A review by edwardian_girl_next_door
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I read this book for an AP English class. Due to extenuating circumstances, I didn't get a whole lot of class/teacher-led instruction or conversation on this book, so my opinions are totally based off my first impressions and what I gathered from independent study.

The elephant in the room sticks out like a sore thumb, to mix metaphors.
yeah, I'm talking about the *pedophilia*. Oh..........my goodness. I have to say my stomach was churning with disgust while I was reading this. I understand Tadzio represents Death, but the way the protagonist becomes obsessed with him was really horrible. In his artistic mind he lingers on and describes every physical feature - of a MINOR!!! - and even declares "I love you!" at one point to an oblivious Tadzio. He stalks this poor boy's every move and derives immense happiness from it. He never is explicitly sexual about it (although he does have a dream about the orgastic rites of the cult of Dionysus); it's more of a obsession/no proper boundaries/puppy love/aesthetic attraction situation. Maybe it's hard for me to see past this to understand Mann's literary objective. I've heard it takes people a few times to read Nabokov's Lolita before they can appreciate its more palatable and artistically sophisticated elements. But it was Really Hard not to focus on that. I was indirectly connected with a case of alleged child m*lestation and it was all I could think about. Not the best thing to dwell on while reading the middle-aged MC's drawn out, flowery prose about the body of a teenage boy.
Again, I have the feeling my emotions are getting in the way of serious explication here, but I can't shake the feeling.

Other than that, there wasn't much to say. I'm not a short story or novella person, but the pace was pretty decent and the arc believable for the amount of pages. It reminds me very much of di Lampedusa's The Leopard. Basically, if you liked Heart of Darkness and slow, winding, 19th century European books about a white man having a midlife crisis, this one's for you! Just keep a garbage can nearby for the vomiting...
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