An anon said this is his favorite German book. As I had never read anything by Döblin and heard this novel deals with Taoism, I wanted to give it a chance, but not sure whether I can continue. His writing style is just so bad, is this what modern German literature (the book is from 1916) is like?
>>24685936Getting filtered by book 1? Classic. If German isn't your native language you might find it too much of a slog; go pick up something else then. Otherwise I'd definitely continue reading the work. The other books are not like the first one, which really shed a new light on it afterwards.Read a bit about the Taiping Rebellion if you need some quick inspiration.
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a banger. The Three Leaps of Wang-Lun feels like a weird prototype that is very obscure and relies on you looking up Wiki articles for context.
>>24685977>Taiping RebellionI saw Hong Xiuqian's robe, and throne in Nanjing in the presidential palace. So surreal.
>>24685936Never read this one, but Berlin Alexanderplatz is fantastic.
>>24686001>The Three Leaps of Wang-Lun feels like a weird prototype that is very obscure and relies on you looking up Wiki articles for context.Imo the book can be read as an entirely fictional story of a fictional place, people, culture. and events.
>>24685977I’m a native German. His prose is just so jarring, not enjoyable to read at all.
>>24686261Matter of taste then, I guess. I find Goethe's prose boring after the 100th page. Others eat that stuff up. I do think it is important to note that this work is Expressionismus brought to the novel form. You need to be able to read Trakl, Stramm, Heym poetry next to reading Goethe or Schiller. If you don't like that, then maybe this book also just isn't for you. And no, this is not what 20th century German literature generally is like.
>>24686387I like Trakl, my favorite 20th century poet. Well, I will give Döblin another chance tomorrow. That last sentence wasn’t meant seriously
>>24686481Read another 100 pages in one sitting and see if you like it more.
