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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Some tales were a lot more surprising than others. An enjoyable ride.
The first thomas mann I have read and I found it enjoyable and not as heavy going as I expected.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm ambivalent about this one. Perhaps it was the translation I was reading (I think I have the actual Der Tod in Venedig in the house somewhere, but frankly I couldn't face literary German at the moment), but I never really felt at ease when reading this. Not because of any of the themes that Mann tackled, or because of the denseness of the work; they were challenging and thought-provoking aspects, of course, but I found myself able to grapple with them.
What unnerved me was the way in which all the protagonists seemed to be so utterly detached from society, while at the same time being so changed, so warped, so created by its conventions. I suppose this is in part because Mann was so heavily influenced by Nietzche, and I have really never liked Nietzche. There was no part of me which felt able to connect to the characters. Von Aschenbach in 'Death in Venice' left me unmoved; the eponymous Tonio Kroger did manage to move me, but only to the extent that I wanted to smack him over the head for his pretentiousness.
When it comes down to style and elegance and observation, I can certainly appreciate Mann's achievement. I just can't like him as a writer.
What unnerved me was the way in which all the protagonists seemed to be so utterly detached from society, while at the same time being so changed, so warped, so created by its conventions. I suppose this is in part because Mann was so heavily influenced by Nietzche, and I have really never liked Nietzche. There was no part of me which felt able to connect to the characters. Von Aschenbach in 'Death in Venice' left me unmoved; the eponymous Tonio Kroger did manage to move me, but only to the extent that I wanted to smack him over the head for his pretentiousness.
When it comes down to style and elegance and observation, I can certainly appreciate Mann's achievement. I just can't like him as a writer.
A parade of reductive dichotomies. The "disease" of artistry that cannot be understood by anyone but the "ill" is a total joke and, while Mann takes the mickey out of many of his protagonists, he doesn't stand on the right side of history consistently enough to be anything but insufferable. The title story is naturally the highlight and most of the rest is offensive juvenilia. His descriptions of music (sometimes, the complete act of an opera) are so overwrought and factually uninformed that I felt embarrassed for him, especially considering that I am the target audience of big, long stories about Wagner and the like. Tonio Kröger is another highlight, displaying a subversion of some of these problems in addition to an evocative sense of alienation (instead of an infuriatingly cringy one).
Lots of typos in this edition including "long," in the place of a dash on page 177. Compare with pg 244. What was this, verbally dictated?
Lots of typos in this edition including "long," in the place of a dash on page 177. Compare with pg 244. What was this, verbally dictated?
4.5/5
Beauty, Obsession
“The light waned, the death motif sank down with a strange, suddenly overcast timbre, and hasty and impatient yearning fluttered its white veil toward the beloved, who came through the darkness, approaching desire with outspread arms.”
Pros:
-- endings subverted expectations
Cons:
-- some stories did nothing more than provide a twist
Beauty, Obsession
“The light waned, the death motif sank down with a strange, suddenly overcast timbre, and hasty and impatient yearning fluttered its white veil toward the beloved, who came through the darkness, approaching desire with outspread arms.”
Pros:
-- endings subverted expectations
Cons:
-- some stories did nothing more than provide a twist
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting and thoroughgoing German experience, even if it is in translation. Brings back all sorts of memories from German philosophy and the Love and Death classes. I wish I were in a class like that now so we could hash out all our theories and figure out the layers of meaning.
Whoa, man. Basically every aspect of this was laid out for me at one point or another, and I read it on a plane. Yet, despite both these things, I found this weirdly shocking and moving.