Gustave von Aschenbach is an
aging German writer who suddenly decides to vacation in Venice. While there, he becomes obsessed with a
beautiful Polish boy named Tadzio.
Aschenbach never communicates directly with the boy, but his attraction
to the boy leads him to stalk him.
Apparently this story is a somewhat autobiographical, although what
really happened probably is not quite as disturbing. This is my first Thomas Mann novel, and I
chose it because it has fewer than a hundred pages. As translations go, I think it captures the mood
of Venice and Aschenbach’s tormented infatuation quite well, but I’m not wild
about the subject matter—the musings of a frustrated pedophile.
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