Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
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Book Reviews of Death in Venice
Book Review: Thamas Mann's acclaimed masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Thomas Mann, who was born in Lubeck in 1875 and died in Switzerland in 1955, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is indisputably the greatest German writer of the 20th century.
'Death in Venice' is credited as his famous short masterpiece. It tells a tale of hopeless love and adoration for the unattainable, and its tragic consequences for the protagonist, Gustave Aschenbach - or von Aschenbach - who is said to be based on the great German composer Gustav Mahler. But the Aschenbach of the story is a writer of note, who is feeling overworked and in need of a holiday. There is a brooding intensity about him, when he goes for a solitary walk via a graveyard and mortuary chapel, places with mystical meaning. He feels apprehensive when the figure of a young man appears and meets his gaze, much to his dismay and consternation. He seems to be seeing, then pushing aside some malign or unwolesome thoughts that exist within his mind.
He decides to take a holiday, to get away from the demons which drive him. His first attempt at seeking a fresh scene on an island without associations proves unsatisactory due to rain and the class of people he meets. It becomes apparent that Aschenbach is something of a snob, as well as being a loner with a sense of his own superiority.
Almost on the spur of the moment he demands 'A ticket to Venice' on an 'ancient hulk belonging to an Italian line'. All on board, including the captain and passengers, are depicted as strange, even bizarre creatures, almost caricatures. He is particularly shocked to see one of the first class cabin group - to which he belongs - 'in a dandified buff suit, and rakish panama with a coloured scarf and red cravat, was the loudest of the loud: he outcrowed all the rest,' and not to be the apparent youth, he thought him to be, but to be an old man . . .
While Aschenbach sits on deck reading a book, 'strange shadowy figures passed and repassed.' The ship enters the canal di San Marco. Aschenbach orders a gondola, which is described as a 'singular conveyance, come down unchanged from ballad times, black as nothing else on earth except a coffin'. He is rowed by a surly unlicensed gondolier who has tried to deceive him but Aschenbach is saved - with his luggage - when the gondolier is eventually forced to flee.
So the scene is set for the final chapter at the Hotel des Bains. It is there he sees Tadzio, the beautiful youth who enchants him and whom he gazes at in adoration at every opportunity, at the hotel during meals, and on the beach. Then he begins 'to feel out of sorts'. While walking he becomes aware of 'a hateful sultriness in the narrow streets'. He feels feverish. 'Beggars waylayed him, the canals sicken him with their evil exhalations.' The next morning Aschenbach lingers over breakfast, until eventually Tadzio enters through the glass doors of the room and 'directed his full soft gaze upon Aschenbach's face, then was gone' . . .
Aschenbach is to leave on the steamer but his trunk has been mistakenly returned to the Hotel des Bains. Because he refuses to travel without his luggage he 'would go back and wait at the hotel. 'A reckless joy, a deep incredible mirthfulness shook him almost as with a spasm'. Yet disease is spreading and eighty out of a hundred people are dying . . .
The final scene takes place on the beach. Tadzio is there while Aschenbach sits and watches from his chair halfway between the cabins and the water. Tragically he collapses, and after a while is discovered and removed.The Learning Process: Some Creative Impressions
Book Review: Superb Translation of a Novella That Seamlessly Blends Obsession With Artistic Integrity
Summary: 5 Stars
An obsessive, unfulfilled passion is at the heart of Thomas Mann's classic 1912 novella, and Michael Henry Heim's 2003 translation liberates the homoerotic elements of Mann's sometimes dense prose to make the main character more accessible to contemporary readers. Heim succeeds in bringing the story out of the academic cobwebs. The plot is light on action, as it focuses squarely on middle-aged Prussian novelist Gustav von Aschenbach as he pursues his passion for Tadzio, a young Polish boy on vacation with his family in Venice. Past his peak as a successful writer and facing his fast-approaching mortality, von Aschenbach sees Tadzio as a symbol of his own faded youth and of attractions that were never made reality in his fifty-plus years. The writer is in the middle of a book about Frederick the Great when he arrives in the sweltering heat of Venice where there is an Asiatic cholera breakout.
Although the more literal interpretation of von Aschenbach's constant pursuit can be seen as wanton lust, the real undercurrent that Mann provides is the writer's self-validation as an artist. Toward that end, Mann has his protagonist look at Tadzio as an object of irreproachable beauty, something that fulfills his need to get reacquainted with his artistic integrity. Heim's translation allows the story to get past the titillation factor into what comes across almost like a ghost story given that von Aschenbach never touches or even speaks to Tadzio. There is a sense that something transcendent will occur toward the end, but it becomes a race against time to see if von Aschenbach's fever dream becomes tangible. Mann's struggles with his own sexuality are palpable on these pages, but so is his emotional distance from the character's passions. It's this concurrent dichotomy in perspective that makes this book a classic and not something to be relegated simply to the gay fiction shelves at the bookstore. Novelist Michael Cunningham ("The Hours", "Specimen Days") wrote the introduction to the 2003 Heim edition.
Book Review: 5 Stars 3 times - Forward, Novel and Translation
Summary: 5 Stars
This book deserves 3 sets of 5 stars.
The first set goes to Michael Cunningham's extraordinary forward. His insights are tremendous and well worth reading. Read them first if this is your second time through the novel, or save them for the end if this is your first time through.
The novel itself is simply a masterpiece. One of the best novels ever written, and quality per word, the best I know of. It was phenomenal when I was 20, it is even better now, 30 years later (though I do miss reading it on the Lido!)
This translation is far better than the one I read originally, and that may well be a sign of the times as much as a comment on the quality of the two translators.
Don't read too much about the book, read the book. Wonderful.
Book Review: brilliant masterful writing
Summary: 5 Stars
What is not to be completely speechless with? This is the story of "a gray haired man" and his unusual, distant passion for a young boy. The descriptions of the setting are great. We get into the head of the main character in a brilliant manner as only Thomas Mann could take us. Astounding!!! As readers, ourselves, we experience the conflict, the desire, the overtaking of reason, and, the cost. This is one of the 50 books that ought to be read by every thinking person. The topic isn't for everyone, but, for those who can accept the topic, the writing on his obsession is magnificent!!! A++. Highly recommended.Book Review: A Timeless Masterwork
Summary: 5 Stars
This supurb novella has been with me most of my life. I carry it with me when I'm alone or on trips. It helps me understand the tradgedy of living in a world of beauty untouched. It illuminates one of life's most sacred and profound secrets. It glows within me. Like the Bible, it is a book that stands alone. Elusive. Priceless. Angels are here.