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grayjay's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed "Death in Venice" and "Tonio Kroger" for their highlights of Mann's insights into the life of the artist, and also their queer slant. I read most of "Disorder and Early Sorrow" but I kept thinking, why would someone write this? What is the point? It's so dull. I had to look it up, and I guess it's a picture of family life in a certain place in a certain time, but this doesn't have any value to me. I've decided that this is probably how I would characterize most of the stories in this collection.
carmenx9's review against another edition
5.0
I know far too much about Thomas Mann's compulsions and neuroses now, but what a satisfying collection and well rounded cast of humans / artists / dogs. After Doctor Faustus and Lotte in Weimar my big complaint with Mann is that his beginnings and endings are stunning but his middles lose their way, but the great thing about short stories / novellas is that there really is no middle, it's all brilliance.
I read a different version with only 7 stories in it but I sought out Felix Krull to finish the collection off
Death in Venice: 5/5 a masterpiece, incredible atmosphere, you won't sleep for a week
Tonio Kröger: 4.5/5 the portrait of the artist as a young cuck
Mario and the Magician: 3/5 holiday disaster for the bourgeoisie
Disorder and Early Sorrow: 4/5 what a lovely little character sketch as the world goes to shit
A Man and His Dog: 5/5 Bashan is a good boy!!!
The Blood of the Wälsungs: 3.5/5 the most beautifully written, audacious and compelling piece in the collection (sorry Death in Venice), subtle as a sledgehammer, and that Cat Person lady has nothing to worry about in comparison to this piece of rpf. Unconvinced that using racist tropes to point out how nonsensical racism is is okay though, especially considering Mann was a white gentile marrying into a secular Jewish family. Hence the lower score
Tristan: 4.5/5 improved on second reading, very very beautiful and sad and yes children are terrifying and music might save us
Felix Krull: 3.5/5 solid effort, a good companion piece to Disorder etc
I read a different version with only 7 stories in it but I sought out Felix Krull to finish the collection off
Death in Venice: 5/5 a masterpiece, incredible atmosphere, you won't sleep for a week
Tonio Kröger: 4.5/5 the portrait of the artist as a young cuck
Mario and the Magician: 3/5 holiday disaster for the bourgeoisie
Disorder and Early Sorrow: 4/5 what a lovely little character sketch as the world goes to shit
A Man and His Dog: 5/5 Bashan is a good boy!!!
The Blood of the Wälsungs: 3.5/5 the most beautifully written, audacious and compelling piece in the collection (sorry Death in Venice), subtle as a sledgehammer, and that Cat Person lady has nothing to worry about in comparison to this piece of rpf. Unconvinced that using racist tropes to point out how nonsensical racism is is okay though, especially considering Mann was a white gentile marrying into a secular Jewish family. Hence the lower score
Tristan: 4.5/5 improved on second reading, very very beautiful and sad and yes children are terrifying and music might save us
Felix Krull: 3.5/5 solid effort, a good companion piece to Disorder etc
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
In Thomas Mann the mixture of realism and psychology that marked world literature at the beginning of the 20th Century found its master. American writers like Sherwood Anderson and Jack London were detailing the life of the man and probing into the life of the mind, but Mann has them beat by a mile.
I would compare each of these novellas to finely tuned paintings, detailed in their color with just the right amount of perspective. To me, it's literary pointilism. The characters are finely drawn, their obsessions ("Tristan," "Death in Venice") and their motivations ("Tonio Kröger," "The Child Prodigy") are clearly drawn. The most common reflection is on the nature of art and or the calling of the writer/performer.
"Death in Venice" is a classic adventure of the mind. There is very little action--for the last 80% the action is merely set pieces around Venice where an aging writer stalks a beautiful 14-year-old boy, stopping from time to time to get updates on an ominous cholera epidemic. Yet within that mind are reflections on Greek ideals of beauty, finely wrought arguments about propriety, and missed opportunities to escape. The sudden shift in point of view at the end--from Aschenbach to Tadzio--mirrors the giving up of the former's spirit unto death.
My favorite section of this book, however, was "Man and Dog: an Idyll." To me, this was a showpiece of Mann's skill as an artist. He captures every facet of his dog, Baushan, on their walks in the woods. This writing is as finely detailed as any portrait you might find in literature. Being a dog lover myself, it was pure joy. I read it out loud to my family as I read along.
Mann is a great author, but the perceptive reader knows that Modernism would diminish the remarkable achievements in writing that Mann details here. Mann triumphed over his American and British peers, but Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot were lurking, ready to turn literature on its head, ready to elevate abstract writing to replace the classic realism that Mann had embodied so well.
I would compare each of these novellas to finely tuned paintings, detailed in their color with just the right amount of perspective. To me, it's literary pointilism. The characters are finely drawn, their obsessions ("Tristan," "Death in Venice") and their motivations ("Tonio Kröger," "The Child Prodigy") are clearly drawn. The most common reflection is on the nature of art and or the calling of the writer/performer.
"Death in Venice" is a classic adventure of the mind. There is very little action--for the last 80% the action is merely set pieces around Venice where an aging writer stalks a beautiful 14-year-old boy, stopping from time to time to get updates on an ominous cholera epidemic. Yet within that mind are reflections on Greek ideals of beauty, finely wrought arguments about propriety, and missed opportunities to escape. The sudden shift in point of view at the end--from Aschenbach to Tadzio--mirrors the giving up of the former's spirit unto death.
My favorite section of this book, however, was "Man and Dog: an Idyll." To me, this was a showpiece of Mann's skill as an artist. He captures every facet of his dog, Baushan, on their walks in the woods. This writing is as finely detailed as any portrait you might find in literature. Being a dog lover myself, it was pure joy. I read it out loud to my family as I read along.
Mann is a great author, but the perceptive reader knows that Modernism would diminish the remarkable achievements in writing that Mann details here. Mann triumphed over his American and British peers, but Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot were lurking, ready to turn literature on its head, ready to elevate abstract writing to replace the classic realism that Mann had embodied so well.
fachrinaa's review against another edition
4.0
I love Mann's vivid prose. I had been wanting to read Death in Venice for a long time and it did not disappoint.
tscott907's review against another edition
1.0
I picked this up because I wanted to read Death in Venice before watching the film, but I probably should have gotten it from the library or watched the film instead. This is like 99.9 percent exposition and setting and 0.01 percent characterization, which is not something I enjoy. Some pretty sentences but I constantly found myself distracted and having to go back and reread sections that I didn’t enjoy the first time. Not for me.
jonbrammer's review against another edition
3.0
Exposition, exposition, exposition. Mann is the painterly sort of writer who seems to think that if you describe a setting with enough detail, then the conflict will naturally emerge. This seems like an impressionistic mode of writing - we learn a lot of odds and ends about each protagonist in each story before we understand what the story is actually about. The author in the title story spends time traveling in southern Europe and eventually ends up in Europe, has an encounter with a gondolier, ends up in a hotel where he becomes obsessed with a young Polish boy. The point? Well, the point seems to be create a mood of unresolved foreboding. Readers who need clear plot structure will probably be frustrated by Mann. This collection of stories makes me want to investigate his novels. Thanks for reading my review.
jzelman's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
emma_ireland's review against another edition
3.0
I only read Death in Venice, since after that I'd rather have put my eyes out with a rusty teaspoon than attempted any of the other stories. I found the whole thing an absolute yawn, and it took me twice as long to read as it should have, since I'd go a paragraph and then starting wondering what I'd have for lunch or if I should go to the supermarket today or tomorrow. I was bored, absolutely bored, and yes, I realise much has been written on the "wonderful prose" of Mann, but I detested every second of it, it felt like wading through quicksand in a soaking wet ankle-length wool coat. Three instead of two to give the other stories that I shall never read the benefit of the doubt.
salbulga's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75