This superb new translation of "Death in Venice" and six other
stories by Thomas Mann is a tour de force, sure to establish itself
as the definitive text for English-speaking readers. The seven
stories in this collection represent the early part of Mann's
literary career, beginning with work he produced in 1896 at the age
of 21, and culminating in his most celebrated novella, "Death in
Venice" (1912). Although Mann continued working until the end of
his life in 1955, he despaired of ever matching the quality of his
early writing. In these stories, Mann began to grapple with themes
that were to recur throughout his work. In the first piece, "Little
Herr Friedemann," as in "Death in Venice," a character's carefully
structured way of life is suddenly and unexpectedly threatened by
sexual passion. In "Gladius Dei," puritanical intellect clashes
with beauty. In "Tristan," Mann presents an ironic and comical
account of tension between an artist and bourgeois society. All
seven of these stories are accomplished and memorable, but it is
"Death in Venice" that truly forms the centerpiece of the
collection. Themes that weave their way through many of the shorter
stories come to a climax in this novella, out century's most
haunting, magnificent tale of art and self-destruction.
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