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Joseph and His Brothers: The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph the Provider
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Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
Author: Thomas Mann
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $27.72
You Save: $ 14.28 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
Author: Thomas Mann
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Average Customer Rating:
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Joseph and His Brothers: The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph the Provider Description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9781400040018
ISBN: 1400040019
Label: Everyman's Library
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 1492
Publication Date: 2005-05
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Product Release Date: 2005-05-10
Studio: Everyman's Library
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9781400040018
ISBN: 1400040019
Label: Everyman's Library
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 1492
Publication Date: 2005-05
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Product Release Date: 2005-05-10
Studio: Everyman's Library
Editorial Review of Joseph and His Brothers: The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph the Provider
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
This remarkable new translation of the Nobel Prize-winner’s great masterpiece is a major literary event.
Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts–The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider–as a unified narrative, a “mythological novel” of Joseph’s fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. Deploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity, and pain. The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological insight, and epic grandeur.
Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy of Mann’s achievement, revealing the novel’s exuberant polyphony of ancient and modern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.
This remarkable new translation of the Nobel Prize-winner’s great masterpiece is a major literary event.
Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts–The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider–as a unified narrative, a “mythological novel” of Joseph’s fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. Deploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity, and pain. The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological insight, and epic grandeur.
Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy of Mann’s achievement, revealing the novel’s exuberant polyphony of ancient and modern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.
Customer Reviews of Joseph and His Brothers: The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph the Provider
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: AN OUTSTANDING BOOK
Review: One of the greatest books ever written.
Also the kind of service / support rendered by Amazon, when the first copy did not reach me, was truly touching and amazing. Within a fortnight of not having received the original book sent to me, I had the book finally in my hands ! Great customer service.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Beautiful!
Review: The new translation of Joseph and His Brothers is beautiful, as is the novel. Yes, it's long--about 1500 pages--but it's worth all the time it takes to read. Perhaps this isn't the place to start, if you haven't read Mann before, but if you already admire his work, you're going to love this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Unsurpassed fiction, in any century!
Review: Anyone who has read my Listmania "Escape Mass Market Fiction" knows that I touted this novel (tertrology actually) as having ".... the most exquisite language since Shakespeare". But it is truly beyond that. After 30 years and over 3,000 books read I can affirm that there simply has been no greater work of fiction produced in any century by man or woman. One of the reviewers for the Lowe-Porter translation was dead-on saying you keep wanting to go back and reread the last 20 pages you managed to finish just to savor the experience. Original editions are a little rare and expensive, but, like any treasure, it's rewards are transcendental, and once read, you can consider yourself part of the most esoteric world of the true literati. NOTE-- Beginners who are easily scared off and prefer to sample before committing might want to skip the Preludes and go straight to the main chapters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Challenging and Sublime
Review: For all the great technological magic of our age we suffer the misfortune of living in a time where the depth of hyperbole rends the edge from language leaving us bereft when the time comes to describe something truly remarkable. Thus to say that John Woods' translation of Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers offers readers a gift of almost indescribable value may leave one wondering if I am making a literally true statement or simply wallowing in the common puff of our day. In this case the latter is the case for Mr. Woods' translation of Mann's great opus offers the reader an experience both challenging and sublime.
Readers unfamiliar with Mann's work may feel a sense of vertigo beginning this even more than his other works. Much of the style of narration, unique with its perspective shifting through time, seems almost purposely designed to leave one doubting their footing. Increasing the sense of dread is the books sheer heft, with over 1500 pages of small type and weighing in at almost two and half pounds. Yet those brave souls who resist the temptation to lay down this load in favor of a more easily digested work will come to in the end appreciate the feast to come. Mann's work rests on its own unique rhythm, and once the reader grows acclimated they will surely appreciate both the work and the great skill of Mr. Wood as translator. This series of four novels expounding on the biblical tale of Jacob, his son of Joseph of the famous robe, as well as his brothers, often comes when people engage in the entertaining and fruitless parlor game of determining the greatest literary work of the 20th century. While no single work can claim such a title, the complexity of the work and the Herculean task of translation should be evident that this is only the second instance of its translation into English in the more than 60 years since it first appeared.
Beyond simply outlining the work's subject matter, in many ways it seems written with the express intent of defying further description. With a complex web of interrelated stories, occasionally taking subjects that the bible reflects on for only a sentence and expanded on them for a hundred pages and at the same time seeking to place this seminal tale in its religious, historic, and cultural context, the work often leaves the reader gasping at the audacity of Man's enterprise. Yet almost every one of his efforts comes as a remarkable success, leaving one much to ponder. Indeed, any expectation that one can rush through this work will surely leave you with only a headache and little to show for the effort. Instead, one must take their time and slowly chew on Joseph and His Brother's digesting each piece in turn. Like many great works this one takes effort and diligence, but the reward comes as more than just bragging rights for having read it. Far more, it will offer an often eye opening new perspective and beckon from the book shelf to be taken down again so that you may reread this section or that.
One last point: to end where I began, Mann's attention to detail and word choice often gives pause, making each of us consider the harm done when we rain down words on a subject when a mere drop would do.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: no title - first volume of series
Review: This isn't really about Joseph and his brothers, but about his father, Jacob. An amazing achievement, taking the bare bones of the biblical story and adding research from Judaism and Egyptian and Near East mythologies and oral histories. Plus Mann went to the land covered in these histories to see it for himself. There is an ironic, slightly satirical tone which surprised me - I thought it would be so religious - not at all. He made everything matter-of-fact and plausible and made the biblical characters come alive as real people, always adding the small details of their way of life then. Jacob seems such a sympathetic man, as Rachel does a woman, but Joseph comes off as a tattle tale, and there is the one line in the bible to support this as in everything of which Mann writes. Such a sad and touching ending to this first book.
Review Summary: AN OUTSTANDING BOOK
Review: One of the greatest books ever written.
Also the kind of service / support rendered by Amazon, when the first copy did not reach me, was truly touching and amazing. Within a fortnight of not having received the original book sent to me, I had the book finally in my hands ! Great customer service.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Beautiful!
Review: The new translation of Joseph and His Brothers is beautiful, as is the novel. Yes, it's long--about 1500 pages--but it's worth all the time it takes to read. Perhaps this isn't the place to start, if you haven't read Mann before, but if you already admire his work, you're going to love this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Unsurpassed fiction, in any century!
Review: Anyone who has read my Listmania "Escape Mass Market Fiction" knows that I touted this novel (tertrology actually) as having ".... the most exquisite language since Shakespeare". But it is truly beyond that. After 30 years and over 3,000 books read I can affirm that there simply has been no greater work of fiction produced in any century by man or woman. One of the reviewers for the Lowe-Porter translation was dead-on saying you keep wanting to go back and reread the last 20 pages you managed to finish just to savor the experience. Original editions are a little rare and expensive, but, like any treasure, it's rewards are transcendental, and once read, you can consider yourself part of the most esoteric world of the true literati. NOTE-- Beginners who are easily scared off and prefer to sample before committing might want to skip the Preludes and go straight to the main chapters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Challenging and Sublime
Review: For all the great technological magic of our age we suffer the misfortune of living in a time where the depth of hyperbole rends the edge from language leaving us bereft when the time comes to describe something truly remarkable. Thus to say that John Woods' translation of Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers offers readers a gift of almost indescribable value may leave one wondering if I am making a literally true statement or simply wallowing in the common puff of our day. In this case the latter is the case for Mr. Woods' translation of Mann's great opus offers the reader an experience both challenging and sublime.
Readers unfamiliar with Mann's work may feel a sense of vertigo beginning this even more than his other works. Much of the style of narration, unique with its perspective shifting through time, seems almost purposely designed to leave one doubting their footing. Increasing the sense of dread is the books sheer heft, with over 1500 pages of small type and weighing in at almost two and half pounds. Yet those brave souls who resist the temptation to lay down this load in favor of a more easily digested work will come to in the end appreciate the feast to come. Mann's work rests on its own unique rhythm, and once the reader grows acclimated they will surely appreciate both the work and the great skill of Mr. Wood as translator. This series of four novels expounding on the biblical tale of Jacob, his son of Joseph of the famous robe, as well as his brothers, often comes when people engage in the entertaining and fruitless parlor game of determining the greatest literary work of the 20th century. While no single work can claim such a title, the complexity of the work and the Herculean task of translation should be evident that this is only the second instance of its translation into English in the more than 60 years since it first appeared.
Beyond simply outlining the work's subject matter, in many ways it seems written with the express intent of defying further description. With a complex web of interrelated stories, occasionally taking subjects that the bible reflects on for only a sentence and expanded on them for a hundred pages and at the same time seeking to place this seminal tale in its religious, historic, and cultural context, the work often leaves the reader gasping at the audacity of Man's enterprise. Yet almost every one of his efforts comes as a remarkable success, leaving one much to ponder. Indeed, any expectation that one can rush through this work will surely leave you with only a headache and little to show for the effort. Instead, one must take their time and slowly chew on Joseph and His Brother's digesting each piece in turn. Like many great works this one takes effort and diligence, but the reward comes as more than just bragging rights for having read it. Far more, it will offer an often eye opening new perspective and beckon from the book shelf to be taken down again so that you may reread this section or that.
One last point: to end where I began, Mann's attention to detail and word choice often gives pause, making each of us consider the harm done when we rain down words on a subject when a mere drop would do.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: no title - first volume of series
Review: This isn't really about Joseph and his brothers, but about his father, Jacob. An amazing achievement, taking the bare bones of the biblical story and adding research from Judaism and Egyptian and Near East mythologies and oral histories. Plus Mann went to the land covered in these histories to see it for himself. There is an ironic, slightly satirical tone which surprised me - I thought it would be so religious - not at all. He made everything matter-of-fact and plausible and made the biblical characters come alive as real people, always adding the small details of their way of life then. Jacob seems such a sympathetic man, as Rachel does a woman, but Joseph comes off as a tattle tale, and there is the one line in the bible to support this as in everything of which Mann writes. Such a sad and touching ending to this first book.