Italian Journey Audiobook By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe cover art

Italian Journey

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Italian Journey

By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
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Goethe was probably the greatest universal genius who ever lived. Although known primarily as a poet, playright, and novelist, he was also known for his work in anatomy, botany, color, art criticism, and jurisprudence. Many people are deterred from attempting to read anything by Goethe because of his extremely penetrating intelligence and dense prose. But his travel diary, Italian Journey, is by far easier to digest than anything else by him.

The journal is a straightforward account of his sojourn to Italy as a young man between 1786 and 1789. The book has a modern ring to it, and indeed Goethe seems to foreshadow the coming of many of the things we consider "modern" today: intense self-examination, scientific methodology, and anthropology. But that's not what makes this a great book. Long after you finish it, you will be contemplating the wealth of pithy, insightful comments he makes about Italians in particular and humans in general. You will revisit portions of this book many times, and you will mark passages in it, so you can pull it down and quote it to your friends. Goethe is a fabulous feast for the intellect and a balm for the spirit.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2015 Audio Connoisseur Classics Entertainment & Celebrities Travel Writing & Commentary Celebrity Italy Italian Adventure
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A great author whom wrote this amazing book that is a timeless classic and is highly recommended.

A great author

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Goethe has not aged well. Faust, in its usual rhymed couplets, sounds like a nursery rhyme, and after Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Dostoevsky, et al, its "spiritual" message seems trivial.

Werther and Elective Affinities are soap operas.

The Italian notebooks - probably always intended for publication - are different. The young Goethe visits Italy in search of his classical heritage, and leaves a warm and intimate portrait of the peninsula. Here we find his roving intellect seeking its home, the thoughts unfettered by silly plots, the language plain and unadorned.

Griffin's narration is solid and convincing - you can feel Goethe's presence in this recording.

Fantastic Intro to Goethe

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This is the full version. There is another reviewer who said it was only part. That is not correct. I have the full text of the book and this audio version it true to it.

Excellent unabridged version

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Goethe’s narrative of his journey to and in Italy is full of vivid detail as well as many reflections on art and art production. It would make an excellent prelude to any trip to Venice, Rome, Naples, and Sicily in particular.
The narrator is excellent in conveying references in Italian and German with good accents. But I found his rather snobby manner and tone frequently off putting. Goethe’s vivid writing, however, comes through.

vivid account of a brilliant traveler in late 18th Italy

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