Section 18 is ready for PL.
A lot of family background has been sketched in in the previous chapters — with little hints and indications that will be picked up later in the book. But now that we're getting into Part 3, a solid "plot" begins to take shape.
Bruce
COMPLETE Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann - icequeen
Section 22 is ready for PL.
Now, there's something going on in the book that some modern readers may miss. (I certainly missed it the first time I read the novel.) So let me just mention it here, since you're following along with the story.
In this chapter, Tony and Tom discuss the Hagenströms. We met them back in the previous part of the book, when young Tony walked to school with Julie and Hermann Hagenström. Tony fought off Hermann's attempt to kiss her.
At that time, we were told that the old traditional families had been offended by Hagenström senior's choice of wife, a Miss Semlinger, who had thick black hair, dark eyes, and wore a bigger diamond than anyone around there had ever seen. Tony grew up hearing disparaging comments about the Hagenströms.
Now, what I missed first time through, is that this description is coded: the problem is that Herr Hagenström has married a Jew. (She came from Frankfurt, which at that time had a large Jewish community.)
In this new chapter, Tony snidely refers to that wife as "Sarah Semlinger." Tom cuts her short: Tony knows perfectly well that her name is "Laura," not "Sarah." The point is that, at that time, "Sarah" was an extremely common, even clichéd, female Jewish name.
(It remained a cliché up into the 20th century. In 1938, when the Nazis wanted to make sure that all Jews were publicly identified, they passed a law about names. Any Jews whose names didn't "sound Jewish" enough had to take on an extra given name: men had to add the name "Israel," and women, "Sarah." To be named "Sarah" was just about as pointed as wearing a yellow star.)
As you'll see, Tony drags up familiar anti-semitic tropes: she condemns the Hagenströms as "adventurers" who can find all sorts of ways of making money, pushing themselves forward by elbowing old-stock families out of the way. Her attitudes obviously represent the prejudices of a chunk of her society, but notice that Tom tries to tame her bias. He delivers a stern lecture, reminding her that Hermann is in fact simply an effective businessman, and that old families like the Buddenbrooks have their own unsavoury histories.
So whenever Julie and Hermann Hagenström make their way into the story, I realize now that what we're seeing is the emergence of an increasingly successful Jewish segment of society, and we watch how the "old families" react.
Now, there's something going on in the book that some modern readers may miss. (I certainly missed it the first time I read the novel.) So let me just mention it here, since you're following along with the story.
In this chapter, Tony and Tom discuss the Hagenströms. We met them back in the previous part of the book, when young Tony walked to school with Julie and Hermann Hagenström. Tony fought off Hermann's attempt to kiss her.
At that time, we were told that the old traditional families had been offended by Hagenström senior's choice of wife, a Miss Semlinger, who had thick black hair, dark eyes, and wore a bigger diamond than anyone around there had ever seen. Tony grew up hearing disparaging comments about the Hagenströms.
Now, what I missed first time through, is that this description is coded: the problem is that Herr Hagenström has married a Jew. (She came from Frankfurt, which at that time had a large Jewish community.)
In this new chapter, Tony snidely refers to that wife as "Sarah Semlinger." Tom cuts her short: Tony knows perfectly well that her name is "Laura," not "Sarah." The point is that, at that time, "Sarah" was an extremely common, even clichéd, female Jewish name.
(It remained a cliché up into the 20th century. In 1938, when the Nazis wanted to make sure that all Jews were publicly identified, they passed a law about names. Any Jews whose names didn't "sound Jewish" enough had to take on an extra given name: men had to add the name "Israel," and women, "Sarah." To be named "Sarah" was just about as pointed as wearing a yellow star.)
As you'll see, Tony drags up familiar anti-semitic tropes: she condemns the Hagenströms as "adventurers" who can find all sorts of ways of making money, pushing themselves forward by elbowing old-stock families out of the way. Her attitudes obviously represent the prejudices of a chunk of her society, but notice that Tom tries to tame her bias. He delivers a stern lecture, reminding her that Hermann is in fact simply an effective businessman, and that old families like the Buddenbrooks have their own unsavoury histories.
So whenever Julie and Hermann Hagenström make their way into the story, I realize now that what we're seeing is the emergence of an increasingly successful Jewish segment of society, and we watch how the "old families" react.
Sections 22 and 23 are PL OK!
Thank you for that explanation! I would never have caught that slur if you had not explained it. Of course, I think in that time period, it was normal to call different ethnic groups by a name common to them, i.e. calling a Russian man Ivan. I loved the way you read that when Tom chided her, that tone fit perfectly!
Thank you for that explanation! I would never have caught that slur if you had not explained it. Of course, I think in that time period, it was normal to call different ethnic groups by a name common to them, i.e. calling a Russian man Ivan. I loved the way you read that when Tom chided her, that tone fit perfectly!
Ann
Audio, video, disco!
Audio, video, disco!
Section 24 is ready for PL.
This is a lovely section of the book. The plot is moving along, of course — Tony's story — but it also seems as if Mann is enjoying just taking time to paint a pleasant picture of life at Travemünde. I feel as if we're looking at one of those 19th-century Impressionist paintings, titled something like "At the Seaside." (Travemünde, of course — like just about every location in this novel — is a real place, a resort town on the Baltic Sea, and still a destination for vacationers.)
Incidentally, I know we're supposed to just stick to the text for LibriVox recordings, but, in case you're checking, I have to confess that I've made a little correction. In this translation, the chapter ends with Tony saying "in a loud voice" to Julie, “What a pity August is not here. It must be stupid on the beach.” But that's puzzling in English, because it sounds as if she's talking about the month, which doesn't make sense, since it is in fact summer.
The original German made it clear that she's taking about a person: "Eines bedaure ich: nämlich, daß zum Beispiel August Möllendorpf nicht hier ist." August Möllendorpf — the young man that Tony was being sarcastic about earlier, when she predicts to Tom that Julie and August will be getting engaged, and claims that she finds this "disgusting". It's a much more snarky comment, to be said in a "loud voice" for everyone to hear, once we correctly understand the reference. So I read the full name, which the translator omitted.
This is a lovely section of the book. The plot is moving along, of course — Tony's story — but it also seems as if Mann is enjoying just taking time to paint a pleasant picture of life at Travemünde. I feel as if we're looking at one of those 19th-century Impressionist paintings, titled something like "At the Seaside." (Travemünde, of course — like just about every location in this novel — is a real place, a resort town on the Baltic Sea, and still a destination for vacationers.)
Incidentally, I know we're supposed to just stick to the text for LibriVox recordings, but, in case you're checking, I have to confess that I've made a little correction. In this translation, the chapter ends with Tony saying "in a loud voice" to Julie, “What a pity August is not here. It must be stupid on the beach.” But that's puzzling in English, because it sounds as if she's talking about the month, which doesn't make sense, since it is in fact summer.
The original German made it clear that she's taking about a person: "Eines bedaure ich: nämlich, daß zum Beispiel August Möllendorpf nicht hier ist." August Möllendorpf — the young man that Tony was being sarcastic about earlier, when she predicts to Tom that Julie and August will be getting engaged, and claims that she finds this "disgusting". It's a much more snarky comment, to be said in a "loud voice" for everyone to hear, once we correctly understand the reference. So I read the full name, which the translator omitted.
Section 24 is PL OK!
I love these "travels" in this book! I can tell that our author is having fun writing this book.
I don't follow along with the text as I listen, I tend to PL when I have other stuff to do that doesn't need me to pay too much attention to it. So, if something needs to be "corrected," I tend to not notice. I notice when something sounds weird and doesn't flow with the text. That addition sounds reasonable, so it is fine. Just as long as something isn't changed, then we are fine!
I love these "travels" in this book! I can tell that our author is having fun writing this book.
I don't follow along with the text as I listen, I tend to PL when I have other stuff to do that doesn't need me to pay too much attention to it. So, if something needs to be "corrected," I tend to not notice. I notice when something sounds weird and doesn't flow with the text. That addition sounds reasonable, so it is fine. Just as long as something isn't changed, then we are fine!
Ann
Audio, video, disco!
Audio, video, disco!
Sections 25 and 26 are ready for PL.
It's neat how German history keeps showing up in the backyard of this book. Earlier, we heard mention of the French Napoleonic occupation of this area. At that time, Prussia formed a brief alliance with towns in the Hanseatic League (such as Lübeck and Hamburg) to push Napoleon out.
But that was decades earlier, before Tony was born. In this section she wonders why Morten is always talking about Prussia, when they aren't themselves in Prussia. Morten gives her a fuzzy answer — something about the shared brotherhood of humanity — but Tony probably doesn't really get it.
However, for the reader, Morten's instinct is prophetic. Prussia had been steadily advancing its interests in the first half of the century. By the end of the novel, the historic Unification of Germany has taken place (still in the "back yard" of the novel, of course), thus solidifying the pre-eminent influence of Prussia (i.e., Berlin) in this part of Europe. People with a concern for public affairs were right to keep a wary eye on Prussia.
It's neat how German history keeps showing up in the backyard of this book. Earlier, we heard mention of the French Napoleonic occupation of this area. At that time, Prussia formed a brief alliance with towns in the Hanseatic League (such as Lübeck and Hamburg) to push Napoleon out.
But that was decades earlier, before Tony was born. In this section she wonders why Morten is always talking about Prussia, when they aren't themselves in Prussia. Morten gives her a fuzzy answer — something about the shared brotherhood of humanity — but Tony probably doesn't really get it.
However, for the reader, Morten's instinct is prophetic. Prussia had been steadily advancing its interests in the first half of the century. By the end of the novel, the historic Unification of Germany has taken place (still in the "back yard" of the novel, of course), thus solidifying the pre-eminent influence of Prussia (i.e., Berlin) in this part of Europe. People with a concern for public affairs were right to keep a wary eye on Prussia.