Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in German), is an epistolary work loosely based on his own life. Originally published in 1774, a revised edition followed in 1787. This novel was an essential work during the Sturm und Drang period in German literature and significantly influenced later Romanticism. Goethe, who was 24 years old at the time, devoted five and a half fruitful weeks from January to March 1774 to complete Werther, which instantly placed him at the forefront of the world's most celebrated authors. The book remains one of Goethe's most famous works.
