Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Books

This book celebrates nature and art, in particular the process of drawing flowers. The story introduces the reader to a real person, but only some basic and vague information about him. The focus of the book is on the girl's own growing interest in drawing nature. (There is biographical information in the back of the book to supplement the story). The illustrations are the strongest feature of the book. For parents of young and/or sensitive children: note that Mr. Goethe dies during the course of the story. It is handled gently and it's part of the girl's maturation process, but I myself was a bit shocked when reading it since she becomes quite attached to him. My 5-year old daughter was OK with it. She enjoyed the book and we will probably read it from time to time, but I can't say it's a huge favorite. I almost chose 3 stars but leaned towards 4 because it is unique and thoughtful.

The great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was also an enthusiastic amateur scientist saying that of all his work he considered his scientific work to be the most important. This is no trivial matter considering the great works of prose and poetry Goethe produced eg Faust, Erlkoenig etc etc.

Probably the most well developed of his scientific investigations is his book on colour theory which studied many aspects of the formation of colours. Proskauer in this book reviews and also extends some of Goethe's work on colour as well as allowing the reader to experience the phenomena first hand through a small prism attached to the book with special cards to serve as "light/dark" sources.

The book starts with an introduction to Goethe's work which contradicts Newton's theories such as the notion that ordinary "white" light is constructed from a combination of the colours and that the prism separates the colours already present in it. Proskauer demonstrates that the spectrum observed by the prism is in fact a construction which arises due to two distinct spectra overlapping and that a spectrum is noticed only in the presence of a light/dark boundary. Further fascinating aspects are disclosed and provide a strong argument for a scientific approach akin to Goethe's. The colour phenomenon is observed without abstraction used to construct a colour theory.

These are the good aspects of the work, however the writing is at times speculative and goes counter to Goethe's original approach to "never leaving the phenomenon". Somehow it never quite convinces but nonetheless it certainly wakes up the mind from the mechanistic slumber of ordinary science. Perhaps a deeper approach would remove some of these problems.

A good book with great potential.

Very solid, explicative (often clearer than the original text) translation of the "Didactical Part" of the "Theory of Colours".
Although, the complete "Theory of Colours" also includes a "Historical Part" and a "Polemical Part"...

Goethe is solid and sane, often commonplace and down- to- earth. His wisdom does not strike you suddenly like Kafka's definition of poetry an axe breaking through the frozen sea- within. Nietzsche one of the greatest of aphorists surprises, outrages, shocks and wakens you. His aphorisms are read and reread whereas Goethe's maxims are a minor part of his oeuvre. Perhaps this says something about the very nature of the ' aphorism' about the need for to strike us with a force calm serene Olympian Goethe- like wisdom lacks.

I say this is essential reading, but this is more true for someone familiar with Goethe. This is not to say that the casual reader will not find something of value, but 'Maxims and Reflections' is as much a reflection of Goethe and what he held true and interesting, as it is a collection of "wise sayings."

I think it would be helpful to a potential reader to review here some of the Maxims and Reflections, with comments.

Some are simplistic: "Behaviour is a mirror in which everyone shows his image."

Some are interesting, and one will see the truth in them upon some reflection. These may not really educate, but they are interesting in themselves: "There is something horrifying about a man of outstanding excellence of whom stupid people are proud."

Some are statements of what most of us would agree with easily, but they are important because they shed light upon the man and his concerns. For example, we often see how concerned he is with certain kinds of people being dangerous: "Fools and intelligent people are equally undamaging. Half-fools and half-sages, these are the most dangerous of all."

Some are incomprehensible: "Work makes the journeyman."

Some are enigmatic, at least to me: "Wisdom is to be found only in truth."

Some are observations that are not too profound but which will serve as food for thought: "Human nature needs to be numbed from time to time, but without being put to sleep; hence smoking, spirits, opiates."

Some are simply personal beliefs, and we need to know that Goethe beleived such-and-such a thing: "Painting and tattooing the body is a return to animality."

Some are profound truths or observations, and will serve as food for a lot of thought: "Time is itself an element." "Mysteries do not as yet amount to miracles." "Truth is contrary to our nature, not so error, and this for a very simple reason: truth demands that we should recognize ourselves as limited, error flatters us that, in one way or another, we are unlimited." In this last one, for example, we get an idea about the kind of simple, pragmatic reasoning the great man often employed.

Some are statements by others, in other languages, and it is an interesting exercise to try and see why the great man included these in the Maxims and Reflections: " L'amour est un vrai recommenceur. [Love is truly a new beginning.] "

Some are classic maxims, which are oft-quoted, even today: "There is nothing more dreadful than active ignorance." This example also serves to show that the translation is really bad in places: that phrase *really* deserves to be translated "ignorance in action".

And some are difficult to comprehend - but when makes the effort, they turn out to be absolute gems: "The first and last thing demanded of genius is love of truth."

This is my first Goethe reading, and I was very unimpressed. I was turned on to Goethe after reading a couple insightful quotes used in articles, but found the book to be incredibly dry and uninspiring...not to mention below expectations for one of the most highly regarded German writers of all times. Puzzled, I found the quote that encouraged me to read Goethe in the first place...

"No one is more hopelessly enslaved, than the person who falsely believes he is free."

Not bad, right? Right...but this translation was from the *article* I read, not the book/translation being reviewed. In the book/translation being reviewed, the quote read as follows...

"No one is more a slave that the one who thinks he is free without being free."

Wow! Just flows off the tongue. Don't we think that a master of the German language would use stronger language? Wouldn't we expect verbage more similar to the former rather than the latter example? Wouldn't we expect one of the greatest writers of all time to paint a gripping visual rather than dribble out some wisdom?

I think so. I'm going to go out on a limb and trust centuries of readers and critics. 300 years can't be wrong.

The stark difference b/w the two examples leads me to believe that the translation we are reviewing is either very poor, or very literal. I am by no means a German authority (I have enough trouble with English) and I haven't researched this enough to draw any other conclusions, but I HAVE to give Goethe the benefit of the doubt. I think a different translation may be more moving.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (born Aug. 28,1749,Frankfurt am Main-died March 22,1832,Weimar,Saxe-Weimar). German poet,novelist,playright and natural philosopher.His chief masterpiece,the philosophical drama FAUST (Part 1,1808;Part 11 1832) concerns the struggle of the soul for knowledge,power,happiness and salvation.Maxims and Reflections is a collection of thoughts and observations, covering a wide variety of subjects.His thoughts on ethics,literature,art and the natural sciences are portrayed in 6 Sections. 1-FROM ELECTED AFFINITIES (1809),FROM ART AND ANTIQUITY IN written from 1818-1827,FROM THE PERIODICAL ISSUES ON MORHOLOGY(1822),FROM THE PERIODICAL ISSUES ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES(1823),FROM WILHELM MEISTER'S JOURNEYMAN YEARS(1829),And POSTHUMOUS.There are 1,413 maxims and reflections from the one of the giants of world literature.It's pocket size. Short, sweet and expressive obervations on life in an eloquent and laconic style.I carry it with me everywhere.

here is a little taste:

"...hatred is active displeasure,envy is passive,hence one not be suprised when envy turns into hatred..." #247 from ART AN ANTIQUITY

"...a merry companion is like a cart to give us a lift along our way..."
#236 from ART AND ANTIQUITY

"...when a rainbow last more than a quarter of an hour,we stop looking at it...#161- From ART AND ANTIQUITY

I was very disappointed in the quality of this book; I guess it goes to show that genius in other fields of literature and art do not necessarilly translate into writing effective aphorisms.

Many of Goethe's reflections included here lack any punch--there is nothing unexpected in them, no new way of seeing things or flash of insight. Many of the statements that he seemed proud of seemed to be obvious or uninteresting to me. Many others concerned Goethe's peculiar (and incorrect) view of science. As an ex-scientist I found these, in general, to more exasperating than enlightening. Many of the reflections were rather long and rambling, lacking the tightness and economy that characterizes the best aphorisms. As a final complaint, many of the maxims are not really individual thoughts at all. Instead Goethe simply broke up longer arguments into individual sentences and gave them each their seperate number as if they were stand-alone maxims.

Overall, I found little that was memorable or stimulating in this book. Perhaps the lack is in me ("When a book and a head collide and a hollow sound ensues, must it always come from the book?"--Anton Kuh); maybe I simply don't have an affinity for Goethe's thought. But I wouldn't recommend this book. Instead pick up a work by one of the true masters of the form: Nietzsche, Lichtenberg, and La Rochefoucauld.

I must beg to differ with the reviewer who describes this translation as "dusty" and "turgid" - the fact is that this is an extremely old (Anna Swanwick, 1858) translation of an even older book. The language of the original (I must assume) would be as dusty to Germans as this translation is to us. Anyone expecting a snappy new American translation will be disappointed, but if that is what you are looking for, you will not find the real Faust.

I think that it is valuable to have a translation that comes from the same era, and actually recreates the original, rhymes, anachronism and all. There are newer ones, of course: the Princeton Press version the other reviewer mentioned, by Atkins, is hopelessly unpoetic. You could certainly read it faster, but at what cost? Kaufman's translation looks good, but between it and Swanwick I would say that it is a matter of taste - neither appears to be "superior." Jarrell's seems to me to be less true to the original German, and unrhymed to boot.

I think this is probably the best translation if you are at all inclined towards the Victorian style. Your best bet is to take a look at excerpts from all the translations and pick the one that works best for you.

On pain of death, I beg you not to save a few bucks by buying this translation of Goethe's masterpiece. This dusty, Victorian--era translation is opaque, humorless, and turgid. I can think of no greater disservice to a great writer. Obviously Dover picked this translation because it is in the public domain, and they did not have to pay for it. This is a great stratagem for holding down consumer costs, but it comes at a high price in terms of enjoyment. The absence of critical apparatus also detracts. There are much better translations available, especially the one from Princeton University Press. That one costs more but is well worth it in the long run. In short, though, you should buy anything BUT this boring miscarriage.

This is the definitive book from which all Faust or books relating to the Faust storyline are based. Much is lost in the translation from its original German form, however, the story is timeless no matter what language it is in. Goethe writes a gripping tale from which many lessons can be learned. Anyone who loves great classic literature should make this a must read.

I once read that many people prefer this version of Faust over Christopher Marlowe's. I can not really understand why. To be sure, there are powerful moments in this version. There are also dramatic passages and memorable moments. Perhaps I would have rated this better if I had not read Marlowe's version. The problem is that this lacks Marlowe's superb orginization, harsh realities, dramatic irony, and chilling terror. Don't get me wrong. This book is certainly worth looking at, but I suggest you read this version before you read Marlowe's.

wolfgang is an interesting author. many of his poems and essays are about romance and love. if you like reading abstract poetry and getting into sweet and very interesting storites you will love Wolfgang!

This piece is beautiful. Regardless of whether you're a fan of Romanticism, you will like this book, for it appeals to all perspectives and preferences. What is wonderful is that Goethe, (as Romantic as he was) was only defined during this period for his superficial criticism and defnition of the self in the traditionally romantic isolated fashion. He is however, as one reads him would come to know, highly an Enlightened thinker and realizes the inadequacy of Romanticism. You'll love this one.

The book is a wonderful example of Goethe's writting and gives one an insight to his mind. However, it isn't like Faust and is easily set aside. I't good, but don't read it if your not a Romantic, a Germanspeaker, a Goethe Fan, or all three. Try Volume I of this collection, Selected Poems, if your not (You'll wish you were).

I cannot understand the praise for this book.Pelikan's comments on Faust are facile and often wrongheaded and his theological commentary is superficial and pseudo intellectual.Even worse he writes in a turgid style that can serve as a potent sedative for those who have trouble sleeping. A major disappointment and a disaster from a scholr whose works I usually admire.

This book is a beautifully written masterpiece, detailing the theological implications of Goethe's Faust. The book offers reflections on Goethe's statement that he was a pantheist when it came to science, a polytheist in art and a monotheist in ethics. For the first time, the author uses this statement in the analysis of Faust's development as a theologian, showing this masterpiece in a surprising and totally original way. The analysis begins with a discussion on Faust's role as a natural scientist or pantheist. Faust's mistrust of traditional knowledge is examined and his interests in geology, oceanography and optics are considered. The analysis also includes his perception of nature as a realm inspirited throughout by a single, unifying Power. After the analysis in concluded, the author follows Faust on his journeys to the two Walpurgis Nights. It is here that Faust delights in the polytheistic extravaganzas of Germanic and most especially Greek mythology. In conclusion, the author describes the operatic finale of the book, when Faust's spirit in drawn upward to salvation by the Eternal Feminine. This event marks Faust's evolution into moral philosopher and monotheist. This analysis reveals thematic unities and a dialectical development of Faust's characters that has gone unnoticed until now.

I read this book for my course in "Lives Ruined By Literature", and indeed, they were. This book is certainly a classic, and it certainly reveals the Romantic mindset, but it is DEPRESSING! If you're the type to turn off the radio or television when a murder news story comes on, don't read this book.

I really enjoyed the Comic and I think that is quite amusing. But I think a lot of great parts are missing and it isn't even nearly as fabulous as the originals. But I think you may read it in addition.

I read this book, and half way through, discovered that it was edited, with large segments missing from the original text.

The translation is excellent... although a smack too modern to be Goethe. But the editorial work done on the masterpiece is a shame. Significant parts were cut out from both parts I and II, for effect (this version was to be broadcasted over the radio).

However, for an introduction to Goethe's Faust, this is a great read. One could read this in one sitting. But for real scholarship, and those who would like an ampler fill... take a full unabridged translation.