This volume contains Goethe's great short novel along with the fascinating Elective Affinities, thus making a fine pairing for enjoying the creative ouevre of this genius. ( )

This is not the edition I read of these two books, but I mainly want to comment on "Elective Affinities," which is one of the books I most enjoyed by Goethe. It seems to be a precursor to the books and movies that have come out of late that posit that we create our own reality and that we can attract our heart's desire to manifest in our lives. The most important idea in this book is that when we wish for something and get it, we always get something a little more, something we didn't bargain on. ( )

I picked up this volume at the prompting of the "1,001 Books to Read Before You Die" challenge. Rarely am I disappointed with their promptings. I thoroughly enjoyed the ironic view of tragic love and especially thought the story to be a wonderful pair with The Sorrows of Young Werther; however, I could not read the summations of morality, the role of women, and landscaping without finding myself unsettled and critical--an effect that I profoundly appreciated. Goethe creates a perfect tragic moment with the "elective affinities" of each couple and his characters were eminently natural. Of course, the romantic wanderings of each couple could not be found in the modern day world. Although some of the descriptions lagged, overall Goethe was able to build the perfect comparison between how humanity views inanimate minerals, and how futile we mortals must look in retrospective (or Goethe's society- God's perspective). The Novella was absolutely delightful and expanded the Romantic ability to capture Nature, the pastoral and Beauty, although I found myself with a sly smile on my face as the Goethe was able to allude to Aristotle, Biblical parables and Christian persecution all in one breath! (especially since I just finished Quo Vadis.) ( )