Sunday, December 19, 2010

Ten of the best depictions of the Alps

For the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best depictions of the Alps in literature.

One novel on the list:
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

Hans Castorp, scion of a Hamburg merchant family, arrives in Davos in the Swiss Alps to visit his cousin Joachim, who is a patient in a sanatorium. The cold, clear air dizzies and delights him, but he becomes ill himself and, convinced that he has TB, stays for seven years.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Magic Mountain also appears on Brian Dillon's list of the five best books on hypochondria, Arthur Phillips' list of five novels about life during the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, and John Mullan's list of ten of the best visits to the cinema in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue