Read this when
Faust, Part One
Top of his field, knows everything, feels nothing… so he makes a deal with the devil. Burnout, but make it 1808. 😈
Who it's for
Faust opens as a man who has mastered every field of learning and feels empty, which is instantly recognisable to burned-out high achievers.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Goethe's tragic play, first published in 1808, opens with the scholar Faust in his study, despairing that all his learning has left him knowing nothing. About to take poison, he is stopped by the Easter bells, which bring back childhood memories. Mephistopheles then offers him a wager: if the devil can ever give Faust a moment so satisfying that he wishes it would last, Faust's soul is forfeit.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US (1808 German original and older translations such as Bayard Taylor's, free on Project Gutenberg). Modern translations in print (Oxford, David Luke) and via libraries (Libby/Hoo.
Before you start
Heads up: Contemplated suicide and infanticide.
Age: Ages 16+
I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart's affections, and the truth of Imagination.John Keats, Letter to Benjamin Bailey
