Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Introduction by Nicholas Boyle

Selected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Introduction by Nicholas Boyle

<p>One of the towering figures of world literature, Goethe has never held quite as prominent a place in the English-speaking world as he deserves. This collection of his four major works, together with a selection of his finest letters and poems, shows that he is not only one of the very greatest European writers: he is also accessible, entertaining, and contemporary.</p><p>The <i>Sorrows of Young Werther</i> is a story of self-destructive love that made its author a celebrity overnight at the age of twenty-five. Its exploration of the conflicts between ideas and feelings, between circumstance and desire, continues in his controversial novel probing the institution of marriage, <i>Elective Affinities</i>. The cosmic drama of <i>Faust</i> goes far beyond the realism of the novels in a poetic exploration of good and evil, while <i>Italian Journey</i>, written in the author's old age, recalls his youth in Italy and the impact of Mediterranean culture on a young northerner.</p><p>Translators include W. H. Auden, Louise Bogan, David Constantine, Barker Fairley, and Elizabeth Mayer</p>