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The Glacier Express at “The Kipfenschlucht”
between
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a) Bildung
Hans is introduced to the readers as an ordinary, unassuming young man, a
student, as someone young in life, inexperienced...
foster father... HC is an orphan, has no Parents to direct him in
life
coddled scion...we notice at his manners and clothes that his from
a good family
few firm roots in life...
intend to return quite the same person... this is not sure ?
This is not the beginning of Hans story. We will have a flashback
soon in chapter 2. But it was essential for Mann to kick off this story with Hans
travelling. A Bildungs roman starts with a journey which has
a disorientating effect and the Journey should be of the heroical
mythical type.
direct routes turn choppy...
crossing abysses once thought unfathomable...
Uncharming landscape...
real adventure...
ascent that will never end...
wild ride...
separate from every day world...
Air he had never breathed before...
unknown, unwise, unhealthy...
extreme regions...
pitch black tunnels...
chasms revealed...
with patches of snow ...in summer ?
trees and birds left behind
a world of ineffable, phantasmagoric peaks
alien air
Hans emotions : certain anxiety, confused sense of
direction, no longer knowing where is north or south..., an attack of dizziness
and nausea, scared, feels anxious and queer
b) Time
Space like time gives birth to forgetfulness
River Lethe
On the Mountain there is another way of experiencing time :
"Three weeks are almost nothing for us up here..."
"Home in three weeks, that's a notion from down
below"
"they play with people's time here"
"Three weeks are the same as a day"
eternal snow, many things will seem eternal later... even soup...
eternal soup, imagine that
c) Death
The Bodies ... the dead are mentioned for a first time. They are a
cause for laughter. The story about the efforts that are taken to bring the
disceased back to their families down there, is turned into a joke.
d) Eros
nothing yet
e) Geography
Hans is from the North
f) Notes
Enters Joachim. He is Hans' cousin.
Joachim is the first of the Mentors of HC. As a
military, he stands as an example for duty and discipline. He is the picture of youthful vigor but not the man he used to be...
looking healthier than ever but still ill with TBC
looks different : weary, sad expression, vehement shrug, disgust,
cynic
sounds different : "You're talking so strangely" ;
HC has entered a different world. Joachim is worried that he
wouldn't fit anymore down below.
The ears of Joachim are a warning:
he would have been downright handsome, if his ears had not stood
out so badly.
It is important that he is described as someone who
could have been attractive but is not. He is not the only mentor or idea
who could be, but is not quite attractive at a closer look is not.
" A man changes a lot of his ideas here"
Hofrat Behrens, the head doctor running the Sanatorium and Dr. Krokowski are mentioned
Both are also like Joachim minor mentors for HC. One will
take care of HC bodily health, the other one his psyche.
ROOM 34
a) Buildung
Hans suffers from physical annoyances : his body is also
disoriented.... cold feet, flushed face, freezing etc
b) Time
nothing
c) Death
An American woman died here the day before yesterday...Hans is
going to sleep in a bed and a room of a dead person.
Her death was predicted.
Her Fiancé did not behave, he showed emotions.
The Austrian aristocratic horsman is coughing up his lungs. TBC is
a killing disease
d) Eros
nothing
e) Geography
Austrian, American, people come from all over the world to Davos
f) Notes
3 + 4 = 7. The number seven is a running reminder
that you should not take everything at face value. There are symbolic and
deeper meanings
Fumigated, that is spiffing... the young engineer is speaking
Maria Mancini cigars : another item which will turn in all kind of
symbols
Repulsive ghastly noise, un-human cough, like looking down inside
the horseman.
In the restaurant
a) Buildung
Joachim seems to find consolation in the bottle
Enters Krokowski, another minor Mentor
He should be a scientist but he looks like an artist
You are a phenomenon: Ill
Hans steps back: Not willing to let himself examined psychological
Joachim and Krowkowski don’t match
b) Time
… you’re a mer novice with your five
months
… it’s an interruption, a break in the everlasting ( there is that
word again ) monotony
… There is no time as such and this is no life…
Joachim, the military man, made for action suffers from the loss
of time, the waste of time… I am stagnating like an old water hole
c) Death
He recalled that someone died in that very bed….
Hans is going to sleep in a genuine but ordinary deathbed.
d) Eros
nothing
e) Geography
nothing
f) Notes
Standoffish woman: There are people staying in the Sanatorium for
life ! One can stay here for longer periods
I love the details :
Rubbing the hands as if for a prayer
Eating large meals purely out of self respect
Sending the bottle of Gruaud Larose back … the
Snob !
Life down there pitted against life up here
Introduction of Frau Stohr, the most illiterate
and stupid person and a gossip too…
The many naughty descriptions of the patients
are there to liven the story up.
Hans dream is a nice resume of all the emotions
of this first part. One can easily recognize the different details… except one.
Are dreams premonitions ?
