Heinrich Faust is a brilliant German scholar who has mastered every academic discipline of the Renaissance — philosophy, medicine, law, theology — and is on the verge of suicide because none of it has given him real knowledge of the world. The devil's emissary, Mephistopheles, appears in his study and offers a deal: unlimited experience of the world, in exchange for Faust's soul at the moment he is finally satisfied.
Goethe worked on Faust for sixty years, finishing the second part just months before his death in 1832. The first part — which Storica adapts — covers the bargain, Faust's rejuvenation, his seduction of a young village girl named Gretchen, the destruction of her family, and her execution. It is the most quoted work in German literature.
Goethe's German moves between scholarly Latin-influenced verse, country dialogue, and mystical chant. Storica's B2 adaptation preserves the structure of Part One across twenty-five readable chapters, in clear narrative German prose. The famous scenes — the pact, the witch's kitchen, Walpurgis Night, the prison — all stay.
Goethe's Faust in the original is a play in verse with archaic vocabulary, country dialect, and Latin-influenced philosophical passages. Storica's adaptation rewrites it as straight narrative German prose at B2. You get the bargain, Gretchen, the witch's kitchen, and the famous final scene — in language a B2 reader can actually finish.
Upper intermediate. You read literary novels, follow nuance, handle conditional and subjunctive. You can argue, summarise, and reflect in writing. The plateau is behind you.
Yes — every book in the Storica catalog is available in all seven supported languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. Faust was originally written in German, but you choose your reading language when you start.
B2. Upper intermediate. You read literary novels, follow nuance, handle conditional and subjunctive. You can argue, summarise, and reflect in writing. The plateau is behind you.
About one month at fifteen minutes a day. The adaptation runs to 25 short chapters — short enough to read before bed, long enough to actually move your level.
No. Storica's adaptation is the version you read. We keep the characters, plot beats, and tone of the original — and rewrite the language to fit the level. If you've read the original before, you'll recognise the story; if you haven't, the adaptation is a complete reading of the book.
Pick up where you left off. There are no streaks, no penalties, and no notifications begging you back. Day 12 is still Day 12 a week later.
Faust is rated B2, so we'd suggest starting with one of our A0 or A1 books first if you're brand-new to your target language. Check our shelf at /library/ — the readers there are short, gentle, and built specifically for week one.
Your first 30-day book is free. No card. No streak. Just a passage every morning.
Read it free for 7 days →A small group of readers working through classics in their target language — Kafka in German, Camus in French, Bovary in Spanish. Leave your email and we'll send your invitation.
Use this code in the app for 30% off your first year of Storica Pro.