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plnll's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
olgasofia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
stgansey's review against another edition
4.0
Sí señor, no soy más que un viajero, un peregrino de este mundo. ¿Sois vosotros algo más?
seabre's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what to say nor what to write at the moment.
some parts that struck me for some reason:
I will say this, the story within the book about Ossian in part 2, it became a blur. I skipped that part and did a shortcut; even though, yes, that was sort of the climactic part ...there was also so much going on, that it sort of ruined the story/mood of the whole thing for me. Buzzkill?! The way Werther died at end or how he sort of died, was probably not how he wanted it. You know 12 hours later after he shot himself, instead of dead on the scene right away. Some may think that his suicide may be selfish, but those "suicide is selfish" comment seem just that. maybe it's selfish, maybe it's cruel to leave your loved ones behind. but it should be everyone's own decision whether they want to live or not. It is selfish to keep someone who doesn't want to exist around just you don't feel sad.
I'll come back and rate/review some more....once everything sinks in.
some parts that struck me for some reason:
[...]was as much frightened as any of them; but by affecting courage, to keep up the spirits of the others, I forgot my apprehensions. - Charlotte [pt1]
Could you by see me, my dear Charlotte, in the whirl of dissipation, -- hw my senses are dried up, but my heart is at no time full. I enjoy no single moment of happinenss; all is vain -- nothing touches me. I stand, as it were, before the raree-show: I see the little puppets move, and I ask whether it is not an optical illusion. I am amused with these puppets, or, rather, I am myself one of them: but, when I sometimes grasp my neighbour's hand, I feel that it is not natural; and I withdraw mine with a shudder. In the evening I say I will enjoy the next morning's sunrise, and yet I remain in bed: in the day I promise to ramble by moonlight; and I, nevertheless, remain at home. I know not why I rise, not why I go to sleep.
The leaven which animated my existence is gone: the charm which cheered me in the gloom of night, and aroused me from my morning slumbers, is for ever fled. - Werther [pt2]
I will say this, the story within the book about Ossian in part 2, it became a blur. I skipped that part and did a shortcut; even though, yes, that was sort of the climactic part ...there was also so much going on, that it sort of ruined the story/mood of the whole thing for me. Buzzkill?! The way Werther died at end or how he sort of died, was probably not how he wanted it. You know 12 hours later after he shot himself, instead of dead on the scene right away. Some may think that his suicide may be selfish, but those "suicide is selfish" comment seem just that. maybe it's selfish, maybe it's cruel to leave your loved ones behind. but it should be everyone's own decision whether they want to live or not. It is selfish to keep someone who doesn't want to exist around just you don't feel sad.
I'll come back and rate/review some more....once everything sinks in.
frazzle's review against another edition
4.0
I can't remember the last time I read a work of 18th-century fiction but this was the perfect tonic for my current reading mood.
All you need to know is that the well-to-so young Werther falls in love with a perfect young woman, only to find she's betrothed. Heartache ensues.
This book epitomizes the idealism of a former age, where the words Nature, God and Man all come capitalised. Full of swelling breasts and fainting maidens and contented peasants. A less cynical age, more awake to the granduer of the world around us, more unashamedly romantic, less obsessed with existential neuroses.
The bulk of the book consists of letters written by Werther to his confidant, charting his burgeoning love and mental unravelling. As I've said before, the letter is a criminally under-appreciated device in fiction.
This original Werther would not win any of today's prizes for fiction, but it's a piece of our literary heritage we'd be the poorer for forgetting.
All you need to know is that the well-to-so young Werther falls in love with a perfect young woman, only to find she's betrothed. Heartache ensues.
This book epitomizes the idealism of a former age, where the words Nature, God and Man all come capitalised. Full of swelling breasts and fainting maidens and contented peasants. A less cynical age, more awake to the granduer of the world around us, more unashamedly romantic, less obsessed with existential neuroses.
The bulk of the book consists of letters written by Werther to his confidant, charting his burgeoning love and mental unravelling. As I've said before, the letter is a criminally under-appreciated device in fiction.
This original Werther would not win any of today's prizes for fiction, but it's a piece of our literary heritage we'd be the poorer for forgetting.
fleurli's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cameronius's review against another edition
3.0
Werther, the original sadboi. This is one of those books that has survived because of what it meant at the time. The spurned suicidal lover is an archetype in our broader cultural vocabulary but less so when Goethe put this to paper in the eighteenth century. So you'll need to wind your mind back in time to appreciate how shocking that would've been. But as a novel on its own merits I found it to be an engaging if not revelatory read. Goethe took 50 years to write Faust, I'll give him a break on this one.
tabi_20's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
gabcab17's review against another edition
4.0
Super fascinating, mostly for its proto-incel nature and its emphasis on male entitlement/centering at the expense of others’ humanity and agency