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cmbwell's review against another edition
3.0
The first 2/3 of the book wasn't too interesting. But it really picked up at the end. Might be better as a re-read.
screen_memory's review against another edition
4.0
Apprenticeship was not quite as good as I was hoping, but thank God it was not an epistolary novel.
As the so-called founding text of the Bildungsroman, the book (the first in a series if you don't count the abandoned and long-lost manuscript for Theatrical Calling, much of which was incorporated into Apprenticeship, as its own volume) deals with Wilhelm Meister's self-realization not only in his apprenticeship in the theater, but in varying aspects of the human experience.
It was not a bad book. It was good enough, but (keep in mind I'm no translation nerd) I could not help but feel that the translation was a bit simplified and reductive (to say nothing of the countless comma splices). My ugly edition was published as an entry for some old book club, and part of me wonders if priority was given more to the presentation (despite the ugliness of the chambray cloth in which the book is bound) over the translation.
Also, I cruised through this especially fast as I was eager to start Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Invisible Allies in preparation to then read his Gulag Archipelago. This might be one constituent aspect of my relative disinterest in the book, although it might be more owing to the fact that Germany's Goethe, in my opinion - and perhaps it's unfair to arbitrarily pit two national treasures against one another for no reason, but I can't shake the association - is outmatched by Balzac at least in their capability to write a compelling story.
As the so-called founding text of the Bildungsroman, the book (the first in a series if you don't count the abandoned and long-lost manuscript for Theatrical Calling, much of which was incorporated into Apprenticeship, as its own volume) deals with Wilhelm Meister's self-realization not only in his apprenticeship in the theater, but in varying aspects of the human experience.
It was not a bad book. It was good enough, but (keep in mind I'm no translation nerd) I could not help but feel that the translation was a bit simplified and reductive (to say nothing of the countless comma splices). My ugly edition was published as an entry for some old book club, and part of me wonders if priority was given more to the presentation (despite the ugliness of the chambray cloth in which the book is bound) over the translation.
Also, I cruised through this especially fast as I was eager to start Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Invisible Allies in preparation to then read his Gulag Archipelago. This might be one constituent aspect of my relative disinterest in the book, although it might be more owing to the fact that Germany's Goethe, in my opinion - and perhaps it's unfair to arbitrarily pit two national treasures against one another for no reason, but I can't shake the association - is outmatched by Balzac at least in their capability to write a compelling story.
aramsamsam's review against another edition
4.0
Goethe, der alte Schwerenöter, hätte heutzutage ebenso gut das Skript für GZSZ verfassen können.
jolineliest's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
cgcunard's review against another edition
3.0
Usually when I want to give something 3.5 stars it's a holistic judgment -- I more than "liked" it, but I didn't quite "really like" it. Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship is a different story. Although it was generally a 3-star book, there were brief shining 4-star moments and characters! Unfortunately, Goethe and I apparently disagree about what constitutes a five-star rating, because the very characters and situations that intrigued me in the opening of the novel were those that Goethe's ending undermined and wrote out. It packs a lot of potential, but it didn't follow through on the parts I was most interested in.
Still: better than Tom Jones! (I don't even want to know how many people in my department I would have to debate on that one...)
Still: better than Tom Jones! (I don't even want to know how many people in my department I would have to debate on that one...)
laurien's review against another edition
2.0
I did not finish this. It's extremely long and rather boring and I could just not bring myself to read further than 55 pages. Maybe one day.
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