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The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg), published in 1924 by German author Thomas Mann, is a landmark novel of modernist literature, set in a Swiss tuberculosis sanatorium in the years before World War I. Drawing on Mann’s own experience visiting his wife at a similar facility, the novel follows Hans Castorp, a young engineer who arrives for a brief visit but stays for seven years, ensnared by the sanatorium’s timeless, introspective atmosphere. Through Hans’s encounters with vivid characters like the humanist Settembrini, the nihilistic Naphta, and the enigmatic Clavdia Chauchat, Mann explores profound themes of time, illness, love, and the clash of ideologies—rationality versus irrationality, progress versus decay—against the backdrop of a Europe on the brink of catastrophe. Often regarded as a philosophical Bildungsroman, the novel reflects the intellectual and cultural tensions of its era, earning Mann the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929.

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"Romeo and Juliet", written by William Shakespeare around 1594–1596, is one of the most enduring tragedies in English literature, first published in a 1597 quarto edition. Likely inspired by Arthur Brooke’s 1562 poem "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet" and Italian novellas, the play tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families in Verona, whose passionate romance ends in their untimely deaths, ultimately reconciling their warring houses. Performed during the Elizabethan era, it became a cornerstone of Shakespeare’s early career, showcasing his mastery of poetic dialogue and dramatic structure. Its universal themes of love, conflict, and fate have ensured its lasting popularity, with countless adaptations in theater, film, and literature across centuries, cementing its status as a cultural touchstone.

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"The Trial", written by Franz Kafka between 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously in 1925, is a seminal work of modernist literature, reflecting Kafka’s preoccupation with absurdity, bureaucracy, and existential dread. Set in an unnamed city, the novel follows Josef K., a bank clerk inexplicably arrested and prosecuted by a mysterious, opaque legal system for a crime never revealed. Left unfinished at Kafka’s death, the fragmented narrative was compiled by his friend Max Brod, who disregarded Kafka’s wish to have it destroyed. Drawing from Kafka’s experiences in early 20th-century Prague and his struggles with authority and alienation, "The Trial" explores themes of guilt, powerlessness, and the individual’s futile struggle against an incomprehensible system, cementing its status as a haunting allegory of modern life.

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