Cue a long and deep conversation that ends with Frau Chauchat informing Hans Castorp of her imminent departure from the sanatorium. Behrens, without her knowledge-and obsessively compliments the rendering of her skin.Īnd then, seven months after his initial ogle, he gets drunk at a Mardi Gras party and asks Frau Chauchat to borrow a pencil. He refuses to speak to her when they’re in the same room, citing “manners.” He begs to see her portrait, painted by Dr. He finds excuses to pass by her in the hallway.

He looks at Frau Chauchat across the cafeteria a lot, and then looks away when she notices him. Hans Castorp’s courtship strategy is perplexing at best. “What” includes:Ī) Frau Chauchat’s feelings on the matter,ī) Frau Chauchat’s marital status (currently attached), andĬ) Frau Chauchat actually leaving the sanatorium. He decides upon arrival that he will remain heels-over-ass in love with Frau Chauchat for the rest of his stay, no matter what. You’d think that Hans Castorp had never seen or spoken to a real, live, adult woman before, based on his behavior in The Magic Mountain. In the second half, we read long, textbook-like passages on anatomy, as well as tedious debates on philosophy and politics. We are repeatedly subjected to the specifics of Hans Castorp’s routine temperature readings, his many outdoor “rest cures,” his blanket-wrapping technique to keep warm during said rest cures, his seat assignment in the cafeteria, and his incurable boredom (…as if we didn’t know the feeling). If you took out all the mundane details of Hans Castorp’s daily routine at the facility, the book would be half as long. Three weeks at the sanatorium turn into seven years as Hans Castorp attempts to recover his health. He intends to stay for just three weeks but ends up with his own diagnosis: a “moist spot” on his lung.

Hans Castorp (who always goes by his full name for some reason) is a perfectly healthy and “simple-minded” man who goes to visit his tubercular cousin, Joachim, at a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps. Let’s start at the very beginning, Sound of Music-style.

But I’ve sworn to give every book on The List its due, and it’s The Magic Mountain’s turn today.

I kind of wish I didn’t have to talk about it (I spent long enough reading it).

The magic mountain book review