After reading The Coming of the Third Reich, I thought I would take a quick detour and re-read Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. At 854 pages and in 6-point type in the Everyman’s Library edition, it is a long book. (If you really care, the book is set in BEMBO and appears to be about 10-point type.)

The book was first published in 1924, but apparently Thomas Mann began writing the story before the outbreak of the first great war. There are characters and events, but the story is more about ideas, philosophies, and, at times, a war of words and minds.

The best time to read this book is in the midst of studying advanced literature, history, and philosophy. Thirty years later, between beers, it’s a little more difficult to digest.

Suffice to say, Hitler probably never read this book, and as a recognized German 20th century German classic, those are two reasons alone to read this tome. At least once. I’ve read it twice. In English. Next time auf Deutsch?