Traditionally, the book is regarded as an excellent summary of all contemporary schools of philosophy around the time of the First World War. During his stay in the Davos Sanatorium, Hans Castorp met a number of symbolic characters. Through the conversations and interactions with these people, Castorp was able to compare and consider what greats European minds were thinking in those days.
The timing of how these characters appear is also illustrative. Lodovico Settembrini (humanism) and Leo Naphta (radicalism) are the two conflicting principles to begin with, while Mynheer Peeperkorn (the Dionysian principle) comes to the stage later but soon becomes the dominant speaker.
Nonetheless, if we consider Kafka’s Castle as the symbol of heaven, The Magic Mountain must be our world. Castorp came for his cousin Joachim Ziemssen (who represents duty) but the stay was unexpectedly long for Clawdia Chauchat – love and temptation on earth.
This is probably another book that I need to come back and read again some time later.
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