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WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#1: Dec 28th 2011 at 4:00:53 PM

I just got an eReader as a christmas gift and amoung other books I hoped to download I was hoping to read Faust. However there are meny different versions avaiable and after downloading three I found them all to be written in the same format one would use in a manuscript for a play. I was hoping to find a prose version of the story, written like a novel. My question thus becomes, which version of the story and corresponding author should I read?

MilosStefanovic Decemberist from White City, Ruritania Since: Oct, 2010
Decemberist
#2: Dec 28th 2011 at 4:27:12 PM

The most famous and influential one is Goethe's, which I wholeheartedly recommend. It's in the form of a play, though, but that shouldn't stop you from reading it.

The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#3: Dec 28th 2011 at 5:37:56 PM

I've started reading one version translated from Gothe's original. I knew Gothe wrote a play but I did not ralize his Faust was one giant poem. There are rhymes everywhere in the translation I have.

As to actual novel versions based on the play, I am aware of two version; one written by Thomas Mann and one by David Mamet. Anyone ever read either of these?

edited 29th Dec '11 8:05:07 AM by WillKeaton

Bajazeth Since: Dec, 2011
#4: Jan 1st 2012 at 4:36:46 AM

You don't really read Faust for the story. I think you should stick to what you've got - it sounds like the real deal. Marlowe's 'Dr Faustus' is rather excellent too if you fancy more after you're done.

"For though thy cannon shook the city-wall, My heart did never quake, nor courage faint."
vijeno from Vienna, Austria Since: Jan, 2001
#5: Jan 12th 2012 at 1:57:59 AM

[up][up] I wouldn't say that Mann's Dr. Faustus is a re-telling of Goethe's play. But it's an excellent piece of literature. Essentially, this time Faustus is a genius musician who "sells his soul" for being able to create the ultimate in music and get some along the way. Highly recommended, if you're not discouraged by Mr Mann's as-long-as-possible-sentence style.

MidnightRambler Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan! from Germania Inferior Since: Mar, 2011
Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan!
#6: Jan 12th 2012 at 10:49:13 PM

Faust is one of the reasons I want to improve my German.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...
soulseller Dr. Snakes Since: Dec, 2011
Dr. Snakes
#7: Jan 18th 2012 at 7:42:59 AM

[up][up]One of the Manns also wrote a book called "Mephisto" that was based pretty tightly on the life of a Nazi profiterring actor whose biggest role was said demon. The book was actually banned for some time because detailing the life of real, living persons without their permissions violates personal rights in Germany (and it was published in a act or rebellion by the publishers anyway, if I remember right...). It's legal nw because everyone is already dead. :)

Also, long sentences are what German literatury tradition consinders good style/art. The Manns are pushing the limit for me but you should read somebody like Kleist and you know how to get a headache from one sentence.

HungryJoe Gristknife from Under the Tree Since: Dec, 2009
Gristknife
#8: May 5th 2012 at 6:25:10 PM

You might also want to look into Bulgakov, The Master And Margarita is a great read and once you're in it starts to drip with Faust, although there's a lot going on besides that.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.
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