The Magic Mountain
First German edition (1924) | |
| Author | Thomas Mann |
|---|---|
| Original title | Der Zauberberg |
| Translator | Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter |
| Language | German, with some French |
| Genre | Bildungsroman, modernist novel |
| Publisher | S. Fischer Verlag, Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1924 |
| Publication place | Weimar Republic |
Published in English | 1927 |
| OCLC | 30704937 |
The Magic Mountain (German: Der Zauberberg, pronounced [deːɐ̯ ˈtsaʊbɐˌbɛʁk] ⓘ) is a German novel written by Thomas Mann and published in November 1924 about the young, aspiring engineer Hans Castorp. While staying in the secluded world of a high-altitude sanatorium in the years leading up to 1914, Hans encounters otherworldly figures who confront him with politics, philosophy, but also romance, illness, and death. Enchanted by his love for a woman he meets in the sanatorium, reflecting an early and formative schoolboy romance, he stays considerably longer than originally planned.
The novel was inspired by the conditions at a sanatorium in Davos, which the author had visited in 1912 while caring for his wife, who was suffering from tuberculosis.
The Magic Mountain was republished in several editions, and translated into numerous languages.