"The sad thing is that one lives but once--one can't begin life over again. And one would know so much better the second time!" 
 The family saga of the Buddenbrooks is considered a classic of German literature, a book many people have already heard about, yet never read for a very simple reason... it's loooong. And if you appreciate your books with action and thrilling stuff, then Thomas Mann's novel is not exactly the book you should turn to because it would only disappoint you. 
 It took me almost three months to fight my way through the novel. I read the original German version, and as a native German speaker, let me tell you something: reading classics in German is much more difficult than reading classics in English. And Thomas Mann certainly knows how to keep his sentences long-winded, letting them run on and on over the course of half a page before finally ending the sentence (if you're lucky). Back in school, my German teacher would have had a mental breakdown if I'd made him read sentences like this in my exams. 
 Basically, the story of the Buddenbrooks consists of a plot outlined in an exceedingly detailed way, narrated through a lot of different days set in the family members' everyday life, which includes a lot of time jumps. Dealing with their struggles and important events like births, deaths, marriages, divorces and financial businesses, the characters are elaborately established, especially siblings Tony and Thomas, who soon solidify their roles as main protagonists. Both are flawed human beings, are responsible for a lot of mistakes, and have to deal with the deeds they have committed in the past. The story revolves around the development of the main characters, as Thomas Mann allowed readers to follow Tony, Thomas, Christian and other characters from their childhoods to their deaths. Mann did not even attempt to make his characters appear perfect, he attempted - and succeeded - to make them appear realistic. Certain supporting characters lack some attention by the author, but in my opinion, Mann managed to unite plot and character development nearly perfectly. 
 "Often, the outward and visible material signs and symbols of happiness and success only show themselves when the process of decline has already set in. The outer manifestations take time - like the light of that star up there, which may in reality be already quenched, when it looks to us to be shining its brightest." 
 The sentences are laboriously convoluted, sometimes leaving me without any kind of overview on how this sentence may be structured. The writing style is not difficult to read and understand, though - Mann is able to write engaging chapters, using exactly the right lengths and engaging his readers by creating an interesting atmosphere and allowing you to easily imagine the setting in front of your imaginary eye. And there is a certain subtlety about his humor, which I was personally able to enjoy a lot. 
 If you don't know much about this time period, then Thomas Mann's epic novel about this huge family living and working in Lubeck (a city at the Baltic Sea in Northern Germany, set in a region which I can only recommend visiting) might be quite an interesting reading experience. It's a tedious book, but ultimately, it was absolutely worth the time I spent reading it. 
 [Review completely rewritten 14 April 2017]