# 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

The Alchemist Paulo Coelho

While sleeping close to a sycamore tree at the sacristy of an abandoned church, Santiago, a shepherd boy, has a recurring fantasy about a kid who informs him that he'll come across a hidden treasure if he travels to the Egyptian pyramids. An old lady tells Santiago that this fantasy is prophetic and that he should follow its instructions. Santiago is unclear, however, because he loves the life span of a shepherd. Next Santiago meets a mysterious older man who seems able to read his thoughts. He......Read More

Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt

Well, it is certainly not a genie in a bottle or a space filled with Grammy awards or a museum in Ireland. It is the archetypal rags-to-riches caliber of their stories. It is when a generally obscure person rises from poverty to Gatsbyesquewealth and fame. Our boy Frank McCourt, a child from the slums of Limerick who suffers from starvation and poverty during the majority of his early life, went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in his robe because of his comic memoir (yeah, that is right--comedian),......Read More

Henry VI, Part 3 William Shakespeare

George Lucas wasn't the first one to start a franchise in the middle of things--or at medias res, if you want to get all fancy about it. Star Wars was so popular that Lucas just had to go back and give us the prequel for the original 3 films. Some critics think Shakespeare did the identical thing: he wrote Henry VI, Parts two and 3 first, and after they were such crowd pleasers, he moved back and did a Part 1. Nowadays, we group Henry VI, Part 3 with other history plays known as the "first......Read More

Related Topics