Thomas Mann: Life as a Work of Art. A Biography
by Hermann Kurzke
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Description
This vivid, sometimes tragic, and often humorous literary biography brings to life as never before the extraordinary talent and complex person who was Thomas Mann. Engrossing vignettes enable us to enter Mann's life and work from unique angles. We meet the difficult, even unsavory private man: hypochondriac and nervous, narcissistic and vainglorious, isolated and greedy for love, shy and often ungenerous. But we are also introduced to a man who lived an eventful life, was capable of great show more kindness, loved dogs, doted on his daughters, and listened to Jack Benny. We experience Mann's tragedy as the quintessential German forced by the rise of National Socialism first into inner exile and then into real exile in Switzerland, Princeton, and California. His letters from this time reveal the torment that exile represented for a writer whose work, indeed whose very self, was inextricably bound up with the German language. The book provides fresh and sometimes startling insights into both famous and little-known episodes in Mann's life and into his writing--the only realm in which he ever felt free. It shows how love, death, religion, and politics were not merely themes in Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain, and other works, but were woven into the fabric of his existence and preoccupied him unrelentingly. It also teases out what is known about what Mann considered his celibate homoeroticism and what others have labeled closeted homosexuality. In particular, we learn about his affection for the young man who inspired the character of Tadzio in Death in Venice. And, against the unfocused accusations of anti-Semitism that have been leveled at Mann, the book examines in human detail his relationships with Jewish writers, friends, and family members. This is the richest available portrait of Thomas Mann as man and writer--the place to start for anyone wanting to know anything about his life, work, or times. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A literary biography of one of my favorite writers that is vivid, tragic at times, and often humorous. The book tells the story of a life that was challenged by the rise of Nazism in Germany and ultimately resulted in a somewhat nomadic career. It does this by using vignettes that showcase the many facets of this great author.
9.78069E 12
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Published Reviews
ThingScore 100
Er wählte einen Ansatz, der - wie er im Nachwort gesteht - in jedem Proseminar verboten würde, nämlich die Vermischung von Fiktion und Leben. Doch Thomas Mann selbst wie auch Goethe erteilen vorab die Erlaubnis: "Autobiographie ist alles", sagt der eine, "Lebensgeschichte ist's immer", der andere. Der Ansatz gerät zur Befreiung. "Ich bin Künstler genug, Alles mit mir geschehen zu lassen, show more denn ich kann alles gebrauchen" (Thomas Mann). Lebensbericht und Literatur fließen gekonnt ineinander über, ohne daß Kurzke es versäumt, die Grenzen und Fragwürdigkeiten seines Vorgehens zu problematisieren show less
added by Indy133
Author Information
14 Works 150 Members
Hermann Kurzke is Professor of Literature at the University of Mainz.
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Thomas Mann
- Important places*
- Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland
- First words*
- Thomas Mann, oder, um genau zu sein: Paul Thomas Mann wurde am 6. Juni 1875 in Lübeck geboren und am 11. Juni in der Marienkirche evangelisch getauft.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 833.914 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures German fiction 1900- 1900-1990 1945-1990
- LCC
- PT2625 .A44 .Z73293 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures German literature Individual authors or works 1860/70-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 101
- Popularity
- 319,609
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.63)
- Languages
- 5 — Danish, English, German, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 1
