Faust

The original deal-with-the-devil story — and a blueprint for how to live, written over a lifetime.

Why Read This Old Thing?

The book is written by one of the most prominent western writers and thinkers, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A work that he spent almost all his life iterating on — and he wasn't done until he was in his 80s. It's a blueprint for how to live, one could say, but also the original "making a deal with the devil" story.

One of the life goals I have is to "read all the great works of literature," and each year I try to knock four classics off my list. This year it has been Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Notes from the Underground, The Gulag Archipelago — and, yes, Faust.

The Deal

Our main protagonist, Faust, is an aged academic and scholar. He spent all his life accumulating knowledge but has very little to show for it. No real power. No real achievements. No love. He feels like a loser. What's the point of it all?

One day he runs into a dog — a poodle — who follows him home. But lo and behold, the poodle turns into a devil: Mephistopheles, who offers to grant his every wish. He gives Faust the energy of youth and the ability to do whatever he wants.

📺 Video Review

The Search for Meaning

First, Faust thinks he could become an elite bookworm and get his hands on the most rare and finest manuscripts. He also tries out the path of hedonism and worldly pleasure. He dabbles in this and that, but in the end Faust thirsts for a purpose beyond himself.

"A Faustian idea — that in order to flourish we need to flirt with things that are quite dangerous. But hold on to a sense of higher purpose."
— The School of Life

I started a "Faust reference counter" a while back because I kept hearing about it everywhere — and in very different kinds of books: The Denial of Death, a Nixon biography, and Steppenwolf, to name a few.