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The Magic Mountain
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Plot Summary of The Magic Mountain
"Hans Castorp goes to visit his cousin in a TB sanatorium and ends up staying there a long, long time. He becomes embroiled in a struggle for his soul between several men who personify the intellectual currents in Europe before the First World War. He suffers unrequited love for a woman in the sanatorium but his sexuality remains ambiguous."
Florence Rose Delaney, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Magic Mountain
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - general liberal/left wing activism - religious issues
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - conduct in war - midlife crisis
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society) - European
Battle with a psychiatrist Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes
Taboo sex story? Yes
Brain/Body disability? - physical disability

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - wealthy
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - German
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - physically sick

Main Adversary
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - scholar
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - Switzerland
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to The Magic Mountain
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
The Longest Journey by E.M. Forster
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence


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Thomas Mann Resident Scholar Profiles

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