Thomas Mann is not without reason one of the great storytellers and seen as a monolith in German-language literature. With his debut novel "Buddenbrooks" he wrote a long read that provides a literary insight into the life of the Hanseatic upper middle class of the 19th century. If Buddenbrooks is read with the courage to skip boring passages at times, the classic becomes an entertaining read. Each member of the Buddenbrook family has a distinct personality, and with seamless time skips, Mann explores how it comes to pass that the Family's wealth, status and grain wholesale company slowly deteriorates. Thus, the characters grow on you and the almost pulpy blows of fate hit you hard, even though you have nothing in common with these fictional characters from another century. Of course, "Buddenbrooks" is showing its age and the length may be off-putting, but all in all, the novel is still readable today, given some staying power.