/lit/ - Literature

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Haven't read either of them but I'll say the second part is better and whoever doesn't agree should kill themselves

>>18725006
E’erybody prefers the initial younger Goethe to the older sequel. Most people don’t even get around to reading the sequel.
Maybe those that do are in the retiring years.

>>18725006
Walter Kaufman didn't translate the majority of book two so I never got to read the bulk of it unfortunately.

>>18725042
4 month old baby boy here, I'm posting this while suckling on my mum's apples (teets)
Both parts have their merits, of course
Part 2 is very peculiar: it opens up with Goethe's views regarding the decaying aristocracy as the young emperor indulges in mindless parties by adopting paper currency based on non existent material wealth
Then comes the journey to Greece: Goethe introduces the homunculus (though in a prior scene) through which Goethe brings the romanticist neptunist vs vulcanists debate - Goethe favours the former, and thus gives Thales himself a speaking role in the "classical walpurgis", allowing the man made homunculus to find the Arche by becoming one with the sea, completing his journey of self actualization.
Mephisto has no luck in the classical world as he comes from a "different time", he is a manifestation of Gothic Christian tradition, and thus his objective of satisfying his sexual appetite (as he only cares for the material) goes awry. He only manages to mate with the horrid [redacted, I have no clue how they are called in English] to fit in. Faust on the other hand seeks the ideal of Love who he identifies with Helen of Troy - Faust's journey is Goethe's attempt to unify the Classical Greek spirit with the Romantic German spirit, the implications of which being very interesting and hard to describe in a single post. Suffice to say, it is part of Faust's journey, a necessary puzzle to solve the initial dilemma which nearly drove him to suicide at the beginning of part 1. This is why the conclusion to part 2 is so meaningful. Faust finds himself lording over lands, and yet is still unfulfilled - neither science, nor reason, nor the classical manage to solve his situation. But in his final moments, he refuses to submit to the purely material world. He expresses a utopic desire of sorts, yet in his dying words he does not depict a want, but something less tangible, fleeting. The great realisation, which binds both parts together, is that the soul of every man has a chance at redeeming itself for as long as that longing for something more, a higher form or ideal, is present within him, calling him. And because of this, Mephisto fails to claim his soul. Faust ascends to the heavens, various souls are described along the way, including those of children who died too soon to know sin - they are instructed to talk to Faust, in order for him to share his life with them, and lead them further upwards in their ascent. Margaret also appears again, she is further ahead than Faust, but will accompany him nonetheless.
I missed a ton of shit and I'm rambling, but anyway read part 2 if you haven't

>>18725398
>The great realisation, which binds both parts together, is that the soul of every man has a chance at redeeming itself for as long as that longing for something more, a higher form or ideal, is present within him, calling him.
This. A lot of people take part 1 as a self contained classic Faust story but part 2 subverts the Faust legend with Faust's redemption. It is the love of Gretchen that saves him. even though Faust is responsible for a lot of bad shit. Unlike (for example) Macbeth who is destroyed by his evil nature, Faust conquers the evil within him. Goethe is saying that a person's evil nature can always be overcome through the principle of disinterestedness (the Spinoza in Goethe), which in Faust manifests as his utterly selfless love of Gretchen.

>>18725006
Part two is better. Both parts together are the best.

>>18725039
This is true.

>>18725042
Not sure where this comes from. All the promoters of literature prefer part 2. In fact that's the reason why it's remembered and celebrated. The Saturnalian beauty and strangeness permanently install it into the minds of everyone who bothers to plunge into it.

>>18725099
Read the Atkins translation.

>>18725471
Just what I gathered from posts on /lit/
I’ll be sure to read it when I get around to the first.
Recommended translation?

>>18725602
this image is great I will try source it

>>18725609
James Jean

>>18725602
butterfly is there some website like a booru for art? I am trying to look at all of his work and cannot see that there is one.

>>18725620
You know who he reminds me of.
Kapura check out Kapura https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=kapura

Wish there was some art booru that hosted non anime art so I could browse for hours finding nice art

>>18725006
essintaialy they are the same.
>ib4quote

>>18725652
Donno. He’s got a lot to look over.
Art sites seem to have sucked up a lot of images that used to be more accessible

>>18725602
Atkins to start.

>>18725006
Considering muh boi Mephistopheles is the best part of Faust, the first book was better because he just had more time in it.

>>18725006
Part 2. By far.
Part 1 only gets great at Walpurgis night, which is like the almost end of it.

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>>18725042
>E’erybody
my nigga buttas gone full hood

>>18725398
>4 month old baby boy
Reported for underage

>>18725602
Bayard Taylor

>>18725006
Part 1

>>18725006
Two, but the first is more classic.