Death in Venice and Other Stories

Thomas Mann

‘Death in Venice’ is an assigned text for one of my literature classes. It is a collection of short stories by Thomas Mann, including his possibly most famous – the same titled Death in Venice. Mann is the perfect example of a Modernist writer, and by no means are his works comfortable to read.

The title story, Death in Venice, is about Aschenbach, an aging writer who falls in lust with a younger boy when taking a holiday. The work is resplendent with images and symbols, and to be fair, it is a very good text to analyse. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it wasn’t bad either.

I couldn’t tell you whether it is a great example of Modernism – but it is according to my tutor. The story lacks a concrete feeling to the ending, which is something I personally hate. I’m also not very fond of short stories, as I feel like I never get to know the characters well before they are killed off. This story is more like a short novella though, and there is room for some ‘plot’ development.

Although not required for my class, I read a number of the other short stories in the book. I found them all to expand on the same themes of death and wanton destruction, and felt like once you had read one, you would expect the ending of the next to be the same (and indeed it is, with some subtle twists).

This book of short stories is certainly not suitable for younger readers. Adults may struggle with the uncomfortable, and often graphic, contents of the novel. This is not something I would normally read, and I probably wouldn’t seek out any of his other works.