The Magic Mountain (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Mann
- First Published: 1924
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Philosophical
- Time of Work: 1907-1914
- Setting: Davos, Switzerland
- Genres: Long fiction, Philosophical realism
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Love or romance, Suicide, Extrasensory perception or powers, 1910’s, Spiritual life or spirituality, Medicine, Catholics or Catholic Church, Life, philosophy of, Gossip, Tuberculosis, Duels or dueling, Hospitals, Switzerland or Swiss people, Resorts or spas
- Locales: Davos, Switzerland
Characters Discussed
Hans Castorp (hahns KAHS- tohrp), a young German of middle-class and commercial background. He is a sedate, sensible, correct young man, appreciative of good living, but without particular ambition or aspiration. This spiritual lack, Mann suggests, is allied to physical illness. About to enter a shipbuilding firm, Hans goes to make a three-week visit at the International Sanatorium Berghof, where his cousin is a patient. There, he learns that he himself has contracted tuberculosis, and he spends seven years at the sanatorium. Spiritually unattached to his...
[The entire page is 1295 words long]
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