The Magic Mountain (Volume One)

Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955)
Translated by Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter (1876 - 1963)

Thomas Mann’s epic novel depicts a decaying, corrupted European society on the eve of the First World War. Set in a luxurious sanatorium high up in the Swiss mountains, we follow the destinies of a variety of exotic characters – members of a bourgeois elite drawn from all parts of Europe. Most suffer from consumption, dream of a cure - yet are at the same time squeezing as much pleasure and distraction as they can out of a situation ever-shadowed by sickness, pain, and death. Part surreal comedy, part grim tragedy, part allegory, and part novel of ideas, Mann’s novel is regarded by many as one of the key literary texts of the twentieth century.
Summary by Steve Gough

Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Forward Steve Gough
00:03:56
Play 01 Chapter 1: Arrival Steve Gough
00:21:09
Play 02 Chapter 1: Number Thirty Four Steve Gough
00:09:21
Play 03 Chapter 1: In the Restaurant Steve Gough
00:14:53
Play 04 Chapter 2: Of the Christening Basin Steve Gough
00:30:02
Play 05 Chapter 2: At Tienappels Steve Gough
00:25:31
Play 06 Chapter 3: Drawing the Veil Steve Gough
00:08:28
Play 07 Chapter 3: Breakfast Steve Gough
00:20:25
Play 08 Chapter 3: Banter Steve Gough
00:25:16
Play 09 Chapter 3: Satana Steve Gough
00:26:05
Play 10 Chapter 3: Mental Gymnastic Steve Gough
00:15:20
Play 11 Chapter 3: A Word too Much Steve Gough
00:11:42
Play 12 Chapter 3: Of course, a Female Steve Gough
00:13:29
Play 13 Chapter 3: Herr Albin Steve Gough
00:07:49
Play 14 Chapter 3: Satana makes Proposals Steve Gough
00:31:13
Play 15 Chapter 4: Necessary Purchases Steve Gough
00:27:10
Play 16 Chapter 4: Excursus on the Sense of Time Steve Gough
00:10:47
Play 17 Chapter 4: He Practises his French Steve Gough
00:12:49
Play 18 Chapter 4: Politically Suspect Steve Gough
00:14:26
Play 19 Chapter 4: Hippe Steve Gough
00:27:25
Play 20 Chapter 4: Analysis Steve Gough
00:18:47
Play 21 Chapter 4: Doubts and Considerations Steve Gough
00:09:59
Play 22 Chapter 4: Table Talk Steve Gough
00:17:53
Play 23 Chapter 4: Mounting Misgivings (1) Steve Gough
00:30:46
Play 24 Chapter 4: Mounting Misgivings (2) Steve Gough
00:27:15
Play 25 Chapter 4: The Thermometer (1) Steve Gough
00:22:34
Play 26 Chapter 4: The Thermometer (2) Steve Gough
00:22:16
Play 27 Chapter 4: The Thermometer (3) Steve Gough
00:16:15
Play 28 Chapter 5: Soup Everlasting (1) Steve Gough
00:25:56
Play 29 Chapter 5: Soup Everlasting (2) Steve Gough
00:31:03
Play 30 Chapter 5: Sudden Enlightenment (1) Steve Gough
00:22:01
Play 31 Chapter 5: Sudden Enlightenment (2) Steve Gough
00:23:16
Play 32 Chapter 5: Freedom Steve Gough
00:16:09
Play 33 Chapter 5: Whims of Mercurius Steve Gough
00:29:11
Play 34 Chapter 5: Encyclopaedic (1) Steve Gough
00:22:33
Play 35 Chapter 5: Encyclopaedic (2) Steve Gough
00:20:59
Play 36 Chapter 5: Humaniora (1) Steve Gough
00:22:40
Play 37 Chapter 5: Humaniora (2) Steve Gough
00:22:22
Play 38 Chapter 5: Research (1) Steve Gough
00:19:19
Play 39 Chapter 5: Research (2) Steve Gough
00:17:26
Play 40 Chapter 5: Research (3) Steve Gough
00:19:38
Play 41 Chapter 5: The Dance of Death (1) Steve Gough
00:20:33
Play 42 Chapter 5: The Dance of Death (2) Steve Gough
00:21:58
Play 43 Chapter 5: The Dance of Death (3) Steve Gough
00:22:39
Play 44 Chapter 5: The Dance of Death (4) Steve Gough
00:17:18
Play 45 Chapter 5: The Dance of Death (5) Steve Gough
00:17:31
Play 46 Chapter 5: Walpurgis Night (1) Steve Gough
00:20:32
Play 47 Chapter 5: Walpurgis Night (2) Steve Gough
00:18:59
Play 48 Chapter 5: Walpurgis Night (3) Steve Gough
00:25:43