The Magic Mountain poses questions about the nature of time. Time is both the medium and the subject of the novel. What makes The Magic Mountain so difficult to read is Mann’s insistence that the reader become part of it. This is already implied in the Foreword, where the question is posed "whether a narrative can ever seem too long or too short by reason of the actual time or space it takes up." 

The surreal nature of the plot and Hans’ perception contributes to the general feeling that magic is at work in the sanitarium; hence, the book’s its title.