Colm Tóibín

I was not raised a Christian, but of course I know the conventional story of the New Testament. This shows a completely different perspective, of a mother robbed of her son, a woman almost broken with horror and despair. Her view of the disciples: misfits who cannot meet a woman's eyes. Her view of the rabble: sheep, following instructions.

Toibin's language is straightforward - you can hear the woman talking to you, scorning her keepers (I assume his disciples), refusing to give them the show more stories and details she cannot give them because they want what is not true. She is tough, practical, bitter, scoffing at the worth of the sacrifice she has witnessed.

Mary was once a devout Jew, loving the Sabbath, loving the prayers. Now living in Ephesus, if she follows any god, it is Artemis, goddess of childbirth (among other things). She waits, alone, silent, for her own death. show less

Following his novel The Master, which was based on the life of Henry James, Colm Toibin's foray into biographical fiction is continued with this remarkable book, which is based on the life and work of Thomas Mann. I approached this book with a background that made reading it easier and gave me a foundation for criticism that someone who is not familiar with Mann's work might not have. I had read the majority of Mann's oeuvre and author biographies.

The scene in which Mann's son Klaus was show more startled by what he believed to be a monster in his room is the source of the book's title. Mann, claiming to be a magician, vowed to use magic to drive the beast out. He was called the magician by his six children because the plan worked. However, because Mann is a character in Tóibin's book who can use words to work magic in his speeches, letters, and books, the word has a deeper meaning.

Tóibin himself is the magician behind this book. He has given the reader an intimate look at a great writer who lived with contradictions by bringing Thomas Mann to life in stunning prose. His recognition as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century was at odds with his hesitant and secretive inner life. His happy marriage to Katia and their six children was also at odds with his repressed homosexuality, while his love of Germany and its culture was at odds with the Nazi ideology he loathed.

Tóibin explores the themes of living abroad, the creative process, and the preservation of personal identity (and in particular, homosexual identity) throughout the majority of his works. These issues are explored in The Magician through Thomas Mann's difficulties with them. It was enjoyable to read as it painted an exceptional writer's life in moving prose. I hope it would encourage those who have not experienced Mann's magnificent oeuvre to explore some of his many now classic novels, stories, and essays. show less

"When you say that he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it.", October 9, 2014

This review is from: The Testament of Mary: A Novel (Paperback)
There are a lot of issues that those familiar with the Scriptures could throw at this book. As Mary lives out the end of her days, exiled near Ephesus, tormented with her son's terrible end, and highly dubious as to his being the Son of God, it repeatedly occurred to me : what about the Annunciation? the miracle of the Virgin show more Birth?
But stop for a moment. Put your arguments on one side and consider that we don't really know anything about Mary's feelings or thoughts, and read this as a work of fiction - and an immensely powerful one it is.
The atmosphere of the crucifixion is stunningly drawn - the fear of being the next one arrested by the Romans if you get too close. The description of the raising of Lazarus too is vivid, if highly debatable. And Toibin's take on the weddding at Cana: 'I went to Cana not to celebrate the joining together with much clamour of two people..but to see if I could get my son home.'
Absolutely exquisite read. show less

Colm Toíbín is the subtlest kind of magician. Reading this book, you watch his hands move gracefully through the simplest of motions as he conjures up a world, realizing only after that he has taken the watch off your wrist and the heart out of your chest. This is a book they will study a hundred years from now, trying to figure out exactly how he manages to levitate such large emotions with such smooth prose. Worth it for the complicated dread implied by an umbrella left at a post office.