"Buddenbrooks. The Story of the Death of a Family" is the debut novel by the outstanding German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1929). "There is something extraordinary about the self—will of the work," Mann wrote about working on the first book. Conceived as a small two-hundred-and-fifty-page "merchant" novel, it turned into a chronicle of several generations of an entrepreneurial dynasty from the ancient city of Lubeck. The founder of the dynasty, grain merchant Johann Buddenbroek, managed to get rich and earn the respect of the townspeople. However, the family business — Johann's joy and pride — brings his children and grandchildren not serene tranquility, but serious challenges.…