German) can serve as wonderful “reading companions”:

• Daniela Langer: Erläuterungen und Dokumente zu Thomas Mann Der Zauberberg (Explanations and Documents on Thomas Mann The Magic Mountain)
• Thomas Sparr: Zauberberge – Ein Jahrhundertroman aus Davos (Magic Mountains – A Novel of the Century from Davos)
• Volker Weidermann: Mann vom Meer. Thomas Mann und die Liebe seines Lebens (Man from the Sea. Thomas Mann and the Love of His Life)

The Anxiety of Difficulty – Trying to Read Thomas Mann, an essay written in English by Polish literary scholar Karolina Watroba, is also highly recommended reading.

4. Use the book as a meditative tool

Thomas Mann’s sentences are often fairly long and convoluted. After all, German is a language that enables writers to express themselves in ways that are detailed, circuitous, playful, occasionally confusing and exaggerated, while at the same time being extremely precise or pedantic. This is something that Mann consistently takes advantage of in The Magic Mountain and in many other of his essays and literary books. Such sentences can be frustrating, yet they also possess their own unique rhythm. They are capable of drawing the reader in and putting him or her in a kind of contemplative trance, as do some ritual litanies and religious chants. Shrug off the blinkered expectation that every sentence in the book will have a major bearing on the “plot”. In fact, don’t try looking for any “gripping plot” at all – just allow yourself to embrace the special musicality and cadence of Thomas Mann’s style. Your psyche will feel all the better for it.

5. Don’t take The Magic Mountain too seriously!

The Magic Mountain is a tale of illness and a decadent yearning for death. Hans says he is in his element when surrounded by the sick and dying. Nonetheless, The Magic Mountain is also a very amusing book in places. If you find this somewhat difficult to believe, read these passages for example – assuming you have a sense of humour, that is:

• Possibly every time Dr Behrens opens his mouth. His way of speaking is so idiosyncratic – tortuous yet fastidious, mean, inventive and impudent – that it repeatedly causes the reader to laugh out loud.
• Chapter 3, section entitled “Banter. Viaticum. Interrupted Mirth”: we are now introduced to the “Half-Lung Club”, a bizarre group of patients that includes a certain Hermine Kleefeld who can “whistle with her pneumothorax”.
• Chapter 6, section entitled “An Attack, and a Repulse”: James Tienappel, Hans’ respectable yet simple-minded uncle, visits the sanatorium with the plan of bringing his nephew back to the “flatland”. Mann’s description of James’ character and his passion for Frau Redisch, one of the patients, is very funny.
• Chapter 7, section entitled “Highly Questionable”: during a séance at the sanatorium, contact is established with a spirit named “Holger” who claims to have been a poet when alive – and offers those present an absurd sample of his poetic talent. Mann’s poetic parody is malicious and witty.

6. Enjoy your stay at the “Berghof”

And yes, Mann’s book is indeed a tremendous intellectual accomplishment. Yes, it is an impressive encyclopaedic work. Yes, it offers an ingenious analysis of the mental state of Europe’s most distinguished citizens before the First World War. And yet the book is also very sensual. Sceptical? Then try reading it from these alternative perspectives:

• View The Magic Mountain as a kind of uptight erotic love story: as evidenced by the various instances when Hans thinks about “Madame Chauchat”, watches her (and is watched by her) or attempts to approach her. A heated dialogue between the two, conducted in French (in the section entitled “Walpurgis-Night” in Chapter 5), is enough to get the pulse of even the coolest readers racing.
• See it as a book of indulgent pleasure: healthy people become sick and sick people die in The Magic Mountain. However – for as long as they are still alive – the patients at the sanatorium lead a pretty indulgent existence that Mann describes wonderfully. They travel with “crocodile-leather hand bags,” take rest-cures wrapped in expensive camels-hair rugs, smoke excellent cigars, eat opulent set menus every mealtime and drink magnificent wines to the point of inebriation (as in the section entitled “Vingt et un” in Chapter 7).
• Enjoy The Magic Mountain as a piece of nature writing: Mann provides breathtaking descriptions of the beauty, grandeur and brute force of nature. Read for instance the descriptions of plants at the beginning of the section entitled “A New-Comer” or the famous section entitled “Snow” – one of the most famous texts in German literature, both to be found in Chapter 6.

7. Come back again soon

The final tip comes from Thomas Mann himself:

“Now what is there that I can say about the book itself, and the best way to read it? I shall begin with a very arrogant request that it be read not once but twice. A request not to be heeded, of course, if one has been bored at the first reading. A work of art must not be a task or an effort; it must not be undertaken against one’s will. It is meant to give pleasure, to entertain and enliven. If it does not have this effect on a reader, he must put it down and turn to something else. But if you have read The Magic Mountain once, I recommend that you read it twice. The way in which the book is composed results in the reader’s getting a deeper enjoyment from the second reading. Just as in music, one needs to know a piece in order to enjoy it properly.” (Thomas Mann, from a speech given to students at Princeton University in 1939)

The author thanks Jana Burbach and Max Wolf, who contributed to this article with their ideas and words.