Death in Venice
Ratings43
Average rating3.7
In Death in Venice, an elderly, famous, and wealthy writer named Aschenbach goes on vacation. He becomes fascinated with Tadzio, a young teenager who is staying with his family at Aschenbach's hotel. As his obsession grows, and despite warnings that a plague is threatening Venice, Aschenbach remains at the hotel hoping to make a connection with the elusive Tadzio. Mann's novel is celebrated for its subtle characterization, and its exploration of the struggles of the artist--the longing for transcendence and ideal beauty vs. the need to sacrifice for one's art.
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Pedophilia is a crime.Do not mix it with art!Seek help!
I bought this book when I was a teen just because of the word Venice. I didn't pass the prologue for how boring it was and so the book stayed on the shelf because I thought I would have more patience for it when I grow up.
Years later, I learned about Björn Andrésen, the poor young boy who played in the 1971 adaptation of the book.
If you don't know him yet, watch this very important documentary film:
The most beautiful boy in the world (2021).
Look, if the story had shown that pedophilia is bad and the main character would have been punished for such mentality, I would have been okay with it.
BUT NO. The writer tries to deceit himself and us by glorifying it and painting it as art and literature! Just like Lolita!
Pedophilia is pedophilia!
There is no such a stupid separation between fiction and reality when it comes to fancying children!!
And just look how the so-called fiction has RUINED a REAL person's life in our very own REALITY!
People who have rated this book 4-5 stars and claim how rich the book is in literature are fucked in mind and have to seek help.
shudders
read this at the bookstore while trying to decide if I should spend a crazy amount of money on the magic mountain. by the first pages I had already made up my mind to be honest (bought it!). I don't regret it because mann's writing is gorgeous and hopefully there will be no minors on it but uh. why the hell did I choose THIS one as my first mann and why did I look up things about it because I feel a strong need to drink a little bit of bleach rn.
If you're looking for good technical writing, this book is for you. That's it for me. I suppose I also understand and appreciate what the novel is doing, but I just couldn't get into it. It lacked a charm that allowed me to value the story of an old man in love with a 14 year old boy from a distance. The concept is romanized (literally), it gets weird, it feels weird. The writing becomes an inadequate redeeming quality. Nonetheless, I would be open to reading something by Thomas Mann again; while I did not like this book, I can understand why it seen as significant.
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