In this classic novel of ill health in a sanatorium in the Swiss mountains, the author explores disease as a symbol of the sick, capitalistic society of pre-World War I Europe. The sanatorium as a microcosm of the continent reveals a society exhibiting the first symptoms of its own terminal irrationality. This monumental work pulses with sexual tension, intellectual ferment and life in the midst of death.  (SWZ07, $18.95)