Conversations with Goethe, Eckermann, Johann Peter

By the end of the nineteenth century, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was the worlds most celebrated poet, novelist, critic and thinker. Today his name is echoed as that of a great man alongside Plato, Montaigne and Shakespeare. This book covers the last nine years of his life, partially spent having conversations with the young Johann Eckermann, who was thirty-one to Goethes seventy-four, and who dedicated this time to recording Goethes thoughts, ideas, observations and witticisms. The result is Conversations with Goethe, the most direct glimpse into the Great Mans mind, revealing a gentler, more human side to him, as well as his thoughts on art, science, poetry, philosophy and the minutiae of life. Conversations of Goethe is an incredibly important and enjoyable document of the last universal genius of the West. It is often compared to Boswells Life of Johnson for its enjoyability and importance.