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"A highly readable, sensitive, and lively Werther. Corngold is both faithful to the German and true to the demands of a modern English text" —Jeremy Adler, Times Literary Supplement A masterpiece of European imagination, The Sufferings of Young Werther is the classic Sturm und Drang tale of youthful angst and tragedy. The acclaimed translator Stanley Corngold brings new passion and precision to Goethe's timeless novel of obsessive love and madness in this magnificent new translation. Goethe's themes of unrequited love, the pain of rejection, deepening despair, and their tragic consequences are as relevant today as when the novel was first published in 1774. His hugely influential novel informed the writing of, among others, Franz Kafka and Thomas Mann. In translating The Sufferings of Young Werther, Corngold follows the German text closely, never knowingly using a word that was not current in English at the time the novel was written and yet maintaining a modern grace and flair. The result is an eagerly awaited translation that speaks to our time through the astonishing liveliness of Goethe's language—as well through the translator's own.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre-director, and critic. Celebrated as a polymath and often considered the most influential writer in the German language, Goethe produced a wide range of works including plays, poetry, aesthetic criticism, and treatises on anatomy, botany, and color. After the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, he immersed himself in an intellectual and cultural scene that would become the basis of Weimar Classicism. His most famous drama, Faust, built on and crystalized the "deal with the devil" trope that would remain a mainstay of popular dramatic fiction. In his time, he was treasured as a living classic, and many of his poems were set to music by the top composers of the era including Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.
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