Sjömansbiblioteket

A potent, touching, heart wrenching tale of love, desire and hope.

‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’ is a tale composed in the form of letters from the young Werther himself, to his friend Wilhelm, documenting the pains of the emotion he feels from his unrequited love.
Having fallen in love with village of Wahlheim, Werther falls hopelessly head over heels for beautiful Charlotte, a local girl who is already engaged to another man. This is a story that is familiar to all of us and indeed the author himself saying it is a creation which he "fed with the blood of my own heart", and it shows.

With vivid description and characters that come to life on the page, it incorporates dramatic twists with the full scale of human emotion. It is a perfect book for anyone, because, we have all been Werther at one point.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German, poet, playwright novelist and scientist, he is to this day considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern age. He was an early leader in the ‘Sturm and Drang’ literary movement, which emphasised individual subjectivity and the freedom to express extremes of emotion, seemingly repressed by the Enlightenment. He is a figure held by philosophers and essayists as being in league with Plato, Napoleon and Shakespeare. His most notable works such as ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’ , ‘Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship’ and ‘Faust’ are to this day referred to as some of the best literary work, ever completed.