# of Words: 247

Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, a novella about a writer who falls in love with a young Polish boy, which has been raising eyebrows ever since its publication in 1912. To be clear, when we state author, we are referring to an adult one--that means this love is all types of forbidden. Before you consider burning your copy of the book in outrage, though, consider this: This book is really about artwork.

And desire. And how art and want are super entangled with each other. Can it be a sexy mess? Absolutely. Can it be a totally captivating read because of this?

Mann, known as "the ironic German" (no seriously--there's even a book by that title), loves to present ethical values and cultural ideals as open questions instead of straightforward facts (they didn't give him the Nobel Prize in 1929 for nothing), and Death in Venice is his depiction of the modern artist, showing the way the artist's love of beauty is often barely any different from erotic fixation. In other words, there's no beauty without sexual desire coursing below the surface.

Caution: You may feel that a little embarrassing calling things beautiful after you finish reading this book--it will probably be a cool minute before you tell your mom she looks fine again. However, if this is the case, then it merely means Mann accomplished what he set out to do. So while it could be embarrassing for us as readers, it's a job well done for Mann.

Related Papers

Ethan Frome Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome, first published in 1911, shows off Edith Wharton's down in the dumps chops. This lady was as successful as they come, and most of her things wasn't at the super uplifting category of literature. In addition to the zillions of other things she composed, you may have known of her Pulitzer Prize-winning society novel The Age of Innocence. Kind of a big deal, because she was the first woman ever awarded the Pulitzer. And in case that wasn't baller sufficient, she was also the first......Read More

The God Of Small Things Arundhati Roy

Released in 1997, The God of Small Things quickly skyrocketed Arundhati Roy to globally critical and popular acclaim. Her first (and to date only) novel won the 1997 Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards at the English-language literary universe. Interestingly, Roy was educated as an architect and had never before considered herself a novelist. The novel, which Roy composed between 1992 and 1996, has sold more than 6 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages.......Read More

Animal Farm George Orwell

Today, Animal Farm is a classic. (In fact, we have a sneaking suspicion that you're here because you're being needed to read it.) However, when Orwell wrote the book in 1943-44, he could barely find a publisher. In reality, no one took him up on it before 1945, and even then readers were not too keen on it. You see, Animal Farm takes a blow in the Soviet Union, especially its leader Josef Stalin--however, the Soviet Union was an ally in the U.S.'s fight against Nazi Germany at World War II.......Read More

Related Topics