Elective Affinities. [Hardcover]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 1976 | ISBN-10: 0837187095 | ISBN-13: 978-0837187099

This book is a replica of the original from the collections of The New York Public Library; it was produced from digital images created by The New York Public Library and its partners as part of their preservation efforts. To enhance your reading pleasure, the aging and scanning artifacts have been removed using patented page cleaning technology. We hope you enjoy the result.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

About the Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt-on-Main in 1749. He studied at Leipzig, where he showed interest in the occult, and at Strassburg, where Herder introduced him to Shakespeare’s works and to folk poetry. He produced some essays and lyrical verse, and at twenty-two wrote Götz von Berlichingen, a play which brought him national fame and established him in the current Sturm und Drang movement. This was followed by the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774, which was an even greater success.

Goethe began work on Faust, and Egmont, another tragedy before being invited to join the government of Weimar. His interest in the classical world led him to leave suddenly for Italy in 1786 and the Italian Journey recounts his travels there. Iphigenia in Tauris and Torquato Tasso, classical dramas, were written at this time. Returning to Weimar, Goethe started the second part of Faust, encouraged by Schiller. In 1806 he married Christiane Vulpius. During this late period he finished his series of Wilhelm Master books and wrote many other works, including The Oriental Divan (1819). He also directed the State Theatre and worked on scientific theories in evolutionary botany, anatomy and color. Goethe completed Faust in 1832, just before he died.
R. J. Hollingdale has translated eleven of Nietzsche’s books and published two books about him. He has also translated works by, among others, Schopenhauer, Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Lichtenberg and Theodor Fontane, many of these for the Penguin Classics. He is Honorary President of the British Nietzsche Society, and was for the Australian academic year 1991 Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 305 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press Reprint (March 19, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837187095
• ISBN-13: 978-0837187099
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,260,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love is Not a Controlled Experiment, January 15, 2001

By 

mp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elective Affinities (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

First published in 1809, Goethe's novel "Elective Affinities" is a disturbingly dark work about rational people driven to distraction by passion and love. The novel seems to be as much influenced by 'The Tale of Foolish Curiosity' found in "Don Quixote" (chapters 33-35) as by Goethe's own marital difficulties. In the novel, Goethe explores the nature of love, and questions whether we have any choice over who we love - or over anything at all.

"Elective Affinities" is the story of two married aristocrats, Eduard and Charlotte, who spend their time and money in general indolence, tinkering with the land on their estate. A friend of Eduard's, the Captain, has fallen into economic instability, and Eduard suggests that they invite the Captain into their home until he can reestablish himself. Charlotte initially objects, but sees it as an opportunity to withdraw Ottilie, her niece, from an unproductive school experience. Under the auspices of doing good turns for their friends, Eduard and Charlotte unwittingly throw the listless harmony of their lives into chaos.

When the passionate Eduard meets the youthful, energetic Ottilie, and the stoical Charlotte meets the likewise prudent Captain - the scientific principle of Elective Affinities that gives the novel its name begins to take effect. The results of introducing two new elements into a closed system makes up the action of the remainder of the novel. Among other things, the novel examines and subtly criticizes the state of class relations in Germany in the early nineteenth century, the limitations of children's education, and matters of faith.

Goethe's "Elective Affinities" is a quick read - Hollingdale's translation is user-friendly, becoming ornate only when faith to the original seems to demand it. Though not as famous as Goethe's "Sorrows of Young Werther," "Elective Affinities" is certainly worth a read.

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For All Lovers of the Romantic Period!!!!, March 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Elective Affinities (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Elective Affinities is a must read book for all lovers of the romantic period!!! This book is filled with wonderful insights into the human psyche, love, conflict, and their common connections with the external world, and those we share it with; it is overflowing with philosophical thoughts. I could never give this book, or Goethe, enough praise.--It is a shame the person also reviewing this book began it as a task rather than an adventure. Most of this book is, as other books written by Goethe: composed from his personal experiences, and which were once only jottings in his diary; hence, it is real, and not to be compared with a contemopary soap opera (such as Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice). YES, a must read. I also recommend Goethe's The Sorrow of Young Werther.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beware translators!, February 19, 2008

By 

Nivoabul - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elective Affinities (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Well, I put five stars to this item because it is one of the most fabulous and complex novels ever written, at least for me (I read and re-read it in the original German). BUT : Everyone intending to read it in English should choose the Oxford Classics edition rather than this one. This old translation in Penguin clearly betrays the author's intentions, it becomes clear in the very first sentence, and there's nothing left in it of Goethe's subtlety.