Novel · A way to begin
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Die Leiden des jungen Werthers
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1774
Opening lines
Wie froh bin ich, daß ich weg bin! Bester Freund, was ist das Herz des Menschen!
How glad I am to be away! Dearest friend, what is the heart of man!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from gutenberg.org
Synopsis
In the spring of 1771, a sensitive young man leaves his town to settle a family matter and takes up residence near a small town, where he sketches in the countryside. At a ball, he meets Charlotte, a bailiff's daughter, who has been raising her brothers and sisters since their mother's death; he loves her at once, although he knows she is promised to Albert, whose friend he becomes. He goes away in an attempt to forget her. His letters to his friend Wilhelm tell, day after day, what he feels.
Context
The book was written in a few weeks, in early 1774, by a twenty-four-year-old Goethe, who blended into it his love for Charlotte Buff, engaged to his friend Kestner, whom he had met at Wetzlar in the summer of 1772. The novel appeared without the author's name at the Leipzig fair, in the autumn of 1774, and at once became a European success. Young men copied the hero's blue coat and yellow waistcoat, and cups and porcelain bearing his likeness were sold. In 1787, Goethe produced a revised version.
Who it is for
A short novel, made up of letters and a few pages by a fictional editor, which can be read in one sitting.
Prizes and reception
Perhaps the first international bestseller, which gave rise to what came to be called Werther fever.