Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann
Add Joseph and His Brothers to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf
Read An Excerpt

Look Inside

Joseph and His Brothers

Translated and Introduced by John E. Woods

By Thomas Mann
Introduction by John E. Woods
Translated by John E. Woods

By Thomas Mann
Introduction by John E. Woods
Translated by John E. Woods

Best Seller

Part of Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series

Hardcover $45.00

May 10, 2005 | ISBN 9781400040018

Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann
Hardcover $45.00
May 10, 2005 | ISBN 9781400040018

Buy from Other Retailers:

Hardcover
–
  • Hardcover $45.00

    May 10, 2005 | ISBN 9781400040018

    Buy from Other Retailers:

Buy the Hardcover:

About Joseph and His Brothers

This remarkable new translation of the Nobel Prize-winner’s great masterpiece is a major literary event.

 

Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts–The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider–as a unified narrative, a “mythological novel” of Joseph’s fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. Deploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity, and pain. The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological insight, and epic grandeur.

 

Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy of Mann’s achievement, revealing the novel’s exuberant polyphony of ancient and modern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.

Read An Excerpt

Also by Thomas Mann

Death in Venice and Other Stories
Royal Highness
The Magic Mountain
Doctor Faustus
Death in Venice
See all books by Thomas Mann

About Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann (1875–1955) was from Germany. At the age of 25, he published his first novel, Buddenbrooks. In 1924, The Magic Mountain was published, and five years later, Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Following the rise of the Nazis to… More about Thomas Mann

Product Details

Category: Literary Fiction | Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Spiritual Fiction

Hardcover | $45.00
Published by Everyman’s Library
May 10, 2005 | 1536 Pages | 5 x 8 | ISBN 9781400040018

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Praise

“This excellent new translation by John E. Woods is a cause for celebration: first, because Joseph and His Brothers is in fact a great novel that will now be discovered by a new generation of readers; and second, because Woods himself is to be credited with an extraordinary achievement . . . Woods tackles the challenges of Mann’s wide-ranging diction with exuberance . . . Mann has finally found his ideal English translator.” –New Republic, Ruth Franklin

Awards

Nobel Prize WINNER 1929

Author Essay

Between 1926 and 1942, Thomas Mann labored off and on for a total of ten years at what he called his “pyramid,” Joseph and His Brothers, the great literary monument that he hoped would tower over all the other works for which he is now remembered. It is half a century now since Mann’s death, and although The Magic Mountain, Doctor Faustus, “Death in Venice,” and Buddenbrooks still find their readers, a mere five decades have apparently sufficed to raze the pyramid of Joseph, leaving few traces of what Mann intended as his magnum opus.

Looking for More Great Reads?
21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
Get the latest updates about Thomas Mann
And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
By clicking “SIGN UP”, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
Dismiss
Thanks!
Something awesome is on its way.
Back to Top

Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

Raise kids who love to read

Raise kids who love to read

Today's Top Books

Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

 An online magazine for today’s home cook

An online magazine for today’s home cook