Death in Venice (German 1912, English 1925) By Thomas Mann

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann is a literary classic I am almost embarrassed to say I had never read before this week; nor had I ever seen Luchino Visconti’s film adaption of it, considered by many an Art film masterpiece.  Still controversial today, Death in Venice most have been explosive when first published in Germany in 1912, even as carefully written as it is.

The story, in an oh so brief summary, tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a famous author (composer in the movie) living in Munich who has writer’s block and is in poor health.  His friends and doctor order him to take a sabbatical.  He tries a number of locales but ends up taking a holiday trip to Venice.  He arrives during a “scirocco,” a late summer storm.

 

There are two major plots: his obsession with a beautiful teenager, and a cholera epidemic in the city.

Aschenbach checks into the luxurious Grand Hotel des Bains on Lido, Venice’s offshore beach resort. At the Hotel he notices a blonde and slim teenage boy, the very definition of the ancient Greek “classic beauty” [I disagree]. The boy is vacationing in Venice with his mother and siblings.  Aschenbach, a widower, becomes obsessed with the boy, whose name he finds out is Tadzio, and begins to follow his every move.  Tadzio notices, responding at first with nervous curiosity, and then with seductive teasing.  Importantly, they never connect or even speak.

When I say the book, published in 1912 is carefully written, I mean Mann’s narrative, considered semi-autobiographical, is that Aschenbach is enchanted by the boy as a personification of artistic beauty, not as a sex object.  Today, one would lean toward calling him a pederast.

Aschenbach is also concerned about growing old, and worried about his health.  When he notices people beginning to die suddenly, and sanitation notices going up around Venice he begins asking the hotel staff and local merchants what is going on.  They all recite the party line, that “these kind of orders are issued all the time to combat the ill effects of the heat and scirocco."  Finally, a manager at the  currency exchange recites the party line, but then pulls him behind closed doors to whisper to him that the city is experiencing a cholera outbreak and tells Aschenbach that he should leave town immediately.  Asked why the authorities are not informing people, the manager tells him that to do so would be bad for our tourist economy.  He decides to leave.

 

Death in Venice 1971 Movie Trailer

When Aschenbach returns to the Hotel he decides to must tell Tadzio’s mother she must take her family away from Venice as quickly as possible.  But by the time he works up the nerve to risk talking to Tadzio's mother, he discovers they are already preparing to leave.  All will depart at Noon.  Aschenbach goes out to the beach to pass time until the launch will pick him up and take him to the train station.  In a very memorable closing movie scene, Aschenbach dies in his beach chair while watching Tadzio walking into the water.

Recommendation:  Yes, for literature buffs, both book and the 1971 movie.