The Magic Mountain is a German novel written by Thomas Mann, published in November 1924 about a young and aspiring engineer Hans Castorp. While staying in the secluded world of a high-altitude sanatorium in the years leading up to 1914, Hans encounters otherworldly figures who confront him with politics, philosophy, but also romance, illness, and death. Enchanted by his love for a woman he meets in the sanatorium, which prompts him to reflect on an early and formative schoolboy romance, he stays considerably longer than originally planned.