Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann
Read by Bruce Pirie





When Thomas Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1929), the citation made special mention of his first novel, “Buddenbrooks,” published in 1901, describing it as “the first great novel of the 20th century.”
Events in the novel center on the Buddenbrook family, bourgeois owners of a wholesale grain enterprise in the northern German city of Lübeck. (The city is never named as such, but detailed references to landmarks leave no doubt that the setting is closely based on Mann’s hometown, just as the story is inspired by the Mann family history.) We follow four generations of Buddenbrooks through the middle decades of the 19th century. The novel is subtitled “The Decline of a Family.” This “decline” occurs through subtle interplay of character and circumstance. Family members — individuals each with their own romantic, social, and artistic interests — struggle to adapt to the expectations of the “family firm” and to the evolving conditions of German society in the 1800s.
Mann views his characters with both irony and intense empathy, propelling the reader’s journey through this momentous narrative. - Summary by Bruce Pirie (29 hr 8 min)
Chapters
Part 1, chapter 1 | 16:36 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 2 | 8:31 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 3 | 6:04 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 4 | 13:20 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 5 | 11:22 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 6 | 6:13 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 7 | 5:09 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 8 | 11:24 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 9 | 4:31 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 1, chapter 10 | 13:48 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 1 | 19:44 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 2 | 13:04 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 3 | 8:18 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 4 | 13:21 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 5 | 12:57 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 6 | 10:03 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 2, chapter 7 | 17:38 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 1 | 19:17 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 2 | 16:40 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 3 | 11:49 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 4 | 8:47 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 5 | 18:00 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 6 | 10:33 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 7 | 11:38 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 8 | 17:07 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 9 | 9:13 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 10 | 6:30 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 11 | 11:32 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 12 | 6:34 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 13 | 8:33 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 14 | 13:22 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 3, chapter 15 | 8:19 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 1 | 14:11 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 2 | 10:21 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 3 | 27:45 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 4 | 7:53 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 5 | 9:46 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 6 | 19:58 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 7 | 22:26 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 8 | 20:28 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 9 | 5:08 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 10 | 27:53 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 4, chapter 11 | 12:25 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 1 | 21:03 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 2 | 18:31 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 3 | 18:34 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 4 | 7:28 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 5 | 13:42 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 6 | 8:09 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 7 | 8:48 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 8 | 17:56 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 5, chapter 9 | 13:47 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 1 | 11:58 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 2 | 13:26 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 3 | 17:36 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 4 | 25:44 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 5 | 18:20 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 6 | 34:42 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 7 | 18:19 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 8 | 13:48 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 9 | 19:50 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 10 | 28:32 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 6, chapter 11 | 11:13 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 1 | 19:57 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 2 | 9:42 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 3 | 15:01 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 4 | 12:36 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 5 | 20:17 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 6 | 13:16 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 7 | 10:08 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 7, chapter 8 | 4:15 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 1 | 30:28 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 2 | 21:12 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 3 | 13:03 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 4 | 26:33 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 5 | 42:04 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 6 | 32:03 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 7 | 36:03 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 8a | 27:44 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 8b | 31:55 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 8, chapter 9 | 11:51 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 9, chapter 1 | 31:10 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 9, chapter 2 | 39:36 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 9, chapter 3 | 12:57 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 9, chapter 4 | 38:19 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 1 | 19:53 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 2 | 25:33 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 3 | 25:20 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 4 | 6:18 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 5 | 47:47 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 6 | 25:13 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 7 | 18:33 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 8 | 18:45 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 10, chapter 9 | 12:16 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 1 | 16:44 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 2a | 41:10 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 2b | 38:42 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 2c | 42:49 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 3 | 8:26 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Part 11, chapter 4 | 11:41 | Read by Bruce Pirie |
Reviews





kat
I was sorry that I reached the end, I loved it. Bruce has spoilt me for all other readers, I’m nearly through all of his readings. He’s unbeatable!
Wonderful





ellene
God bless you Bruce Pirie. You gave life to this masterpiece of literature that earned Thomas Mann the Nobel Prize. Thank you.





Tsam
Thoroughly enjoyed it. The reader is amazing! Thank you very much!