Poetry and Truth
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · Aus meinem Leben. Dichtung und Wahrheit
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1811-1833
- Language
- German
- Length
- Long · 600 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendFrom My Life, Poetry and Truth, translated by Robert R. HeitnerPrinceton University Press, 1994The complete modern translation from the Suhrkamp Goethe edition, with notes by Thomas P. Saine.
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Goethe's autobiography of his first twenty-six years, written between his sixties and his eighties and published in four parts, the last after his death. It covers his childhood in Frankfurt, his student years in Leipzig and Strasbourg, his friendship with Herder, his early loves, the writing of Götz von Berlichingen and The Sorrows of Young Werther, and the engagement to Lili Schönemann he broke off before leaving for Weimar in 1775. The title warns that memory shapes fact into story.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Poetry and Truth are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
