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Goethe

His Faustian Life - The Extraordinary Story of Modern Germany, a Troubled Genius and the Poem that Made Our World

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Goethe

By: A. N. Wilson
Narrated by: A.N. Wilson
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Goethe, written and read by A. N. Wilson

Goethe remains one of the most influential figures in modern literature and thought.

Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in this groundbreaking biography, it was his genius and insatiable curiosity that helped catapult the Western world into the modern era.

A N. Wilson tackles the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy to his later years as Germany’s most respected elder statesman, Wilson hones in on Goethe’s undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing – Faust.

Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful work that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more - it is the myth of how we came to be modern.

©2024 A. N. Wilson (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Authors Europe
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Absorbing and wide ranging account

This is not at all a biography but more of a meditation on Goethe's life and contribution, culminating in his completion of Faust at the age of 82. I am that person who has never read Goethe apart from a few poems but I was aware of his huge cultural significance and wanted to understand more. A N Wilson delivered on this. His own narration is calm but expressive and it is like having a very erudite friend holding forth on the topics. I was ill for several days and listening to this lifted my spirits considerably.

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