one It is a masterpiece of the great German writer Thomas Mann that shocked the world literary world and a milestone of modern German novels. The famous American writer Sinclair Lewis spoke highly of the book. After reading this book in 1930, he once said: "I think it is the essence of the whole European life." Indeed, it is worthy of reflecting the first world history. An encyclopedia of European social life on the eve of the Great War. Thomas Mann won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929, which played a decisive role. This is a fact recognized by critics. two Chinese readers are no stranger to Thomas Mann.He is a master of modern German literature.In recent years, some of his masterpieces have been published successively in the cultural circles of our country, such as "Selected Short Stories of Thomas Mann", "Confessions of the Great Liar Krull" and "Lotte in Weimar" and so on.His writing skills combining realism and modernism have left a deep and unforgettable impression on readers, and the humanitarian spirit and democratic thought running through each or every novel have infected and inspired us.He lashed out at the rich and powerful with his sharp writing style, ridiculed the hypocrisy and selfishness of some people, and expressed sympathy and hope for the upright people.He defends the dignity of art with the conscience of a writer, and is deeply saddened by those acts that kill art and destroy artists.Influenced by the philosophical thoughts of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, although some of his works reveal certain decadent emotions and negative thoughts, the overall tone is undoubtedly healthy and upward, with profound social significance and cognitive value.

From May to June 1912, Thomas Mann accompanied his wife, Katharina, to the Davos Pulmonary Sanatorium in Switzerland for about three weeks due to lung disease.During this period, the writer carefully observed all kinds of life and characters in the sanatorium, which is the source of the material.He began writing this great work in 1912, and had to stop writing in 1914 due to the outbreak of the First World War.After going through hardships and intermittently, it finally came out in 1924.In 1915, he wrote to the Austrian philologist Paul Ammann about the origin of his writing: "I started writing a novella shortly before the war - a story with educational and political intentions. The plot takes place in a pulmonary sanatorium in the mountains, where a young man meets great temptation, meets death, and goes through hilariously horrific conflicts between humanity and romanticism, progress and reaction, health and disease. But it is not so much about solving something as it is about understanding and gaining knowledge. All this has a humorous nihilistic spirit." See "Letters from Thomas Mann to Paul Ammann (1915-1952)", Lübeck, 1959 edition, page 29.However, in the later writing process, the novella expanded into a novel, and the nature of "humor" mentioned in the letter was also lost, but the theme was greatly deepened.Later, Thomas Mann further raised various new issues caused by political events and social life in the wartime and post-war years, thus endowing this great work with new color and vitality.

three As mentioned above, it is set against the background of a well-known international sanatorium in Switzerland.There are all kinds of people living in the nursing home, including Joachim, a German soldier who is upright and looking forward to returning to the regiment day and night, and Minhill Piperkorn, a wealthy Dutch businessman who knows his fate and is addicted to alcohol. There is Mrs. Chauchat, a Russian woman who is free and informal, Mrs. Sterel, who is ignorant, boastful and coquettish, and Setambrini, an Italian humanist who is knowledgeable and takes human progress as her own responsibility. Naphta, the eloquent and cynical Jew, scoffed at all existing orders in Europe and tried his best to advocate the justice and necessity of war... Our hero Hans Castorp lived among these people, and with them Goof off and make deals.He is a trainee engineer in Hamburg. He came up the mountain as a "guest" to visit his cousin Joachim. Unexpectedly, he also contracted tuberculosis. He lived here for seven years and experienced the ups and downs of life and the nursing home. Ups and downs here.During the seven years, he watched many male and female patients die quietly with a heavy heart, including his dear cousin.In the past seven years, he has learned many things that schools and society cannot see. He understands what "psychoanalysis" is all about.He probed into the mysteries of the universe and the mysteries of disease and death, and made a deep introspection on various problems in life.The charming Mrs. Chaucat aroused the enthusiasm of his first love. On the night of the carnival, he finally knelt down in front of her and poured out his heartfelt songs to her; go.A few years later, Mrs. Chauchat returned to the nursing home, accompanied by the wealthy Dutch businessman Piper Korn, which made Hans Castorp jealous, but after some twists and turns, the three finally formed a relationship. close friendship.During the long and boring years in the sanatorium, the humanist Setambrini often painstakingly educated him to have the ability to think independently and not to be deluded by the heresy of the Jesuit Nafta. I also tried my best to preach to him, hoping to win him over to my side.The two rivals were constantly at odds with each other until, at last, they proposed a duel.A shot fired and Nafta fell to the ground, committing suicide.Soon, the artillery of the First World War rumbled, the patients in the sanatorium descended, and Hans Castorp put on his uniform and marched forward under the hail of bullets—the story ended on the battlefield filled with gunpowder.

In this masterpiece of nearly 750,000 words, Thomas Mann vividly portrays various characters, describes their decadent lifestyle and mental outlook, and points out that these people not only suffer from chronic illnesses physically, but also Ideologically ill too.For some intellectuals, the author also writes well, not only pointing out their positive aspects such as integrity, enthusiasm, and pursuit of light, but also exposing their weaknesses and fatal injuries.As for the various trends of thought and social phenomena that were popular in Europe at that time (such as the spread of Freud's theory, the rise of spiritualism, etc.), the author also spent a considerable amount of space to vividly reflect them through specific examples.The author himself believes that this work has a double meaning, saying that it is both a "novel of the times" and an "educational novel".

Four There have always been different opinions on whether it is a critical realism novel or a "modernist" novel.Many critics tend to the former point of view, thinking that Thomas Mann saw the essence of capitalist society from the various morbid phenomena in the nursing home. Declining social system.For example, the contemporary German writer Eberhard Hilcher made this evaluation in his book "On Thomas Mann": "Thomas Mann's is a novel of critical realism, which has triple symbolic content at the same time: first, we see in it the symbols of the late bourgeois society. The problem of bourgeois decay and decline is not only repeated here in new life appear, and the scene expands... In the small world of the mountain sanatorium, we see a variety of people from all over the world, many Germans and Russians, but also Scandinavians and other Europeans , They are leisurely and idle, in the author's mind, this group of people is undoubtedly Oblomov described by Goncharov. People in this circle have no job, no occupation, no spouse, no family, no children , without the political and economic realities of life. In short, this luxurious hotel where diseases are cultivated is full of people from social classes who are not engaged in productive labor." See page 83 of the original book, published by the People of Berlin, Germany Published by China Press, 1983 edition.

Some critics hold different views on this. They think it is a modernist novel because Thomas Mann is a modernist writer. In this book, he uses a lot of writing techniques such as stream of consciousness and interlacing of time and space. The content mainly involves Issues such as personal fate, love, illness, and death are just elegy to capitalism, without any substantive criticism.I think they did a good job of evaluating it.The use of certain modernist techniques in critical realist fiction does not negate the original character of the work.Let's take a look at the author's own point of view. He has spoken quite thoroughly and profoundly on this issue.He said: "In the novel, realism is used in terms of narrative, but it gradually goes beyond the scope of realism, pushing and enhancing it with symbolism, making it possible for us to see the spiritual realm and the realm of thought through it."

It is worth mentioning that when Thomas Mann wrote this novel, he had overcome the influence of decadent pessimistic philosophy on his mind, and injected new vitality into the ideological content of the novel.This is clearly seen in the constant new explorations and pursuits of the protagonist Hans Castorp.The author admits that, to some extent, Hans Castorp is the embodiment of the author himself. In this episode, Hans Castorp is caught in a snowstorm in the mountains.The writer paints a dreamscape full of fantasy and symbolism.When the young man woke up, he came to such a conclusion: for the sake of love and kindness, one should not let death dominate his thoughts.This is undoubtedly the author's own conclusion.

In the book, the two literati who tried their best to win over Hans Castorp are written vividly and penetratingly.One is Setambrini, a humanist and democrat with bourgeois culture, who is a defender of reason, progress and justice, and tirelessly fights for the happiness of mankind; the other is Nave, a Jesuit. He is not only a loyal believer of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, but also a militarist and an opponent of democratic system.The two had been arguing endlessly over political and academic issues, and finally met each other. Setambrini's grandfather was a revolutionary Carbonarist who fought for the independence of the Greek people, and his father was also a humanist, so he has always been inclined to progress and revolution since he was a child.He believes that "there are two principles in the world that are always in a state of confrontation, namely, power and justice, tyranny and freedom, superstition and wisdom." The day will come, if not by the wings of a dove, then by the wings of an eagle, when the dawn will dawn on the Continent of Europe, the dawn of equality and fraternity among men... In a word, then A world-style republic will be born." Of course, what this Italian scholar yearns for is bourgeois democracy and freedom. His thinking has great limitations, but he is still a progressive democrat. Therefore, Thomas Mann Read between the lines and sympathize with him.In Thomas Mann's own words, Sethambrini "is sometimes even the author's mouthpiece, but never the author himself".Sethambrini is a typical example of certain intellectuals in Western Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. They degenerate from bourgeois democrats to liberals. Their resistance is abstract, and their will to commit to human liberation is just a fantasy. And their arguments for class reconciliation can only end in failure.But Nafta, a cleric from a butcher family, is an out-and-out embodiment of the devil. He tried his best to advocate the justice of war and advocated the use of terror to solve all problems.The death of Nafta, who took his own life in an absurd duel, was a sign of his mental breakdown and a sign that nothing good would end for the militarists.From Nafta, we can see the germ of fascism that was born on European soil.Obviously, such a person also had a certain typical significance at the time.

About Krokowski, an assistant doctor who specializes in psychoanalysis for patients in a sanatorium, although the author does not write much, he writes vividly.At the beginning of the twentieth century, Freud's theory rose in continental Europe and became popular in many countries, which is also reflected in the book.Dr. Krokowski promoted this theory in his biweekly academic lectures, saying repeatedly that "of all instincts, sex is the most unstable and dangerous, and by its nature it is the most irritating." man astray and treacherous," and that "forbidden, repressed passions... reappear in the form of diseases whose symptoms are the active forms of passions in disguise, and all diseases are lust".These specious arguments touched the hearts of dozens of patients in the nursing home, and everyone went to his outpatient room one after another, asking him to "analyze" their subconscious mind.Thomas Mann has always been good at reflecting the characteristics and style of his times in all his novels, and this is particularly prominent in the novel.

The profound and delicate psychological description is another feature of the novel.The author writes especially well about the psychological state and subconscious of the protagonist Hans Castorp.Hans' various feelings after he went to the nursing home, his admiration and longing for Mrs. Chauchat, his thinking and introspection on issues such as life and death, soul and body——in the works of Thomas Mann, the secrets deep in the protagonist's heart The activities unfold layer by layer, giving readers great artistic appeal. Thomas Mann has always been good at describing scenes and scenery, which is reflected again in the novel.In the section "Valgips Night", the author describes the scenes of the patients singing and dancing on the carnival night. The writing is vivid and detailed, as if one lens after another on the screen is reflected in front of our eyes.In this section, the author describes the snow scene all over the mountains and plains with his brilliant pen, which makes people feel as if they are in a silver world, and share the same fate and breath with Hans Castorp who is struggling in the snow.As for the episodes describing Dr. Krokowski's spiritualism and the summoning of Joachim's ghost, although scientifically absurd, they are suspenseful, gripping, and technically admirable.

Fives When the famous German critic Hans Meyer gave lectures in my country in 1980, he highly praised it as a model of modern German literature.Indeed, it is not only a brilliant masterpiece in German literature, but also an immortal masterpiece in the world library.Thomas Mann himself cherished this work very much.In 1939, he gave a special lecture to students at Princeton University in the United States, some of which were very meaningful.He said: "This novel is a symphony to me... Whoever reads it for the first time, I advise him to read it for the second time. I feel greater interest and satisfaction from time to time." In the same lecture he added: "Almost translated into every language of Europe; and it is with joy that I venture to say that no book of mine has ever That has aroused so much interest all over the world, especially in the United States.” See Selected Works of Thomas Mann, Vol. XII, pp. 439-440, Berlin Construction Press, 1956. With its magnificent scenes, majestic momentum, delicate psychological analysis, and incisive philosophy, it reflects the changing social reality in Europe on the eve of the First World War. It is worthy of being an epoch-making symphony masterpiece. Its social significance and artistic value are unparalleled in modern German novels. Finally, I would like to say a few words about the translation of this book. When translating the novella "Death in Venice", I was deeply attracted by Thomas Mann's outstanding writing talent and the artistic image he created, so when the publishing house asked me to translate it in 1980, I did not hesitate. Accept it without hesitation.Of course, I know that this is a very difficult task. Not only is it long and difficult, there are many abstruse allusions and long sentences that are difficult to handle, full of philosophy, many foreign words, and a wide range of professions (including medicine, disease, etc.) Science, astronomy, biology, philosophy and music, etc.), it is by no means an easy task to translate this book well.I have compared the English and Japanese translations of the book, and found that there are many problems in the translation, especially the English translation, where mistranslations and omissions are common.Due to various reasons, my translation work had to stop from time to time.Recalling that during the translation process, I was tortured by illness several times, and I once had the idea of ​​​​"giving up halfway"; but when I thought that Russia, Japan, Europe and the United States already had translations of this famous book, how could we not catch up and fill the gaps in our country's publishing volume? This gap in the world? In this way, I worked day and night, bit by bit, to fulfill my responsibilities and work for this huge project and this bridge of cultural construction. Qian Hongjia