Mann's The Magic Mountain (1924)

Have you ever visited a relative in a convalescent home and ended up falling ill yourself and staying there for years? Nor have I, but that is the backdrop to Thomas Mann’s novel.

Typically for Mann, it is a novel of ideas rather than sensations. Mann writes characters. These characters represent ideas, and between them they battle for the ‘problem child’s’ soul, the young hero Hans Castorp. A matrix to assist you:

	Settembrini	Naphta	Peeperkorn
Speech	Loquacious	Acerbic	Rambling
Taste	Thrifty	Luxurious	Munificent
Political eschatology	World republic	Roman Catholic world-state	Apolitical
Spiritual allegiance	Freemasonry	Society of Jesus	No allegiance
Century	19th century	Medieval	Contemporary (post-WWI)
Political system	Nation state	Spiritual communism	N/A
Nietzschean symbol	Apollo	Dionysus (Chandala)	Dionysus (aristocratic)

Clavdia Chauchat I exclude because she doesn’t represent what is for Castorp an ideal, even though symbolically she represents lust to the reader - lust for the exotic, boorish, energetic East. So too Castorp’s cousin, who represents duty, something which never tempts our protagonist.

Castorp's choice between antagonists? He doesn't really choose. Overall result of the novel: a loose baggy monster.