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Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

Thomas Mann

Start date: June 1, 2022

Finish date: June 30, 2022

Discussion: Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

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What Members Thought

Jan 30, 2017 Chrissie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-read, classics, hf, favorites, audible-uk, germany, relationships

Absolutely excellent, descriptive writing. Writing that pulls the reader in. Characters that are fully developed and totally real. A book with humor. A book with serious topics to consider. A book about life’s ups and downs. Every time the theme changed I was astonished to once again see how this topic and that topic and every topic touched upon had something to say to me. A long book that does not drag.

I loved reading a book set in Germany before either of the world wars! The Revolution of 194 ...more

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Mar 18, 2010 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-20th-century, audio-books, german-literature, read-2012, family-saga, e-books, nobel-prize, read-2013, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, banned-books

From BBC Radio 4:
A 19th-century German merchant family fight to keep their supremacy.

According to Judith Adams, this book was banned and burned by Hitler and it was published when the author was 25, in 1901.

A movie Buddenbrooks (2008) and a TV series Die Buddenbrooks (1979) were made based on this fabulous book.

More review is coming soon... ...more

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Sep 18, 2022 Natalie rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

This book took me a while to read because I had so many other books to read as well. Buddenbrooks is very well written and very interesting despite how long it is (700+ pages). It is a 4.5 stars!
Thomas Mann has, as running themes in the story, health and illness, art and business, wealth, and family loyalty. He weaves the themes into the daily events of the Buddenbrooks family so it's not heavy handed or overly biased.
We follow the Buddenbrooks family from the time of the great grandparents, Joh This book took me a while to read because I had so many other books to read as well. Buddenbrooks is very well written and very interesting despite how long it is (700+ pages). It is a 4.5 stars!
Thomas Mann has, as running themes in the story, health and illness, art and business, wealth, and family loyalty. He weaves the themes into the daily events of the Buddenbrooks family so it's not heavy handed or overly biased.
We follow the Buddenbrooks family from the time of the great grandparents, Johann and Antoinette, the grandparents Jean and Elizabeth, and their three children, Thomas, Christian, and Antonie (known as Tony). Most of the story centers on Thomas and Tony.
Thomas, who has a strong head for business, marries a musician, Gerda, and runs the family grain business. They have one son, Johann, known as Hanno. Thomas works hard to run the business and maintain the family's great wealth. He lives his family life according to the traditions of the wealthy. He is also one of the most level headed.
Christian, on the other hand, spends his time at a men's club and attending art events. He doesn't really like to work and slowly descends into poor mental health.
Tony, the most interesting of the three children, first is pressured by her father to marry a businessman, Gunlich. However, she doesn't love him, despite having a daughter, Erika, with him, and as soon as he goes bankrupt, she leaves him and moves back home. Then she marries Permaneder who soon after they marry, retires to live off her inheritance. She comes to despise him, catches him with the maid, and leaves him as well. When her daughter grows, Erika marries a businessman as well, who is put in prison for fraud. Tony comes to live with Erika and her daughter and spends the rest of her life supporting her and voicing her opinion on Buddenbrook family decisions.
Thomas begins to lose his high stature in business, then dies suddenly, and his business collapses as they sell off the assets. Hanno, who has always struggled with his health, struggles in school as well.
This book ends sadly but the themes have staying power. This family, despite all the effort, lose their place in society as well as the anchors of the family. Declining health, declining businesses, and death leave the family in taters. It is all very moving. ...more

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