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Buddenbrooks

The Decline of a Family

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Buddenbrooks

By: Thomas Mann
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author's former neighbours in his native Lübeck.

As he charts the Buddenbrooks' decline from prosperity to bankruptcy, from moral and psychic soundness to sickly piety, artistic decadence and madness, Mann ushers the reader into a world of rich vitality, pieced together from births and funerals, weddings and divorces, recipes, gossip and earthy humour. It is perhaps the first great family saga of modern literature, and it brought to public notice a writer of world stature who, three decades later, was to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. David Rintoul gives one of his finest performances in this committed and deeply moving reading.©1993 Alfred A Knopf (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd Classics Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Thought-Provoking
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I've never read or listened to Thomas Mann before and the excellent reviews persuaded me to launch upon this long long book. Beautifully crafted and humorously observed, this is the story of the Buddenbrookes, a good old family in terminal decline, along with the society they inhabit in turn of the century Germany. The performance is absolutely flawless and I felt comfortably carried along in another world, where action is sparse, people are flawed and life stories neither gripping nor tedious - a real world. A lovely book for all fans of slowly-unfolded epics.

Gentle and devastating.

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An extraordinary tour de force- cannot speak too highly of David Rintoul’s performance. And a wonderful book full of humour, wisdom, humanity - Thomas Mann was clearly one of the great thinkers of his age. Bereft now I’ve finally got to the end!

Simply wonderful

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Gripping story of the slow decline of a powerful trading family over three generations. David Rintoul brings it brilliantly to life in this excellent reading.

Brilliant reading of an enthralling family saga

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I often wonder why name prefixes are not translated into English, particularly from German translations.
The town of Hamburg is so often mentioned in this book and was therefore irritating to hear it pronounced Ham-borg throughout. Like the Borg from Star Trek. This narrator could not pronounce it in the same way as a Hamburger could.
This Nobel prize winning book is a great and epic story of its time from Thomas Mann and the largely unhistrionic reading and even toned and pleasant voice of the narrator made it an enjoyable listen.

GREAT BOOK

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The performance of the narrator is first class. Each character is easily definable and their traits come to life. Themes such as isolation, conformity, choice, and obviously death are confronted in a variety of situations through the decline of Family Buddenbrooks. It’s the second time I have listened to this and no doubt I will come back o it once more.

Spine tingling presentation of a gripping story

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