My Death in Venice, whichever translation I read, is slightly different from anyone else’s. My Mann is, to a certain extent, my own private, personal Mann, as is everyone’s. We agree about his basic qualities and intentions, but spin them according to our own natures. There is, in a sense, no definitive Death in Venice. We must, all of us, decide for ourselves what Mann meant to give us, and what we are willing to receive. That said, a comparison of the two versions suggests that Mann in the original tends toward a Wagnerian state-liness that is generally magisterial and elevating but also,
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