Chapter 15 "William Meister"

Now I want to skip the centuries and ask you to read a book that anyone who has heard of it will tell you is difficult to read—Goethe's Wilhelm Meister, dutifully translated by Carlyle.Goethe is not favored in what is now Germany, and his commitment to being a citizen of the world, not just a citizen, is not favored by today's rulers.But even before, very few people in Germany had read Wilhelm Meister.Once I met some scholars in Berlin, and everyone was very surprised when I praised this book.None of them have read the book, because it has always been considered a dull work.I beg them to read it for themselves.A few months later, I ran into some of them again.To my delight, they also agreed with me after following my advice and rediscovering this forgotten masterpiece.

In my opinion, this is a very interesting and meaningful book.It is the end of the sentimental novel in the eighteenth century, the beginning of the romantic novel in the nineteenth century, and the forerunner of the autobiographical novel that is popular today.The protagonist in the book is very pale and uninteresting, as is the case with most characters in autobiographical novels.I do not know why this is so.Perhaps, when writing about things related to oneself, people will always panic because of the gap between achievements and goals, so they are obsessed with telling their disappointment that they have not seized the opportunity and failed to meet expectations.What the reader sees, then, is a bland character who is frustrated rather than aspirationally fulfilled.In addition, just like when we walk on this side of the street, we always think that the other side of the street is more lively. Looking at our own experience, we think it is ordinary, so it is impossible to create a character that is not ordinary. .And those bizarre and romantic ones will always be someone else's life.However, Goethe took this boring protagonist as the main line, arranged a series of incredible things, surrounded him with all kinds of unusual and wonderful characters, and expressed his views on many issues through his mouth. "William Meister's Learning Times"-I do not recommend "Wandering the Times", because it is too boring to read-is a book full of poetry, grotesque, profound and somewhat dull.Of course, you can ignore the boring parts.Carlyle said that none of the books he has read in the past six years has inspired him as much as this one, but he also said frankly: "Goethe is the greatest genius in a century, and the greatest fool in three centuries." .”