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Death in Venice

by Thomas Mann, Michael Henry Heim (Translator), Michael Cunningham (Introduction)

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 6,641 ratings · 342 reviews

Published on the eve of World War I, a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tell the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead leads to his erotic doom.

In the decaying city, besieged by an unnamed epidemic, he be...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published May 31st 2005 by Harper Perennial (first published 1912)

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May 22, 2012 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novellas, 1900-1929, audiobook, classics, classics-european

Brilliant prose, expertly crafted, and an audacious, masterful blending of mythology, allusion and symbolism. In many ways, a work of considerable genius.

Unfortunately, the story itself felt ho hum and left me cold and rather unenthused. Given this considerable dichotomy, between the me that was significantly impressed by Mann's obvious talent, and the more emotional, "enjoyment-centric" me left wanting more by a narrative that seemed dry and lifeless, I’ve resolved to revisit this work in a fe...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, in-italy, reviewed

This book will forever be associated with the guy in the bookstore asking me if I like romance novels. A short guy, with laptop bag, and a combover that was years in the making. The moment he started losing his hair he must have started growing out the sides so that now, with almost nothing on top, a few, pomade-aided strands could stretch from one ear to the other. The khakis, corporate logo branded jacket, and gadget-studded utility belt completes the look.

Now imagine this guy, the lurker in...more This book will forever be associated with the guy in the bookstore asking me if I like romance novels. A short guy, with laptop bag, and a combover that was years in the making. The moment he started losing his hair he must have started growing out the sides so that now, with almost nothing on top, a few, pomade-aided strands could stretch from one ear to the other. The khakis, corporate logo branded jacket, and gadget-studded utility belt completes the look.

Now imagine this guy, the lurker in a suburban Barnes and Noble as the protagonist of Death in Venice. Mental image at the ready? Now imagine him staying at a hotel where you are staying with your family and find him staring at you while you play with your friends on the beach or talk with your sister. Imagine him following you through the streets, ducking into food stalls and behind columns so your mother doesn't see him. Imagine becoming fascinated by the man's obsession. Imagine yourself beginning to look for him and to show off for him a little, after all, you are fourteen. Fourteen.

Anyone else who is icked-out by this, please raise your hand.

That's one way of reading this book. An obvious and very real one. The stalker element is just as real here as it is in Twilight and anyone who wants to excuse it only in one or the other should read Mann's words on the hypocrites that the protagonist encounters in Venice. It feels darker here, more threatening, and much sadder, because Mann is a far superior writer and he is not trying to deny or ignore his disturbed feelings.

That is the beauty of this book. Without judgement, Mann leads us through the narrow streets of Venice and the protagonists thoughts. The blooming obsession is fascinating and disturbing and compelling. I was compelled to follow this man, this aging and respected author, as he walked through Venice the way he was compelled to follow the beautiful child. I don't want to get too wrapped up in all this but it is a book that makes you read it slowly as you see yourself becoming invested in the character and wondering why? Why is he so captivating? Why? Because of passages like this:

On a personal level, too, art is life intensified: it delights more deeply, consumes more rapidly; it engraves the traces of imaginary and intellectual adventure on the countenance of its servant and in the long run, for all the monastic calm of his external existence, leads to self-indulgence, overrefinement, lethargy, and a restless curiosity that a lifetime of wild passions and pleasures could scarcely engender.

Conflicted is not an adequate term to describe the protagonist, his author, or the reader of this book. It feels like one is being sucked into an intellectual hell, where to read the book is self-indulgence. One is a collaborator with the author and the protagonist, a most uncomfortable feeling. I have been disturbed by this book, not because of the protagonist's obsession, but because of how we are all culpable for our part in it, even the reader.

I think the book is so revered because most people don't get that Mann doesn't like the complicity of the reader; he thinks of them like the shop keepers and street performers of Venice, duplicitous, hypocritical, self-interested. I think he's being highly critical of the people who would like this book, who added his previous books to school curriculum. I'm speculating here, which isn't fair to Mann, but this seemed like such a strong theme in the work I'm having trouble ignoring it. (less)

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May 21, 2012 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Book Report: I feel a complete fool providing a plot precis for this canonical work. Gustav von Ascherbach, literary lion in his sixties, wanders about his home town of Munich while struggling with a recalcitrant new story. His chance encounter with a weirdo, though no words are exchanged between them, ignites in Herr von Ascherbach the need to get out of town, to get himself to the delicious fleshpots of the South. An abortive stay in Illyria (now Bosnia or Montenegro or...more Rating: 3.5* of five

The Book Report: I feel a complete fool providing a plot precis for this canonical work. Gustav von Ascherbach, literary lion in his sixties, wanders about his home town of Munich while struggling with a recalcitrant new story. His chance encounter with a weirdo, though no words are exchanged between them, ignites in Herr von Ascherbach the need to get out of town, to get himself to the delicious fleshpots of the South. An abortive stay in Illyria (now Bosnia or Montenegro or Croatia, no knowing which since we're not given much to go on) leads him to make his second journey to Venice. Arriving in the sin capital of the early modern world, and even in the early 20th century possessed of a louche reputation, brings him into contact with two life-changing things: A beautiful teenaged boy, and cholera. I think the title fills you in on the rest.

My Review: I know this was written in 1911-1912, and is therefore to be judged by the standards of another era, but I am bone-weary of stories featuring men whose love for other males brings them to disaster and death. This is the story that started me on that path of dislike. Von Ascherbach realizes he's in love for the first time in his pinched, narrow life, and it's with a 14-year-old boy; his response is to make himself ridiculous, following the kid around, staying in his Venetian Garden of Eros despite knowing for sure there's a cholera epidemic, despite being warned of the dangers of staying, despite smelling decay and death and miasmic uccchiness all around, because he's in love. But with the wrong kind of person...a male. Therefore Mann makes him pay the ultimate price, he loses his life because he gives in and falls hopelessly, stupidly in love. With a male. Mann makes his judgment of this moral turpitude even more explicit by making it a chaste, though to modern eyes not unrequited, love between an old man and a boy. Explicit references to Classical culture aside, the entire atmosphere of the novel is quite evidently designed to point up the absurdity and the impossibility of such a love being rewarding or rewarded. It's not in the least mysterious what Mann's after: Denial, denial, denial! It's your only salvation, faggots! Deny yourself, don't let yourself feel anything rather than feel *that*!

This book offends my sensibilities. Gorgeously built images and sonorously elegant sentences earn it all of its points.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.(less)

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Nov 03, 2009 Bram rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

I bet someone could write a masterpiece by taking this book’s premise and elongating it into a fuller exploration of the child-adult love taboo. Oh, really? Oh.

This book really does read like a Lolita written 40 years prior with Lo’s gender switched and a premature ending just before things get really interesting (if you know what I mean). Death in Venice is equally engrossing and sports a protagonist, Aschenbach, who’s as well developed, far more relatable, and nearly as interesting as our dear...more

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Jul 11, 2011 TD rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, fiction, short-stories

I read this collection some time ago now and have probably re-read the novella “Death in Venice” on a handful of occasions – this most recent prompted by reading Naipaul’s “The Engima of Arrival” again. I confess to being a little surprised by the vehemence of some of the negative reactions here on GR, particularly given how ironic Mann’s writing is, but I for one am a sucker for the Apollonian/Dionysian artistic conundrum and love nothing better than a dose of Schopenhauerian pessimism in my fi...more

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May 22, 2012 Harry Kane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a novella detailing the decline and death of aged respectable author, who has subjugated his entire adult life to his formidable intellect.

The repressed unconscious material emerges in three symbolical orgiastic manifestations: 1) paranoia of ginger men and feeling that they keep popping up everywhere; 2) hysterical disgust at an aged man he sees, who tries to fraternize greasily with strapping young lads; 3) the aged author’s increasingly disturbing fascination with beautiful 14 year o...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Seth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: german-literature

I have reread Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice several decades after reading it in the original German in college, having in the interim enjoyed the film version directed by Luchino Visconti. My main impression of the relatively recent translation by Michael Henry Heim (2004) is that it preserves the author’s long-winded and intricate sentence structure. Unpacking Mann’s sentences is one of the challenges of reading his books. Stylistically, therefore, the translation is quite authentic.

As I read...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Evan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: __in-my-collection, gay-interest, yearning, dumpster-rescues, 2010-reads, age-gap

Finally, a Thomas Mann under my belt and I'm quite pleased with it.

One might flippantly condense the plot thusly:
Uptight dullard workaholic loner novelist driven to perpetual exhaustion by a severely self-imposed Germanic inner discipline takes a belated vacation in the sunny swarthy south and discovers he's the Humbert Humbert of the boy set.

Timid in the face of true passion, Gustave von Aschenbach is quite a case. Harboring a chaste classical ideal of beauty unspoiled by animal passion, he sto...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Keely rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, reviewed, german, novella, favorites

A good book to be taught in tandem with Lolita, methinks. A literary achievement with the psychology of Tolstoy and a Greek commitment to The Story; and that is not the only thing about this book that is 'Greek'. A treatise on Death, Life, Sex, Desire, and Fear, Death in Venice is both enticing and terrifying, and for the self-same reason.

Here is the face of wretched animal man, teeth bared, cloudy desperation mocking his vision. Mann's succinct and powerful images are always reversed: the raw...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

What a beautiful yet sad novella! it is a ode to beauty and the end of life, the loss of beauty and the confusion over what is beautiful. It is a story about yearning for something one can no longer obtain. It is a tale about narcissism and a tragic one at that. I'm glad I read this now. I do not believe the young version of me would have got it.

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Jan 16, 2013 Φαροφύλακας rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Μυθιστορήματα-και-Νουβέλες-Διάφορα

Ο Θάνατος στην Βενετία είναι ένα έργο δίχως σασπένς, μια σύντομη και συρτή εξιστόρηση για ένα "άφημα". Ο Φον Άσενμπαχ μεταβαίνει μακριά από την πρωτινή ζωή του σε έναν νέο τόπο, στην Βενετία, και με χαλαρωμένους τους ρυθμούς αλλά και τους ηθικούς ενδοιασμούς απλά αφήνεται στην σχόλη, στην γοητεία τού άγνωστου έφηβου, του θελκτικού Τάτζιο και τελικώς στον θάνατο.

Όλη η Βενετία συρρικνώνεται και γίνεται Τάτζιο για τον Φον Άσενμπαχ. Όμως πίσω από τον Τάτζιο, στο φόντο, η Βενετία γίνεται σιγά-σιγά κα...more

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Dec 04, 2010 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Thomas Mann's famous novella tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, an internationally renowned writer who travels to Venice and becomes erotically obsessed with a young boy. This obsession leads eventually, as the title would suggest, to his death, both metaphorically and literally.

The character of Aschenbach is a fascinating one; he is brilliant, devoted to his work, and he sees the world through the eyes of a learned artist who lives entirely in the mind. Given Mann's interest in Freudian...more Thomas Mann's famous novella tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, an internationally renowned writer who travels to Venice and becomes erotically obsessed with a young boy. This obsession leads eventually, as the title would suggest, to his death, both metaphorically and literally.

The character of Aschenbach is a fascinating one; he is brilliant, devoted to his work, and he sees the world through the eyes of a learned artist who lives entirely in the mind. Given Mann's interest in Freudian psychology, it is difficult not to see this as the story of the return of the repressed: his ascetic and discipline lifestyle -- the key to his literary success and reputation -- finally cracks as the libidic (is that a word?) energies so long sublimated into artist endeavors take control, manifesting in his pederastic desire for the young Polish boy, Tadzio, a representative, perhaps, to Aschenbach of his own lost, fragile sexuality, childish and immature in its development. At the same time, Aschenbach's sexual desires are bound up with a death drive; his trip to Venice is spurred by an imposing and frightening figure staring at him from a cemetery, and Tadzio himself is described as delicate and sickly. Through Aschenbach's obsessive pursuit of Tadzio -- a pursuit that, despite its passion, remains physically unconsummated -- Mann explores the paradoxical connections between Eros and Thanatos, the drive to experience and express life in a moment of passion and the desire to abandon that life, the loss of self in erotic union.

Because the narrative operates from the perspective of Aschenbach (although it is not a first-person narrator), the writing is extremely erudite. Aschenbach is an intellectual, and even in his most passionate moments sees the world through the lens of his artistic and philosophical pursuits. The novella is filled with allusions to and discussions of classical myth and thought, in particular Plato's works on love and desire. The extremely refined art and artifice of the work is in keeping with Aschenbach's character, although it also means that the work often feels rather detached; we don't inhabit Aschenbach's mind, we understand it intellectually, through the conceptual vocabulary he himself has built up through his life. That's not to say that it is not compelling, but it isn't a "page-turner" in any traditional sense. As a reader, I felt motivated not by passion, but by the intellectual interest to study Aschenbach's passion, to understand it and find out how it would resolve (or not resolve) itself. It works, definitely -- it reproduces in the reader the mind of its central character and with its attendant conflicts, tensions, and flaws -- but it isn't a work that I would see myself returning to repeatedly to read for enjoyment. It is, I think, literature as philosophy, and as such, it requires a thoughtful, philosophical, and somewhat detached mood.(less)

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Aug 11, 2009 Mazel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: roman

La Mort à Venise et Tristan comptent parmi les meilleurs récits de Thomas Mann. Malgré leur brièveté, ces deux chefs-d'oeuvre d'inspiration très romantique contiennent l'essentiel de la pensée du grand écrivain allemand.

On y retrouve le pessimisme foncier hérité de Schopenhauer, la clairvoyance, la perspicacité et l'extraordinaire raffinement psychologique que Thomas Mann admirait chez Nietzsche, ainsi que les quatre notions fondamentales qui, à travers la littérature, ont pendant des siècles d...more

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Jun 24, 2009 abatage rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I'd like to read another book by Thomas Mann in order to determine whether Death in Venice is extremely well written, or just an a-typical production of tired and old fashioned writing. If his other works are stylistically different, this book would be a triumph, as the writing not only emphasises the protagonist's stuffy and conservative lifestyle - it serves to create an extreme dislike for the man.

The story is interesting enough and I haven't any real complaint or praise for the actual plot....more I'd like to read another book by Thomas Mann in order to determine whether Death in Venice is extremely well written, or just an a-typical production of tired and old fashioned writing. If his other works are stylistically different, this book would be a triumph, as the writing not only emphasises the protagonist's stuffy and conservative lifestyle - it serves to create an extreme dislike for the man.

The story is interesting enough and I haven't any real complaint or praise for the actual plot. The fact that I ended up thinking the lead was a narcissistic, bourgeois, conservative and egotistical type isn't a problem in itself, but I'd like to know why I received that impression.

As I said above: if the style is indicative of Thomas Mann's writing, it results in this book being nothing more than out-dated tripe. However, were I to learn that the style served the character and was purposeful, I would consider it a wonderfully written work. Unfortunately I am inclined to sit with the former, as it doesn't appear to be quite so intentional.

Personally I don't consider the themes to be all that interesting or disturbing. The fact that an old man falls in love with the image of a young boy seems to create some debate about sexual intentions, but I hardly think it was a sexual admiration. There's a lot of musing about the boy's perfection and comparisons with classical gods and romantic notions regarding the potential and beauty of the artistic muse. However, most of this content seemed self-gratifying and basically try-hard. It's one thing to write romantically; it's another to do it without appearing to be full of shit.

Alternatively, the theme surrounding the old man himself was quite well executed. There's a lot of effort put into ensuring that the reader is well aware of just how lonely and solitary he is (often even referring to him as "the solitary"). Despite the effort, it doesn't come off as a whole lot more than simply trying to prove the point to the reader. I almost wanted to slap the author for reminding me so often about just how alone the poor sod was.

I can appreciate why a lot of readers find this to be a master-work, but for me it was entirely lost. Like Dickens, I recognise and respect the book for what it accomplishes, but at the same time I never got the surge to read on and continued reading to the end with some hopeful determination that was never fulfilled.

PS: The ratings I give books are based on my own enjoyment of the experience - I use the suggested style of rating that appears when you hover over the stars. Hence, while I realise a book like this may deserve some respect, I could not say that I "liked it", as a three star rating would suggest.(less)

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Aug 24, 2011 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Maurice Lieberman

Shelves: literature

This novella was assigned reading for the freshman humanities class at Grinnell College. Sadly, we were given a day to read the thing and devoted only a bit of time to its discussion. It was likely the first thing I'd ever read by Mann. At the time I was only eighteen, still a virgin, and probably only abstractly sensitive to the plight of age represented in the story. The eroticism of the dream description, however, made an impression. It was both powerfully evocative and scary.
Two years late...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Anabella Karine) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Maravilloso. Simbólico y profundo. Un libro que todo artista debe leer porque plantea algo que sin dudas le removerá mucho adentro: la relación entre él y su obra.

Algunas preguntas para abordar su lectura:
¿Qué relación tiene el artista con su obra?
¿Qué grado de perfección estamos destinados a vislumbrar en vida?
¿Qué perseguimos? ¿Qué buscamos?
¿Qué es la muerte?
¿Qué somos si no cenizas?

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Mar 27, 2013 Samadrita rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of dense prose

Shelves: germany, european-literature, nobel-laureates, 1001-and-more, novella-short-stories, timeless-classics, melancholia, lgbt, cherished, awesomesauce, re-readable

"On a personal level, too, art is life intensified: it delights more deeply, consumes more rapidly; it engraves the traces of imaginary and intellectual adventure on the countenance of its servant in the long run, for all the monastic calm of his external existence, leads to self-indulgence, overrefinement, lethargy, and a restless curiosity that a lifetime of wild passions and pleasures could scarcely engender."

Read this if you appreciate long, wordy passages (like the one above) so exquisitely...more

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Dec 16, 2010 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, classics-read, read-2010

I did not love this book...at all. Very weird. The writing is dense & complex, which is not necessarily bad, but Aschenbach is a character that I find rather repulsive. His obsessive nature creeps me out, and it's not just his obsession with Tadzio, but his obsessively dismal outlook, his obsessive need for change, and his obsessive desire to learn what is really happening in Venice. He is such a strange, off-putting individual (and in fact, all the characters are off-putting) that it is dif...more

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May 08, 2013 Bailey Alexander added it

It's been ages since io e marito had a squabble, but clash we did. Over a book. He loathed it, immensely and he rarely loathes anything. I loved it. I was floored, absolutely taken aback by how deeply moved I was while when reading Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.

But then, quel surprise io and mio marito should disagree; he read it as a teen, in original German. And, Mann did have many run on sentences and because German places the verb at the end of their sentences he had to wait pages and days...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Alba rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, libros

No entiendo que es lo que la gente ve tanto en este libro. El paso es lento, el personaje es ególatra y obsesivo al trabajo, además de caprichoso como una princesa en sus días. El escenario es bello, pues esta puesto en Venecia, pero la forma en que lo describe, de una forma más cruda no es tan bello como otros podrían plantearlo.
El protagonista me tenia harta con todo es de "soy un gran y famoso escritor"
Lo interesante fueron las últimas 30 hojas, donde aparece lo de la epidemia, además de tod...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, italy-fic-lit, germany-fic-lit

Perhaps it is the beautiful writing and the setting that makes this a classic. It's content, at least to this modern reader, is uncomfortable. I read with a Lit and Flick group which discussed it in conjunction with Visconti's 1971 film "Death in Venice".

The protagonist, Aschenbach, a late career successful writer travels to Venice where he fixates on a 13 year old boy who is vacationing with his family of aristocrats from Poland. The family consists of 3 plainly dressed and closely supervised s...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Giulia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mitteleuropei

Gustav Aschenbach è un anziano scrittore di successo che ha dedicato la sua vita alle fatiche della scrittura, sacrificando così diletti e piaceri. Si reca a Venezia per un soggiorno estivo e, nell’hotel dove alloggia, la sua attenzione viene catturata da una nobile famiglia polacca, in particolare dall’adolescente Tadzio. Dapprima Aschenbach sembra solo ammirarne l’efeba bellezza che incarna i principi estetici classicheggianti che hanno sempre ispirato la sua opera. Con il passare dei giorni,...more Gustav Aschenbach è un anziano scrittore di successo che ha dedicato la sua vita alle fatiche della scrittura, sacrificando così diletti e piaceri. Si reca a Venezia per un soggiorno estivo e, nell’hotel dove alloggia, la sua attenzione viene catturata da una nobile famiglia polacca, in particolare dall’adolescente Tadzio. Dapprima Aschenbach sembra solo ammirarne l’efeba bellezza che incarna i principi estetici classicheggianti che hanno sempre ispirato la sua opera. Con il passare dei giorni, però, l’attrazione diventa di tipo carnale, portando lo scrittore a rivisitare non solo la sua concezione dell’arte, ma della sua stessa vita. Quando lo scrittore viene a conoscenza dell’epidemia di colera che si sta diffondendo a Venezia, decide di restare per poter continuare ad ammirare l’oggetto del suo desiderio e sprofonda così in quell’abisso che aveva sempre temuto.

“La morte a Venezia” racconta la crisi del magistero della scrittura, la morte dello scrittore borghese. Tra i tanti dati reali che stanno alla base del racconto, infatti, uno in particolare è significativo dell’intento di Thomas Mann. L’idea alla base di questo racconto, almeno agli inizi, si era infatti sovrapposta ad un altro progetto che Mann aveva in mente: raccontare, cioè, l’amore del settantenne Goethe per la diciassettenne Ulrike von Levetzow. Dunque quello che Mann aveva in mente era la rappresentazione del problema della dignità dell’artista. Nella lotta tra apollineo e dionisiaco che caratterizza la crisi di Aschenbach e, per esteso, la figura dell’intellettuale borghese, emerge il tentativo di Mann di conciliare (come, tra l’altro, anche in “Tonio Kröger”) la forma e la forza elementare della vita, il caos. Cerca di giustificare il suo iniziale interesse per il giovane polacco rintracciando nelle sue fattezze gli indizi della bellezza classica, come la chiarezza e il richiamo al mondo delle idee, ma poi il sogno finale, durante il quale viene svelato un poco equivoco simbolo fallico, lo sprofonda inevitabilmente nel caos di quelle forze vitali ed oscure nascoste nel suo inconscio e che porta dapprima alla tragedia, poi alla morte. Nonostante i continui richiami al “Fedro” e al “Simposio” di Platone, l’inconciliabile resta tale, sia nel racconto in questione, sia nella realtà. Il tentativo di Aschenbach fallisce perché la realtà cambia, l’intellettuale borghese perde realmente la sua dignità, prima quella di intellettuale, poi quella di borghese.

Un racconto non facile, pieno di richiami alla cultura classica e di riferimenti ai dati reali che hanno portato al suo concepimento. Tuttavia rimane una lettura imprescindibile se si vuole comprendere il passaggio da un mondo antico a quello nuovo, se si vogliono comprendere i conflitti che hanno portato alla nascita di un nuovo tipo di cultura e di artista. Inoltre si resta incantati da alcuni passaggi, dove la penna di Mann esprime il meglio di sé. Ne riporto uno che ho particolarmente gradito e che descrive l’alba.

”Ma, ai primi chiarori dell’alba, lo destava un soprassalto di acuto e dolce sgomento, il cuore si ricordava della sua avventura , egli non resisteva più fra i cuscini, si alzava, e, coperto di leggero contro i brividi del mattino, sedeva alla finestra in attesa del sorgere del sole. Il mirabile evento riempiva di devozione religiosa la sua anima purificata dal sonno. Cielo, terra e mare giacevano ancora in un pallore vitreo, spettrale, di crepuscolo; negli spazi incorporei nuotava ancora una stella morente. Ma ecco giungere un soffio, l’alato messaggio lanciato da inaccessibili regioni, che Eos si leva dal fianco dello sposo; avveniva quel primo e tenero arrossire delle zone più remote del cielo e del mare, in cui il rendersi percepibile ai sensi dell’universo creato si rivela. Si avvicinava la dea, la rapitrice di adolescenti, che già involò Clito e Cefalo e, sfidando l’invidia degli Olimpici, godé l’amore del vezzoso Orione. Ai confini del mondo, aveva allora inizio uno spargere rose, un brillare e rifiorire di un’indicibile grazia; come ubbidienti amorini, leggere nubi pargolette intrise di luce si libravano nei rosei e celesti vapori; un manto di porpora calava sul mare che pareva ondeggiando risospingerlo a riva; dal basso, auree lance si avventavano in alto nel cielo; lo splendore trasmutava in incendio; tacitamente, con imperiosità divina, la vampa infocata, il lingueggiar delle fiamme, inondavano di sé il firmamento: con impetuosi zoccoli, i sacri destrieri del fratello balzavano alti sull’orbe. Inondato dal fulgore del nume, solitario vegliante sedeva e, chiusi gli occhi, offriva le palpebre al bacio del cerchio di luce.”
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Oct 27, 2012 Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly rated it 5 of 5 stars

I address in this review those of you here at goodreads who are young and beautiful. Please pay attention to what I have to say.

When you go to the beach, in you bikini or swimming trunks, what do you do? You preen, you display your half-naked body around, hoping to catch the attention of equally-young and good looking vacationers like you. I bet you never pay attention to the old men or women who may throw you a glance or two. That is a big mistake.

Here is a semi-autobiographical novel. The prin...more I address in this review those of you here at goodreads who are young and beautiful. Please pay attention to what I have to say.

When you go to the beach, in you bikini or swimming trunks, what do you do? You preen, you display your half-naked body around, hoping to catch the attention of equally-young and good looking vacationers like you. I bet you never pay attention to the old men or women who may throw you a glance or two. That is a big mistake.

Here is a semi-autobiographical novel. The principal protagonist is a guy, a famous writer over 50 years old, with greying hair, with a good name and a reputation to protect, but is a closet homosexual during those days when homosexuality was looked upon as an aberration worse than a contagious disease. He goes to Venice to have some R & R and in one resort there he sees a Polish family: the mother, her three daughters and her young son. The boy is handsome with a curly hair. The writer is captivated by this boy whose beauty he compares to that of a young god.

So what happens? Will he be able to lure this boy to one isolated part of the resort and have sex with him? No. Nothing happens. The writer just looks at the boy, follows him around, and thinks about him. The action here, if one may call them as such, happen inside the mind, via interior monologues and streams-of-consciousness of an old gay guy loving a beautiful young boy surreptitiously from afar. He won't even be able to talk to the boy or to any of his family members.

At this point, while reading this, you may have your own interior monologue query: "Why, then, should I waste my time reading this novel where nothing happens, and why did this old geezer, who shamelessly uses the image of Tarzan as his avatar, give this 5 stars?" The answer to that is this: Thomas Mann was a great writer and we will never be able to write like him so we should at least read him and appreciate what he had left us. In one scene, for a very brief moment, coming back to the resort from somewhere, the boy met the old writer's gaze and smiled at him. If you're writing this novel all you could manage to write about this event, like what your current favorite writers would have, would be something like this: "The boy's smile gave the old writer a stiff erection." But not Thomas Mann! He gushes with two breathless paragraphs about this smile:

"He had not been prepared for the beloved encounter, it came unexpectedly, he had not had time to put on an expression of calm and dignity. Joy no doubt, surprise, admiration, were openly displayed on his face when his eyes met those of the returning absentee--and in that instant it happened that Tadzio (the boy) smiled: smiled at him, speakingly, familiarly, enchantingly and quite unabashed, with his lips parting slowly as the smile was formed. It was the smile of Narcissus as he bows his head over the mirroring water, that profound, fascinated, protracted smile with which he reaches out his arms toward the reflection of his own beauty--a very slightly contorted smile, contorted by the hopelessness of his attempt to kiss the sweet lips of his shadow; a smile that was provocative, curious and imperceptibly troubled, bewitched and bewitching.

"He who had received this smile carried it quickly away with him like a fateful gift. He was so deeply shaken that he was forced to flee the lighted terrace and the front garden and hurry into the darkness of the park at the rear. Words struggled from his lips, strangely indignant and tender reproaches: 'You mustn't smile like that! One mustn't, do you hear, mustn't smile like that at anyone!' He sank down on one of the seats, deliriously breathing the nocturnal fragrance of the flowers and trees. And leaning back, his arms hanging down, overwhelmed, trembling, shuddering all over, he whispered the standing formula of the heart's desire--impossible here, absurd, depraved, ludicrous and sacred nevertheless, still worthy of honor even here: 'I love you!'"

The thing is, this was based on actual events. Thomas Mann, though married and had children, was "emotionally gay." He, indeed, had that vacation in Venice and while in a vacation resort saw a Polish family with a young, beautiful boy who caught his fancy. Many years after this novel had become famous and was being made into a movie, its tremendous publicity caught the attention of that boy himself, then already old and ugly and his playmate, and they must have had the thrill of their lives that they were not only in a famous novel but will be in a movie as well.

This, then, I say once more to the young beautiful people here: when you are on the beach, in your teeny weeny polka dot bikini (or bulging swimming trunks, as the case may be), DO NOT IGNORE THE OLD PEOPLE LOOKING AT YOU. Smile at them, at least. For who knows if that lecherous-looking Japanese guy eyeing your nubile body isn't Haruki Murakami himself and is already plotting a novel with your character in it? Or if that old, decrepit invalid being tended to by a nurse is not Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Baby, you could be famous!(less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Robyn Blaber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: german-literature

One million dollars says Albert Camus was at least partly influenced by this book. It should not come to appear to be a spoiler that the title character dies here and the city he dies in has disease in it. I was captivated by the motives of the main character and found myself recalling Camus over and over again. Of course, one thinks of Nabokov too when our hero's doom is discovered to be a rather unconventional and undoubtedly immoral love.

What shocks the most, I think is the novel's brevity. H...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Vincent rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dans le train me ramenant d'Amsterdam, j'ai lu un recueil de nouvelles de Thomas Mann rassemblant trois de ses œuvres : La Mort à Venise, Tristan et le Chemin du cimetière. La Mort à Venise relate la passion dévorante d'un écrivain reconnu pour un jeune adolescent dans le cadre délétère de Venise. Tristan offre la description d'une femme malade dans un sanatorium. Le chemin du cimetière, plus anecdotique, raconte en quelques pages la fin d'un homme au bout du rouleau.

Disons les choses, ce recuei...more

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Dec 03, 2011 اویس rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

a few quotes which I found really striking:

"A solitary,unused to speaking of what he sees and feels, has mental experiances which are at once more intense and less articulate than those of a gregarious man.They are sluggish, yet more wayward, and never without a melancholy tinge. Sights and impressions which others brush aside with a glance, a light comment, a smile, occupy him more than their due; they sink silently in, they take on meaning, they become experiance, emotion,adventure. Solitude g...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Ivana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jesam li ja jedina kojoj se čini da je ova knjiga više o umjetnosti i opsesiji nego o nekakvoj pedofiliji? Mislim nekako nisam primijetila nekakav seksualni aspekt u opsesiji protagonista- nekako mi se više čini kako je ta opsesija sama sebi svrhom, nešto kao i umjetnost, možda nekakva metafora za umjetnost. Nije mi se baš činilo da je protagonist zaljubljen u tog dječaka ili da se istražuje neka neprikladna veza između djeteta i odrasle osobe. Nije baš da pokušava uspostaviti nekakav odnos sa d...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Will rated it 5 of 5 stars

Seductions proliferate in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, though not the intimate sort upon noticing the main character’s association with youth. In the beginning, readers find Gustav von Aschenbach inspired or, in the novella’s sense, seduced to the idea of travel, to the idea of escaping life’s demands—seen as a response to a “strange expansion of his inner space, a rambling unrest, a youthful thirst for faraway places (Mann 1841).” Clearly the stranger in the church is nothing more than an ins...more Seductions proliferate in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, though not the intimate sort upon noticing the main character’s association with youth. In the beginning, readers find Gustav von Aschenbach inspired or, in the novella’s sense, seduced to the idea of travel, to the idea of escaping life’s demands—seen as a response to a “strange expansion of his inner space, a rambling unrest, a youthful thirst for faraway places (Mann 1841).” Clearly the stranger in the church is nothing more than an instrument for the character’s wanderlust, serving two roles, first as a major catalyst for the events that will take place in Venice, second as preparation for Aschenbach’s future seductions.

The main character soon meets—or rather, catches a glimpse of—the young Tadzio, the novella’s epitome of beauty, who personifies Aschenbach the Artist’s dignified approval of Platonic idealism. A problem exists, however, in times when Aschenbach uses his knowledge on Greek ideas to justify his feeling towards the young boy. He is aware of his desire to form some sort of a relationship with Tadzio yet he drives himself into thinking that what he wants is a pederastic relationship—the Greek idea of love between an older man and a younger boy. It is only normal for older Greek men to fall in love with younger ones, and if Plato is to be asked, beauty, not lust, should be the source of such affection. Certainly Aschenbach is aware of this, thus as an artist he maintains a Platonic viewpoint in his pursuit for the boy.

First and foremost, one must look at the main character’s excursion from his artistic state. How, then, does Aschenbach’s first journey bares similarities to that of a Greek philosopher? Perhaps it is possible that both Aschenbach and Socrates share the same desire to travel outside of their respective realms. A difference, however, exists in the form of awareness. Aschenbach realizes too late what Socrates has known for so long as shown in the philosopher’s trek along the Ilissus. It is to be noted that Socrates values giving speeches and captivating one’s intellect with arguments. Having only the comfort of one’s self enables the achievement of the utmost understanding between the mind and the soul. In doing so, the speech is transcribed not only in memory, but also in being. It renders the individual prepared to face assemblies. In a sense, after seeing the stranger, Aschenbach becomes Socrates by wanting to abandon momentarily his work in order to transcribe new experiences into his own being.

Although Aschenbach does not fully achieve Platonic love not only because of the complete lack of physical contact in their relationship but also because of the lack of spiritual and intellectual connection with each other, he still deems his desire for Tadzio (or Tadzio the Ideal) a desire worth pursuing due to the artist's appreciation of Platonic ideals.
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Mar 05, 2013 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice may be a very short read, but is nonetheless a worthwhile one. Von Aschenbach -- a celebrated writer in his fifties -- is the troubled protagonist who sets out on a trip to exotic shores to combat his writer's block. A moralistic and refined character once dedicated to his craft, the writer succumbs to the chaos and licentiousness of Venice.

In this most recent translation, the introduction by Michael Cunningham is particularly enjoyable as he describes how a...more Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice may be a very short read, but is nonetheless a worthwhile one. Von Aschenbach -- a celebrated writer in his fifties -- is the troubled protagonist who sets out on a trip to exotic shores to combat his writer's block. A moralistic and refined character once dedicated to his craft, the writer succumbs to the chaos and licentiousness of Venice.

In this most recent translation, the introduction by Michael Cunningham is particularly enjoyable as he describes how age changes our perceptions of the same texts, and elaborates on the difficult process of writing a novel. When I began reading Mann's novella my expectations were not high. Though it is a classic work whose reputation precedes it, I suspected it would be a dry and antiquated affair that moved along at a snail's pace. Mann's long sentences and extensive vocabulary can appear daunting at first, but it is worth persevering to fully appreciate this work of art. The text is peppered with references to Nietzsche and Plato, and makes frequent use of Greek mythology. It is impossible not to admire his mastery of language, and though I cannot compare it with other translations, I found his style highly poetic and -- in places -- almost entrancing.

While at a hotel in Venice the middle-aged von Aschenbach develops an unhealthy obsession with a teenaged Polish boy, using his exquisite beauty as inspiration for his writing. He wanders through the stifling heat of a city that is enchanting yet decaying, pursuing the object of his affection with a disturbing zeal. Disease is spreading through Venice's waterways, yet von Aschenbach cannot tear himself away from the hotel where he observes the boy on a daily basis. His thoughts become more delirious and Mann's writing fills the reader with a growing sense of hopelessness and tragedy.

Von Aschenbach decides to alter his appearance in a particularly memorable passage of the novella. 'He added cheery, youthful touches to his wardrobe, wore jewels, and used scent,' Mann writes. The protagonist visits a barber's shop and has his grey hair dyed and makeup applied to his wrinkled face in a bid to recover his youth. He is depicted as an increasingly desperate, lonely figure, further separating from the 'noble' author he once was, who adhered to a strict moral existence.

Death in Venice is strewn with ironies and powerful imagery: fear and desire, age and youth, beauty and decay all permeate the narrative. Its ending is, unfortunately, rather abrupt, but the brevity of Mann's tale is also part of its charm and wit. I will read Death in Venice again one day, and hope to savour it, perhaps gaining even more insight into this complex but beautifully written novella.(less)

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Nov 17, 2012 ☽ Moon ☯ 佛月球 Будда Луны rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The rise and fall of any man can be attributed to the same force of gravity that holds the Universe together, which keeps our feet flat on the ground. Similarly, it is like climbing a steep mountain top, which pretty much can be considered a daunting task as the weight of the body defies the pull of the earth's gravity, but the bewildering anticipation to see the panoramic beauty on top of its crest can be reason enough to keep the feet trekking its rigorous rock formations. Wherefore, we can s...more

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About Thomas Mann

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Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intel...more

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Quotes from Death in Venice

“Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight, who meet and observe each other daily - no hourly - and are nevertheless compelled to keep up the pose of an indifferent stranger, neither greeting nor addressing each other, whether out of etiquette or their own whim.” — 16 people liked it

“The observations and encounters of a solitary, taciturn man are vaguer and at the same times more intense than those of a sociable man; his thoughts are deeper, odder and never without a touch of sadness. Images and perceptions that could be dismissed with a glance, a laugh, an exchange of opinions, occupy him unduly, become more intense in the silence, become significant, become an experience, an adventure, an emotion. Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportionate, the absurd and the forbidden.” — 4 people liked it

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