The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents."

Werther, a sensitive and artistic young man, falls hopelessly in love with Lotte, who is engaged to another man. In a series of letters to his friend Wilhelm, he documents his ecstatic passion and his slow descent into despair, culminating in his suicide.

This novel sparked the 'Sturm und Drang' movement and made Goethe a European celebrity. It captures the raw intensity of unrequited love and the conflict between the individual genius and societal conventions.