/lit/ - Literature

>The story isn't really anything too special
Faust is like a folk tale, Goethe didn't come up with the plot.

>>2844539
I know.

>>2844540
So why are you thinking the story was somehow more special back then? It was already centuries old.

Did you read it in English or in German?

If you read it in English, please delete your thread. Poetry cannot be translated and Faust is poetry.

>>2844547
As i'm not from german, i didn't really have a choice.
I think they did a good job with the translating, even though some parts were a bit awkward.

>>2844550
germany, even*

>>2844550

>I think they did a good job with the translating
How do you know?

You don't.

You are asking us why Goethe is praised and the proof is in the poetry. What you are reading is someone's reworking of Goethe's text into something entirely different. Yes, the ideas and plot are still there, but the poetry has been completely overhauled into different sounds, syllables, and expressions.

This is what happens when poetry is translated, and there is no way to avoid it.

>>2844547
Goethe's greatest work:
http://meister.igl.uni-freiburg.de/gedichte/goe_jw03.html

It's the fucking language, dumbass.
Did you think Shakespeare's stories were original?

>>2844554
Most of what you're saying is true, but the possibility exists that the translator's work has transcended GOAT's.

>The story isn't really anything too special

If you're still reading things for story pretty much all literature is going to be "2deep4u."

>>2844573
Don't let a German hear you say that.

Sorry to derail the thread but I'm posting from an iPhone and have no access to a computer and I can't start threads:
Anyway, I recently finished reading George Orwells 1984; brilliant setting but I honestly did not like the story revolving around the main character, did anybody else feel this way about it? I mean there was so much they could have explored with the totalitarian dystopian but they just sorta focused on 1 old guy :/

Anywho my reason for posting is, can anybody recommend me some other books similar to 1984 with the whole totalitarian setting? Cheers.

>>2844536
As a symbol of man's quest for knowledge, the Faustus legend has always mesmerized its audience. Keep in mind that Goethe was one of the brightest minds alive back then, and that he always called this his magnum opus. He reworked (part I) and updated (II) the legend.

It's an epic because it reports actions by a hero, are you dense, or did you mean "what makes it 'epic'"?

>>2844554
>>2844573
Goethe's versification is seriously lacking in a number of passages, which is a shame because he worked on it for about 40 years.

>>2844591
(This a thread about Goethe's Faust, but it's gone to shit already, so np) Ever heard of Huxley's Brave New World? It's the other standard dystopian classic you're supposed to have read, so if you haven't, happy reading!

Since this thread was made by a retarded teenager, I'd like to hijack it to field /lit/ for the silliest pronunciations of Goethe they've ever heard.

I think I've heard more pronunciations for "Goethe" than any other name--it's almost like people just make up their own version on how to say it. The most bizarre one I heard was "Get". A woman was honestly talking to me about Goethe and she kept saying "Get", and I eventually was like, "I've never heard of 'Get'." She said she was surprised, and that "Get" is one of the most famous German poets.

Then it dawned on me.

>>2844600
Well, I've heard "Go-ethe"...

>>2844600
Francophones always leave out the 'uh' at the end, so perhaps she thought he was a frenchie (the 'eh' sound in the middle though, that's hilarious).
The French don't care at all about the proper pronunciation of English btw, they'll happily call Spiderman 'speedermahn' on national television. So don't feel bad, readers of flaughbird...

>>2844621
Interesting, because I have heard people call him "Gurt", too. Like "yogurt."

>>2844634
lol'd snobbishly

>>2844634

Which is the correct, German, way to say it.

Gurt-teh

>>2844700
I'm confused as to if there is something wrong with your English or your German.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPALtWfg4bI

There's no R in there.

>>2844634

Goethe pronunciation
>USA:
GUR-DA

Everywhere else in the world
>Goo-teh