Solitude gives birth to the original in us

“A solitary, unused to speaking of what he sees and feels, has mental experiences which are at once more intense and less articulate than those of a gregarious man. They are sluggish, yet more wayward, and never without a melancholy tinge. Sights and impressions which others brush aside with a glance, a light comment, a smile, occupy him more than their due; they sink silently in, they take on meaning, they become experience, emotion, adventure. Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous - to poetry. But also, it gives birth to the opposite: to the perverse, the illicit, the absurd.”
― Thomas Mann, Death in Venice and Other Tales

This book is a warning to the reader and to artists, of the price paid for artistic success, and the hidden in the beauty of art, that is the center of culture but also the rejection of culture by the individual that is exploring new possibilities outside the shared reality of a society. this tension of a shared common view and the exploration of possibilities outside the norm tear the peace of one's soul or for dose of us who have no soul our minds. The displacement does not have to be great , it only takes one step to be standing at the edge of the abyss, for it to look back at you with all its fury, and enchantment. For art is the breaking of taboos, and the establishment of new ones, it is reimagining what we are as a group, bubble, culture.

“Even in a personal sense, after all, art is an intensified life. By art one is more deeply satisfied and more rapidly used up. It engraves on the countenance of its servant the traces of imaginary and intellectual adventures, and even if he has outwardly existed in cloistral tranquility, it leads in the long term to over fastidiousness, over-refinement, nervous fatigue and overstimulation, such as can seldom result from a life of the most extravagant passions and pleasures.”
― Thomas Mann, Death in Venice and Other Tales

Gustav von Aschenbach the main character of the book is a famous writer, in his fifties; while walking past a cemetery, while observing the edifices and religious motifs, he reads “THEY ENTER THE HOUSE OF GOD” “THE ETERNAL LIGHT MAY SHINE UPON THEM” (the caps is the way the writer wrote the passages) he observes a wild looking foreigner with read hair this makes him fantasize of a wild kind of eden described in detail. there are three more encounters on his travels they all infer his dislocation from society his fear of the otherness within him, some like this one are obviously religious, others are more of societal and sexual in nature. Thomas Mann eloquently warns us of his intentions in a description of the writer.

“What did one see if one looked in any depth into the world of this writer's fiction? Elegant self-control concealing from the world's eyes until the very last moment a state of inner disintegration and biological decay; sallow ugliness, sensuously marred and worsted, which nevertheless is able to fan its smouldering concupiscence to a pallid impotence, which from the glowing depths of the spirit draws strength to cast down a whole proud people at the foot of the Cross and set its own foot upon them as well; gracious poise and composure in the empty austere service of form; the false, dangerous life of the born deceiver, his ambition and his art which lead so soon to exhaustion ---”
― Thomas Mann, Death in Venice

And so he takes as by the hand into secret passion, the depravity of Gustav von Aschenbach. His very open fascination with a fourteen year old boy, that is staying in his hotel.
He regards him, absorbs him with every look, escalating into obsession or as he sees it love.

“For passion, like crime, is antithetical to the smooth operation and prosperity of day-to-day existence, and can only welcome every loosening of the fabric of society, every upheaval and disaster in the world, since it can vaguely hope to profit thereby. And so Aschenbach felt a morose satisfaction at the officially concealed goings-on in the dirty alleyways of Venice, that nasty secret which had merged with his own innermost secret and which he, too, was so intent on keeping “
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice

Little by little this passion consumes him, and physically transforms him into one of his most disdained visions and makes him risk it all, as he falls deeper into visions of the other God.

“But the dreamer was now with them, within them: he belonged to the stranger god. Yes, they were now his own self as they hurled themselves upon the animals, lacerating them, slaughtering them, devouring gobbets of steaming flesh, as they dropped to the trampled mossy ground for unbridled coupling, an offering to the god. And his soul savored the debauchery and delirium of doom.“
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice

This a book laden with allusions to antiquity and rich in allegory and symbolism, no word is wasted, not a sentence is there fluf or just adorn, it is a masterpiece delivered powerfully and succinctly.
This book was published in 1911 the world is silently spinning into an abyss of death and destruction unbenounced to all its contemporaries, but here you can feel, almost a premonition a warning, of a malaise a stink in the middle of the best of civilization.

I love this book but it is not easy to listen to it, when the reader reads in a monotone, with minimal inflection to what is a very passionate book, with imagery and allegory that needs to be brought to life by the narrator, this was delivered more like a religious sermon than a novel, and a three hour sermon is hard to take. I would recommend reading this novella as you will be able to absorb more of the language and the subtleties of Thomas Mann writing.

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8 people found this helpful

Subtle and poetic scopophilia of a youth

Where does Death in Venice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Good.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tadzio. All credit due to the author's description of the youth which plays with your imagination and helps you paint every subtle action, every emotion of the character. I have seen the film before this and it complements the visual.

Have you listened to any of Peter Batchelor’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have not. I have to admit that Peter's narration although good, was also quite quiet that I had to raise the volume above the recommended volume level.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wouldn't want to. This book is powerfully descriptive as the author paints you the scene, the background and the small details. It's a book that you would have to listen again and again to gain more understanding of what the author wanted to convey.

Any additional comments?

Other than the voice being quiet and that some paragraphs can be quite daunting in their description when you cannot connect with it. This does well to narrate and complement the visuals that one can see through the film.

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6 people found this helpful

Melancholic

A melancholic allegorical study into the unavoidable human dangers of love and compulsion set in the backdrop of Venice during a cholera epidemic. Sombre, descriptive and moving.

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5 people found this helpful

Monotony of spat out syllables with vocal fry

This recording cannot be recommended: the actor (who is hard to google because of a more recently famous reality TV namesake) spits out the syllables in a relentless near monotone, with no change to pace (fast), rhythm, or pitch, making for a very soporific and 'flat' effect. In places, this might be justifiable, but this novella's complexity and the vicissitudes of the central character's moods are missing from the performance. I have read and enjoyed this book before but would have thought very differently about it if I'd just heard this.

In addition to lack of vocal variation, the recording, too, may be at fault, although it was difficult to tell whether the actor just has extreme vocal fry (the gravelly effect) or whether there is additional distortion caused by the recording.

For those who read German, the performance by Gerd Wameling is recommended greatly in preference to this one.

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1 person found this helpful

tumzup

calm, understated performance . goes well with the main character, doesn't dwell on again, a very good easy listen

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1 person found this helpful

BIG DISAPOINTMENT

Peter Bachelor sounds like he is reading the back of a breakfast cereal box his narration has ruined this book.
I’m pressing the delete button.

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1 person found this helpful

Dreadful narrator

I was so looking forward to listening to what is one of my favourite books but sadly the narration is dreadful and ruined it for me. Monotone voice and only picks up when he does different voices. Really disappointing. Waste of a credit. Give it a miss.

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Very interresting book - poorly read

Would you listen to Death in Venice again? Why?

I would very much like to read this story again, in paper that is.

What did you like best about this story?

I will not go into a proper review of the story here - as there are much more competent scholars out there who can do the book justice.

What didn’t you like about Peter Batchelor’s performance?

Very poor - both in performance and production. Monotone and detached from the story, he might as well be reading from a tax-return. Read this for your self, if you can!!

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