Thomas Mann : Eros and Literature

Rating:
Summary: A great biography of an influential writer
Review: At nearly 600 pages, Heilbut has written a thorough inquiry into the life of Thomas Mann that is both informative and thought provoking. It is an important book for all Thomas Mann scholars and aficonados, especially since Mann's personal experiences played such a large role in the inspiration of his stories - even more so than most authors.

Heilbut takes us on a ride from Mann's childhood all the way to his death in 1955. Along the way, the biographer highlights Mann's estranged relationship with his brother, Heinrich, who was also an author in his own right (although not nearly the stature of Thomas). We also learn of his correspondence with such notable figures as Albert Einstein, Arnold Schoenberg, Herman Hesse, the poet W.H. Auden (who was actually his son-in-law) and the fierce (not to mention bitter) rivalry he had with the playwrite Bertolt Brecht.

One of the best features of this book is the detailed information we get on the various personalities in Manns life which formed the impetus of the characters in his novels; especially so for "Buddenbrooks", "The Magic Mountain" and "Dr.Faustus." Heilbut also elaborates on the well-known passion that the author had for the writings of Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schopenhaur and Friedrich Nietzsche as well as the music of Richard Wagner. There is also a nice discussion of how he (appropriately) utilized Goethe as the paragon of genius in his "Lotte In Weimer."

As is well known, the "centerpoint" of Mann's life was WWII and the years (actually decades) which preceded it. Heilbut details how Mann & his family somehow escaped the wrath of Hitler (Mann actually spread propoganda in Germany AGAINST Hitler and the Nazis) and his safe arrival at the intellectual haven of Princeton university. It was at this safe distance from the war that raged in Europe that Mann was compelled to write his masterpiece: "Dr. Faustus." We learn just how deeply moved he was by the destruction of his "Dresden China." The Nazis' deal with Hitler had indeed cost Germany her very soul.

Ultimately, Mann lived a very tragic life. The uncanny number of suicides of people close to him, the intellectual enemies he made (without any provocation on his part), the resentment that his homosexuality aroused in people, his physical ailments, the exile from his homeland and the destruction of his beloved Germany all contributed to what was a less than enjoyable life. However, the emotional torture and suffering he underwent furnished him with the tools to write some of the most powerful novels of this century. He is perhaps the epitome of Nietzsche's artist who "transforms" personal anguish into great art. In any case, the fervency and brilliance of his writings make him one of the most pivotal figures of the 20th century literary landscape. This is his story. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: A great biography of an influential writer
Review: At nearly 600 pages, Heilbut has written a thorough inquiry into the life of Thomas Mann that is both informative and thought provoking. It is an important book for all Thomas Mann scholars and aficonados, especially since Mann's personal experiences played such a large role in the inspiration of his stories - even more so than most authors.

Heilbut takes us on a ride from Mann's childhood all the way to his death in 1955. Along the way, the biographer highlights Mann's estranged relationship with his brother, Heinrich, who was also an author in his own right (although not nearly the stature of Thomas). We also learn of his correspondence with such notable figures as Albert Einstein, Arnold Schoenberg, Herman Hesse, the poet W.H. Auden (who was actually his son-in-law) and the fierce (not to mention bitter) rivalry he had with the playwrite Bertolt Brecht.

One of the best features of this book is the detailed information we get on the various personalities in Manns life which formed the impetus of the characters in his novels; especially so for "Buddenbrooks", "The Magic Mountain" and "Dr.Faustus." Heilbut also elaborates on the well-known passion that the author had for the writings of Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schopenhaur and Friedrich Nietzsche as well as the music of Richard Wagner. There is also a nice discussion of how he (appropriately) utilized Goethe as the paragon of genius in his "Lotte In Weimer."

As is well known, the "centerpoint" of Mann's life was WWII and the years (actually decades) which preceded it. Heilbut details how Mann & his family somehow escaped the wrath of Hitler (Mann actually spread propoganda in Germany AGAINST Hitler and the Nazis) and his safe arrival at the intellectual haven of Princeton university. It was at this safe distance from the war that raged in Europe that Mann was compelled to write his masterpiece: "Dr. Faustus." We learn just how deeply moved he was by the destruction of his "Dresden China." The Nazis' deal with Hitler had indeed cost Germany her very soul.

Ultimately, Mann lived a very tragic life. The uncanny number of suicides of people close to him, the intellectual enemies he made (without any provocation on his part), the resentment that his homosexuality aroused in people, his physical ailments, the exile from his homeland and the destruction of his beloved Germany all contributed to what was a less than enjoyable life. However, the emotional torture and suffering he underwent furnished him with the tools to write some of the most powerful novels of this century. He is perhaps the epitome of Nietzsche's artist who "transforms" personal anguish into great art. In any case, the fervency and brilliance of his writings make him one of the most pivotal figures of the 20th century literary landscape. This is his story. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: A Major Contribution to Mann Studies
Review: I cannot improve upon the review of Heilbut's book by Kenneth Lewes, Ph. D. in Psychoanalytic Literature (Spring 1998)....."Since Mann's death in l955, there have been hundreds of biographical and literary studies, but Anthony Heilbut's "Thomas Mann: Eros and Literature" is the best I know of in examining the life and work of this impressive man and in seeing how each informed, betrayed, and enriched the other ... Heilbut's great originality consists not in exposing what in fact was already widely suspected, but in showing how Mann's psychology informed the procedures and achievements of his fiction ... Heilbut's writing is clear, colloquial, and extremely funny at times. It is rare that an exercise in literary criticism should be so much fun to read." My thoughts precisely.

Rating:
Summary: i can't possibly add much to Wilk's words
Review: Literate ...informative ...and a bit daring shall we say

Rating:
Summary: superfluous
Review: MR. HEILBUT'S BOOK IS AN EXERCISE IN ARDENT HOMOEROTIC ONEIRIC WISHFUL THINKING. MUCH LIKE KENNTH STARR WISHED PRESIDENT CLINTON WAS GUILTY OF SOMETHING MR. HEILBUT FAILS MUCH LIKJE STARR TO EVEN COME CLOSE TO PROVING MANN'S ALLEGED HOMOSEXUALITY WHICH HE IS TASKED WITH BY DINT OF HAVING THE TEMERITY TO MAKE THE CHARGE IN THIS DREARY TOME MORE MCCARTHYISM THAN RESPONSIBLE LITERATURE

Rating:
Summary: superfluous
Review: MR. HEILBUT'S BOOK IS AN EXERCISE IN ARDENT HOMOEROTIC ONEIRIC WISHFUL THINKING. MUCH LIKE KENNTH STARR WISHED PRESIDENT CLINTON WAS GUILTY OF SOMETHING MR. HEILBUT FAILS MUCH LIKJE STARR TO EVEN COME CLOSE TO PROVING MANN'S ALLEGED HOMOSEXUALITY WHICH HE IS TASKED WITH BY DINT OF HAVING THE TEMERITY TO MAKE THE CHARGE IN THIS DREARY TOME MORE MCCARTHYISM THAN RESPONSIBLE LITERATURE

Rating:
Summary: Stating the obvious
Review: Thomas Mann loved the beauty of young males. In old age, he belatedly realized that this love was apparent in EVERYTHING he had written, even though he had dutifully married and swived and fathered a family and the whole middle-class shtick.

"Death in Venice" is not my favorite tale. The best story of male love, in my opinion, is "Tonio Kroger." But they are both of them masterpieces of twentieth-century literature.

Rating:
Summary: Stating the obvious
Review: Thomas Mann loved the beauty of young males. In old age, he belatedly realized that this love was apparent in EVERYTHING he had written, even though he had dutifully married and swived and fathered a family and the whole middle-class shtick.

"Death in Venice" is not my favorite tale. The best story of male love, in my opinion, is "Tonio Kroger." But they are both of them masterpieces of twentieth-century literature.