Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Book Talk
Reload this Page >

What did I read or what was I reading?

Book Talk A Place To Discuss Books and Audiobooks

What did I read or what was I reading?

Old 01-02-07, 03:30 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Connekatakut
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What did I read or what was I reading?

I am having the most bizarre case of isolated memory loss. I read a book, or at least I was reading a book and I don't know whether I finished the book, what its title is or who authored it. I do, however, know some plot details and was hoping that someone here could identify the book, or whatever it is, that I read.

The book starts off with a young man who has just finished up his education to be an engineer of ships, I believe, and he has been hired to a new post, but before he takes the job, he has been sent away to some mountain retreat so that he might reduce stress. He arrives by train and apparently has a cousin who stays at this retreat as well. There may have been an instance of cheese wheel races, though that might have been from Catch-22. I'm not sure, things are starting to blur.

I have asked a friend, who said at the outset it resembled Rand's The Fountainhead, but we concluded that it wasn't that book. Any leads would be great.
Old 01-02-07, 06:08 PM
  #2  
Mod Emeritus
 
benedict's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Outside of the U.S.A.
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/The_Magic_Mountain

Originally Posted by theflicker
I am having the most bizarre case of isolated memory loss. I read a book, or at least I was reading a book and I don't know whether I finished the book, what its title is or who authored it.
You're not wrong!

That said, even though I've never read it, I can say without doubt that the book you are describing is Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain".
The narrative opens in the decade before World War I. We are introduced to the central protagonist of the story, Hans Castorp, a young German. We encounter him when he is in his early 20s, about to take up a ship-building career in Hamburg, his home town. Just before beginning this professional career he undertakes a journey to visit his tubercular cousin, Joachim Ziemßen, who is seeking a cure in a sanatorium in Davos, high up in the Swiss Alps. In the opening chapter, Hans is symbolically transported away from the familiar life and mundane obligations he has known, in what he later learns to call "the flatlands", to the rarefied mountain air and introspective little world of the sanatorium.
Old 01-03-07, 10:49 AM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Connekatakut
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks, that's definitely it. It's especially weird because I know that I was reading a physical copy but cannot find one in my house, nor do I recall taking it from or returning it to the library. In any case, I am certain that I did not finish the book. Thanks again. I'll have to get back on that.

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.