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Buddenbrooks, by Thomas Mann, completed.

Of Mann's famous books (Magic Mountain, Doctor Faustus), this is the most conventional.  Family drama, rise and fall of the Buddenbrook family.  Thomas is the main character. He fights hard to keep the family going, but ultimately fails.  He's a bit of a prig, though his basic dignity makes him an appealing character.  The tides of change overwhelm.  Christian, his brother, is a sign of the changes.  A hypochondriac, lazy, self-centered . . . funny at times. Perhaps his greatest "flaw" in Thomas's mind is that he doesn't admire the business. Antoine (Tony), the sister, wants to further the Buddenbrook's line.  She even gives up her first love to marry properly.  But . . .  nothing works for her.  Failed marriages and then her daughter, Erika, fails in marriage, too. Erika actually marries an insurance agent who is jailed for insurance fraud over arson cases. Greda is Thomas's somewhat exotic wife from Amsterdam.  She is musical, as is her son Johann (Hanno), the last of the line.  He is born sickly and remains sickly.Hanno has no head for anything but piano.  He is an abysmal failure in all the things Thomas treasures--public speaking, a head for numbers, leadership, just to name a few.  He does love and is transported by his music.  Hanno, near the end, contracts typhus and dies.  His death ends the Buddenbrooks family power and name.

New translation and it was great.  Really flowed.  A wonderful book.  It reminds me somewhat of Trollope because of the concerns about money.  But Trollope is 100% in on all the money matters. For Mann, the money is a symbol of the way of life and is not important in and of itself.  I never get that feeling with Trollope.

A great novel.

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