Der Tod in Venedig

Product Information

The author considers the result "disastrous" and sees "a reworked, sanitized version of the text" by Mann. Modris Eksteins notes the similarities between Aschenbach and the Russian choreographer Sergei Diaghilev, writing that, although the two never met, "Diaghilev knew Mann's story well.

November issue with some marginal foxing; extra paper strip folded over outer margin of first page of November issue (not affecting Death in Venice). To be fair, the protagonist intellectualizes his sexual attraction to the boy early on, comparing it to the worship of a beautiful deity, more reverence than lust, but the carnal dream toward the end of the book (another favorite device of Freud) made it clear that however he tried to frame it in terms of antiquity, what he felt toward the boy was as feverish and dangerous at some level as the epidemic sweeping Venice (which itself was kept by the authorities just below the level of tourism-destroying consciousness). The novella is rife with allusions from antiquity forward, especially to Greek antiquity and to German works (literary, art-historical, musical, visual) from the 18th century. Zwar stirbt er am Ende des erzählten Geschehens an der zu jener Zeit in Venedig grassierenden "Indischen Cholera", aber diese Notiz wird erst mit den letzten Worten des Textes lapidar, nahezu beiläufigen Tones nachgereicht.There was m effort to print the book the way a german book's language appears in the usual printed german editions. The publication in the October and November issues of Die Neue Rundschau preceded the rare limited edition printed by Hans von Weber. This was clever and effective, but it also showed what a gray, dull, duty-driven life this poor protagonist led and how some healthier outlets for his sexuality might have led to quite a different ending. Quarter vellum-like paper spine over marbled paper boards with a Prussian blue spine label lettered in gilt. However, Aschenbach's feelings, although passionately intense, remain unvoiced; he never touches Tadzio or speaks to him, and while there is some indication that Tadzio is aware of his admiration, the two exchange nothing more than occasionally surreptitious glances.

Registered office: WSM Services Limited, Connect House, 133-137 Alexandra Road, Wimbledon, LONDON SW19 7JY. To Aschenbach, it is as if the boy is beckoning to him: He tries to rise and follow, only to collapse sideways into his chair. He used the story to illuminate certain convictions about the relationship between life and mind, with Aschenbach representing the intellect. Only then can the viewer begin to understand how the author (Aschenbach) of his own work, Der Elender, could himself spiral downwards - as does the city Venice in its veiled attempt to hide the ravages of the plague infested city - into an "Elender" (sufferer, one in misery) himself , dying of plague, suffering unrequited love and engulfed in physical and mental deterioration.The way he could refer to a boy with whom he exchanged not a word his "lover" was weird at many levels.

I had only to arrange them when they showed at once and in the oddest way their capacity as elements of composition" (ibid, p. He is a man dedicated to his art, disciplined and ascetic to the point of severity, who was widowed at a young age. Aschenbach next takes a trip into the city of Venice, where he sees a few discreetly worded notices from the Health Department warning of an unspecified contagion and advising people to avoid eating shellfish.Soon the hot, humid weather begins to affect Aschenbach's health, and he decides to leave early and move to a cooler location. Der Begehr sucht immer und stets einzig die Form und das Spielen mit ihr, denn geistiger Inhalt als die Form relativierend stört ihn nur. A partir de um tema pra lá de delicado, o amor homoerótico entre um homem maduro e um jovem rapaz, algo que mais ou menos contemporaneamente à novela, destruíra a vida de Oscar Wilde, prejudicara a carreira de Andre Gide e da qual Proust temia falar abertamente; Thomas Mann acaba abordando questões filosóficas fundadas na estetica, na beleza e na arte cujas raizes decorrem claramente de Platão e Nietzche. Widely recognized as "one of the undisputed classics of contemporary European literature" and a "paradigmatic master-text of homosexual eroticism" (Adair, p. I could not help contrasting my own trip to Venice a few years ago with his: I carried my own luggage, unpacked it, was never rude to those serving me as he was on several occasions, beginning with the gondolier, and would never have dreamed of sitting on critical public health information simply so I could prolong my sense of amusement (the protagonist knew that the city was in the grip of an epidemic and that he should leave, but made no effort to pass this information along to the probably-less-well-informed Polish family who for all we know also succumbed to it).

Yet, always something new and such great pleasure in the perfection of its structure and eternally beautiful prose. Although hauntingly-written (I had to follow along with an English translation side-by-side to insure I understood it all) with many devices that seemed almost cinematic such as the recurrent red-headed man, harbinger of death and aging in every case, I simply could not overcome my aversion to the idea of a middle-aged man (who in the early 20th century would have been closer to death than a similarly-aged European today) so attracted to a boy (14 in the story, but the story is based on an actual crush the author developed on a 12-year-old while visiting Venice) that he prolongs his stay. This translation was published in book form the following year as Death in Venice and Other Stories. A]ll the details of the story, beginning with the man at the cemetery, are taken from actual experience [.While staying at the Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido, the author was captivated by the beauty of a 10-year-old Polish boy, Władysław (Władzio) Moes, and then used him as the model for the protagonist Tadzio. Later, after spying the boy and his family at a beach, Aschenbach overhears Tadzio, the boy's name, and conceives what he first interprets as an uplifting, artistic interest. He didn't pursue him through all of Venice—that he didn't do—but the boy did fascinate him, and he thought of him often. The May 1911 death of composer Gustav Mahler in Vienna and Mann's interest in the boy Władzio during summer 1911 vacation in Venice were additional experiences occupying his thoughts. Mann gave Mahler's first name and facial appearance to Aschenbach but did not talk about it in public.