The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background -- all to help you gain greater insight into great works you're bound to study for school or pleasure. In CliffsNotes on Mann's Magic Mountain, you follow the journey of Hans Castorp in his search for self-education in what is considered to be one of German novelist Thomas Mann's earliest and finest works. Mann would later win the Nobel Prize and write one of the most acclaimed novels of the 20th century, Doctor Faustus. In this study guide, you'll find Life and Background on the Author, a Character List, and Critical Commentaries on each chapter of Magic Mountain. You'll also find in-depth character analyses and critical essays on the following: The "Buldungsroman" Mann's Technique and Style Influences on Thomas Mann