Stuffy Germanic Novel?
Answer: yes, in a sense. First however: the translation in the Penguin edition is simply dreadful. One sometimes has to stop and try to reconstruct the German in order to figure out what is meant. But that aside, this "philosophical" novel is slow moving and the philosophy, such as it is, is old-fashioned. I think Dr. Faustus has become a monument of its time, a great monument most likely, but a monument that has now become more document than work of art. Or at least that is the sense I get from this translation. In the unlikely event that I live long enough, I'll try it in German.