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Book Synopsis
Baron Eduard and his second wife Charlotte enjoy a quiet, humdrum existence in their opulent castle, but when he invites his friend the Captain and she invites her niece Ottilie to stay with them, their lives are turned inside out as both hosts begin to feel attracted to their guests. Using one of the chemistry theories of the time as a metaphor throughout the novel, Goethe juxtaposes social interactions with scientific principles, while illustrating the typically Romantic concern of the individual coming to terms with society. Controversial when first published and still much critically debated today, Goethe’s Elective Affinities is an early model for the modern novel.

Trade Review
The boldest and deepest novel of adultery produced by the moral culture of the West. -- Thomas Mann

Elective Affinities: Newly Translated and

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    A Paperback / softback by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, H.M. Waidson

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      Book details

      Publisher Alma Classics
      Published 15 February 2015
      ISBN-13 9781847494528
      978-1847494528
      ISBN-10 1847494528

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Baron Eduard and his second wife Charlotte enjoy a quiet, humdrum existence in their opulent castle, but when he invites his friend the Captain and she invites her niece Ottilie to stay with them, their lives are turned inside out as both hosts begin to feel attracted to their guests. Using one of the chemistry theories of the time as a metaphor throughout the novel, Goethe juxtaposes social interactions with scientific principles, while illustrating the typically Romantic concern of the individual coming to terms with society. Controversial when first published and still much critically debated today, Goethe’s Elective Affinities is an early model for the modern novel.

      Trade Review
      The boldest and deepest novel of adultery produced by the moral culture of the West. -- Thomas Mann

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