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Joseph and his Brothers

byThomas Mann, John E. Woods (Translator)

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Paperback

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Thomas Mann described Joseph and His Brothers as his ‘pyramid’: his greatest literary achievement, although the Nazi regime in his homeland did their best to tear it down on its first publication. A vivid and dazzlingly ambitious epic, it retells the Biblical story of Joseph, whose dreams and visions set him apart from his siblings and lead him first to slavery and ultimately to power and prestige in Egypt. With rich detail and unexpected humour, Mann paints the lost landscapes of Egypt, Canaan and Palestine and brings to life the great characters of Genesis – patriarchs, pharaohs, avenged sisters and jealous brothers – in a story of epic grandeur with a family drama at its heart.

John E. Woods' translation is considered the definitive English version: a rich and immersive reading experience and a towering achievement of its own.

This excellent new translation by John E. Woods is a cause for celebration: first, because Joseph and His Brothers is in fact a great novel that will now be discovered by a new generation of readers; and second, because Woods himself is to be credited with an extraordinary achievement... Woods tackles the challenges of Mann’s wide-ranging diction with exuberance... Mann has finally found his ideal English translator.

Ruth Franklin, New Republic

About Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann (1875-1955) is regarded by many as the greatest German novelist of the 20th century. Mann’s first major novel, Buddenbrooks, sold over a million copies in Germany alone, before Hitler banned and burned it. Mann fled Germany and spent the latter part of his life living in Switzerland and America. He wrote many essays as well as novels, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • ISBN: 9780241785430
  • Length: 1536 pages
  • Price: £18.99