Throughout his long, hectic and astonishingly varied life, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749?1832) would jot down his passing thoughts on theatre programmes, visiting cards, draft manuscripts and even bills ? Goethe was probably the last true ?Renaissance Man?. Although employed as a Privy Councillor at the Duke of Weimar?s court, where he helped oversee major mining, road-building and irrigation projects, he also painted, directed plays, carried out research in anatomy, botany and optics ? and still found time to produce masterpieces in every literary genre. His fourteen hundred Maxims and Reflections reveal some of his deepest thought on art, ethics, literature and natural science, but also his immediate reactions to books, chance encounters or his administrative work. Although variable in quality, the vast majority have a freshness and immediacy which vividly conjure up Goethe the...
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Recensioner
2013-11-13
Betyg 
I keep coming back to Goethe. Maybe cause Im a snob. But I dont really like anything by him. This is the fifth book I read and by far the most entertaining, even though entertainment wasnt the authors aim. The maxims are interesting at best. The language is simply a means of communication. In this he differs from the french masters of this genre. This is raw material without art. As such it stands its ground surprisingly well.
