The Magic Mountain

The Magic Mountain (German: Der Zauberberg, pronounced [deːɐ̯ ˈtsaʊbɐˌbɛʁk] ) is a German novel written by Thomas Mann, published in November 1924 about a young and aspiring engineer Hans Castorp. While staying in the secluded world of a high-altitude sanatorium in the years leading up to 1914, Hans encounters otherworldly figures who confront him with politics, philosophy, but also romance, illness, and death. Enchanted by his love for a woman he meets in the sanatorium, which prompts him to reflect on an early and formative schoolboy romance, he stays considerably longer than originally planned. The novel was inspired by the conditions at a sanatorium in Davos, which the author had visited in 1912 while caring for his wife, who was suffering from tuberculosis. The Magic Mountain was republished in several editions and translated into numerous languages.