Thomas Mann: A Life

Rating:
Summary: A highly detailed but uninspiring account of Mann's life.
Review: Donald Prater has produced a highly detailed account of Thomas Mann's life. He remains an objective observer and paints a picture of the development of an often cold literary statesman who finds it difficult to form personal relationships. Prater does not dwell on the genesis of Mann's literary production despite his insistence that Mann was not principally a political writer but an artist. Instead he gives a long-winded account of Mann's travels throughout Europe and America, his departure from Nazi Germany and naturalisation in the USA. The latter section of the text is larded with references to meetings with his children and other literary figures in the USA which do little to aid the reading of Mann's major works of fiction. The author is at pains to justify Mann's behaviour after the Second World War and emphasise his disgust for Nazism and anti-Semitic thought. Despite being a detailed and carefully researched manuscript, he text is not an inspiring exploration of Mann's life and work and often verges on the tedious. It will be an invaluable companion to the research student who wishes to verify precise details in the history of Thomas Mann, but as a companion to the study of Mann's oeuvre it is not successful. A superior guide must always be TJ Reed's 'The Uses of Tradition' which, after 25 years, continues to be the best English Language companion to the life and works of Thomas Mann, providing intelligent interpretation and valuable insight into the biography of the writer.

Rating:
Summary: A highly detailed but uninspiring account of Mann's life.
Review: Donald Prater has produced a highly detailed account of Thomas Mann's life. He remains an objective observer and paints a picture of the development of an often cold literary statesman who finds it difficult to form personal relationships. Prater does not dwell on the genesis of Mann's literary production despite his insistence that Mann was not principally a political writer but an artist. Instead he gives a long-winded account of Mann's travels throughout Europe and America, his departure from Nazi Germany and naturalisation in the USA. The latter section of the text is larded with references to meetings with his children and other literary figures in the USA which do little to aid the reading of Mann's major works of fiction. The author is at pains to justify Mann's behaviour after the Second World War and emphasise his disgust for Nazism and anti-Semitic thought. Despite being a detailed and carefully researched manuscript, he text is not an inspiring exploration of Mann's life and work and often verges on the tedious. It will be an invaluable companion to the research student who wishes to verify precise details in the history of Thomas Mann, but as a companion to the study of Mann's oeuvre it is not successful. A superior guide must always be TJ Reed's 'The Uses of Tradition' which, after 25 years, continues to be the best English Language companion to the life and works of Thomas Mann, providing intelligent interpretation and valuable insight into the biography of the writer.