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kwharrison13.comEssays, books and notes by Kyle Harrison

Faust

From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Faust
Full titleFaust: A Tragedy in Two Parts
AuthorJohann Wolfgang von Goethe
RecommendedOnce
BuyAmazon
Why it’s on the listGoethe’s two-part dramatic poem of a scholar who wagers his soul against Mephistopheles’ promise of a moment he would want to hold forever — an intimate tragedy in Part One, a sweep through myth, imperial finance and land reclamation in Part Two — that puts restless, unlimited striving on trial rather than simply admiring it.

Faust

Where I heard about it

  • Li Lu — entry 10 in the History of Western Civilization section of Li Lu’s Recommended Book List, the literary entry in a Western-canon spine that runs from Plato and Homer through Hobbes, Locke, Mill and Darwin. No edition or year given.

About this edition

Part One appeared in 1808 and Part Two in 1832, after Goethe had worked on the material for roughly sixty years; he finished Part Two in the last year of his life. Not to be confused with Doctor Faustus, Marlowe’s 1604 play on the same legend.

Connections

Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.