From My Life: Poetry and Truth, Parts 1-3 (Goethe: The Collected Works, Vol. 4) [Paperback]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Author), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Author), Robert R. Heitner (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1994 | Series: Goethe the Collected Works (Book 4)

Covering the period from his birth to his departure for Weimar in 1775, in "Poetry and Truth" Goethe recalls his childhood and youth as the son of well-to-do, middle-class parents, his education and literary awakening, early loves, and the creation and reception of works from his "Sturm und Drang" years, such as "The Sorrows of Young Werther," "Goetz von Berlichingen, " and "Urfaust." Not merely an account of Goethe's own life, this book also explores the influences on his early years - friends, mentors, famous personages of his time, intellectual movements, cities, and historical events - to draw a lifelike picture of his time.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 513 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691037973
• ISBN-13: 978-0691037974
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Autobiography, boring anyway, May 5, 2000

By 

April Wilson (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From My Life: Poetry and Truth, Parts 1-3 (Goethe: The Collected Works, Vol. 4) (Paperback)

Goethe is a bit like broccoli--one should like him better than one actually does. Goethe goes to great lengths to credit everyone who helped him become the most important German author ever. It moves at a very slow pace. It also is somewhat self-deceptive and misleading, as it ends when Goethe was in his late 20's. In order to get a more accurate view of Goethe's life, Dichtung and Wahrheit is best read in conjunction with a traditional biography. Goethe's autobiography appears in 4 parts, and this volume consists of the first 3, which were written earlier, and it is more thorough than the 4th part that appears in volume 5 of this series. Anyone seriously interested in studying autobiography as a genre should read it, even if it is slow going.