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Reflections on a Year of Reading German Literature

Books: Death in Vienna by Thomas Mann, Eros and Civilization by Herbert Marcuse, Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler.

words 636

General reflection

I’ve learned a few things about Germany through reading their literature such as the German word for school is Gymnasium, which is weird because it means something totally different here in the U.S. I think all four books I’ve read all have some traces of philosophy or some philosophical ideas in them. German writers seems to be very hung up on the idea of philosophy, and most of them I don’t quite understand. The best example of this is Eros and Civilization which talks mostly about Freudian theory. Freud himself was Austrian so historical it makes some sense that a German person would analyze his theory. The texts I’ve read were mostly really dense aside from maybe Night Train to Lisbon, and even then I still had some trouble with it. Two out of the four books dealt with almost the same plot archetype of traveling on “going on a quest” which were Night Train to Lisbon and Death in Vienna, although they differ somewhat in story and theme. The general gist I got from these literature was that German culture highly values education and knowledge. These writings all had some sort of academic ties attached whether it be philosophy, economics, politics, etc.

What I learned about life from Death in Vienna:

Death in Vienna was by far probably the weirdest story out of the four books. I don’t really understand it that much aside from a guy having a midlife crisis and decided to travel. In the process he fell in love with a young boy. I guess the theme would be it’s not too late to discover something new about yourself.

What I learned about Life from Eros and Civilization:

This was probably the hardest book to understand and also might be my favorite book out of the four. Reading this was like listening to a lecture, most of the stuff just went over my head by I found some of the concepts to be really intriguing. I learned some psychoanalysis stuff like the ego, superego, and Id. I think this book dealt with a weird topic and I like that because we don’t really talk about sex and how it affects the world.

What I learned about life from Night Train to Lisbon:

Night Train was a fun read. I haven’t gotten around to watching the movie to understand the book completely but it’s on my To Do list. Similarly to Death in Vienna I learned that it’s not too late to get out of your comfort zone. Gregorius was like 60 years old and been doing the same monotonous thing but decided to quite his job teaching to travel.

What I learned about life from Mein Kampf:

This book is still fresh in my memory so I learned quite a lot about this book. I learned about Hitler’s childhood and also the general zeitgeist of Germany during this time period. Hitler’s childhood appeared normal so he was probably a born psychopath to begin with. Germany after World War I appeared to be full of resentment and hatred.

What I learned about myself and reading:

I learned that I zone out a lot while reading. It’s hard to stay focus unless I’m really into the text. And it may sound crazy but lighting makes a big difference. Whenever we had time to read in class I feel more focus than reading at home when I have the lights kinda dim. The lighting at school feels more natural. I also found that my taste in books is probably duller than most people. Although I often found some of these books really boring, however I would rather read these books than say Hunger Games. Now I’m a bit worried for college because if the language in textbooks resemble these books then I would have a really hard time. From reading these books and struggling I think in college I am going to have to use sticky notes and summarize important ideas every chapter in order to understand it.

week 20 blog

Mein Kampf

By Adolf Hitler

Pages 255-300

words 387

Summary

Hitler who is big into the art world came to the conclusion that the decline in art correlates to the decline of German culture. He thought that the style of cubism in art is a result of the growing popularity in Bolshevism. He criticizes the German policies as being too “aimless.” And ultimately he thought that the downfall of Germany had to do with racism. The argues that racism is present in everyday life but people don’t realize it because it is natural to them. His argument for “racial purity” is that it is natural in nature, “The fox is always a fox, the goose a goose... you will never find a fox who in his inner attitude might, for example, show humanitarian tendencies toward geese.” Due to people mixing blood and having mixed babies, that lead to a decline in pure blood and as a result would destroy German culture.

Critical Analysis

Hitler likes to use symbolism to convey his idea across people. In his statement “ For if the age of Pericles seems embodied in the Parthenon, the Bolshevistic present is embodied in a cubist monstrosity,” cubist art seems to be more than just art. The object cubist art here seem to have symbolic significance. In general cubist art have been known to represent uniformity in their shapes. So in this quote, Hitler seems to use symbolism to apply that Bolshevism and communism are ugly and distasteful, and he views them as a decline in German culture. This symbolic usage is effective in that cubism art are aesthetically are unappealing to the general audience so they could connect with the statement.

Personal Response

At the beginning of the book I was wondering what was so bad about the book. It was subdued and not that hateful. Hitler appeared to be a levelheaded gentlemen who cared for his race. But as the book went on he revealed a lot more about his character in the way he phrases thing. He sounds smart at first but soon you realizes that he spout a lot of nonsense. He seems to sport that idea of “survival of the fittest” and to him the German, or Aryan race is apparently the “fittest.” However his racism goes further than that in that he thinks Germany is declining because they becoming less racist which is counter-intuitive.

Blood mixture and the resultant drop in the racial level is the sole cause of the dying cultures; for men do not perish as a result of lost wars, but by the loss of that force of resistance which is contained only in pure blood.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (296)

#germany #tracingthematicideas

This was the consequence of the fact that the monarchs were not always surrounded by the brightest — to put more mildly — and above all not by the sincerest mind. Unfortunately, a number of them liked flatterers better than straightforward natures, and consequently it was the flatterers who “instructed” them.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf(277)

#germant #impliedmeaning

For if the age of Pericles seems embodied in the Parthenon, the Bolshevistic present is embodied in a cubist monstrosity.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (262)

#germany #symbolism

week 19 blog

Mein Kampf

By Adolf Hitler

Pages 225-255

words 183

Summary

Hitler in this section goes over the collapse of German a bit more indepth and the impact of World War I. He compares the collapse as a form of “sickness” to things like the plague or tuberculosis. He says that World War I wasn’t the cause of Germany’s downfall but in fact it was an effect that lead to it. And that the German people were too used to comfort and thought that the German Empire would never fall similar the how the Romans think.

Personal Response

Hitler seems like the type of person who would hold a grudge and never let go of it. I wonder if people in this era has a deep nationalistic view like that of Hitler’s. I read some history textbook that said that people in this era was highly nationalistic but I doubt they are at the same level as Hitler. His tone is gradually getting more angry, and he takes a very extreme view on issues. Like how he blamed the growing German population on prostitution and people making too much babies without the means to support them.

They are in particular the sad product of irresistibly spreading contamination of our sexual life; the vices of the parent of revealed in the sicknesses of the children.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (248)

#germany #diction

Thus he mastered the plague, while tuberculosis masters him.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (232)

#germany #figurativelanguage

week 18 blog

Mein Kampf

By Adolf Hitler

pages 166-225

words 364

Summary

Hitler details his time in the German military during WWI. He talked about politics so much with his friends that he promise them when the war ended he would become a politician. On October 7, 1916 he was wounded so they sent him back to Germany to a hospital. After being discharged he transferred to a replacement battalion, and there he saw the general attitude of the soldiers who gave up on the fighting and lost all motivation. He also noted that every office clerk was a Jew. Then Hitler go on to talk about the effectiveness of propaganda. He acknowledge the the importance propaganda played a role in the war and cited the example of how the U.S painted Germans "huns" as ruthless barbarian. He said that propaganda should target the masses, but to the intelligent people like scientists, you give them instructions.

Critical Analysis

Hitler was really bitter and resentful after Germany lost the first world war. When he said “There followed terrible days even worse night — I knew that all was lost. Only fools, liars, and criminals could hope in the mercy of the enemy,” he implies some messages. Even though Hitler “only said only fools, liars, and criminals could hope mercy,” I am inferring what he really meant was that Germany was going to get treaty poorly by the winning countries of the war. He implies that criminals and liars would get better treatment from the Allies than German would, and only fools would believe that the Allies would treat them nicely.

Personal Response

Reading this section got me thinking whether Hitler was a product of World War I. I think as a person he was already quite bitter, but the war intensify his bitterness and directed his anger to go into politics. I think he also hated Jews because during the war, all of the Germans where struggling and fighting the war while he saw the Jews as being carefree and living an easy life as clerks. In a different world if WWI didn't happen maybe Hitler wouldn't have went into politics. I’ve noticed that his tone towards Jewish people graduate become more angry as the book went on.

The tavern which the said meeting was to take place was the ‘Aites Rosenbad’ in the Herrenstrasse, a very run-down place that no one seem to stray into more than once in a blue moon. No wonder, in the year 1919 when the menu of even the larger restaurants could offer only the scantiest and most modest allurements.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (221)

#germany #symbolism

There followed terrible days even worse night — I knew that all was lost. Only fools, liars, and criminals could hope in the mercy of the enemy. In these nights hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (206)

#germany #impliedmeaning

But aside from this, the general mood was miserable: to be a slacker passed almost as a sign of higher wisdom, while loyal steadfastness wad considered a symptom of inner weakness and narrow-mindedness.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (193)

#germany #irony

Thousand of years may pass, but never will it be possible to speak of heroism without mentioning the German army and the World War.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (166)

#charactertraits #egotistical

week 17 blog

Mein Kampf

By Adolf Hitler

pages 105-165

words 412

Summary

Hitler goes over a couple of issues, first of all his opinion on why he thought the Pan-Germanism movement failed. He said that it failed the moment it started targeting Parliaments instead of the general public. Another movement he subscribed to, the Christian Social Party also failed because he thought it was not nationalistic enough. A big issues that he talks about is the overpopulation of Germany. A solution he proposes is to take over more lands so that the Germans people can spread out. Afterward Hitler talks about World War I and his experiences with it. When he heard the news about the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand he was in his house. According to him he had assumed the assassin was a German student and that would mean the consequences were a “new wave of persecution” but when he found out it was a Serbian who did it he knew it would cause a lot of implications.

Critical Analysis

Hitler uses figurative languages to make his writing more powerful. For example in the quote “In 1914, as long the German people thought they were fighting for ideals, they stood firm; but as soon as they were told to fight for their daily bread, they preferred to give up on the game.” He uses a metaphor here to compare bread to economic stability. This comparison suggests that people would rather fight for ideas over economic gains, because according to him a person would rather eat nothing than fighting in the war and to die. This comparison is really good because bread and food is the basic need of human but Hitler is implying that a person’s instinct to ideals are stronger than survival.

Personal Response

The more I read this the more I get a sense that Hitler wasn’t someone who was lucky to rise to power. He knew what he was doing and how to win the general public. He knew the importance of getting the supports of the lower class than people in power. He took the time to analyze why his favorite movements failed in order for him to be successful in the future. There was a part where he criticizes the alliance system which he said most people thought was great. Now a day historians has said that The alliance system was one of the biggest cause of the war. It seems like Hitler doesn’t really trust anyone. It seems like all the world leaders back then knew this too.

In 1914, as long the German people thought they were fighting for ideals, they stood firm; but as soon as they were told to fight for their daily bread, they preferred to give up on the game.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (153)

#germany #figurativelanguage

Just suppose that an astute German foreign policy had taken over the role of Japan, we can scarcely measure the consequence this would have had for Germany. There would never have been any “World War.”

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (141)

#germany #decidingtone

Particularly the common people were caught in the mad idea that ally could be regarded as a serious power which in the hour of need would surely rise to the situation.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (127)

#germany #charactertraits #smart

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