Reading 104 - Mario and the Magician, by Thomas Mann

Link to the piece online

https://literaturesave2.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/thomas-mann-mario-and-the-magician.pdf

Where will the group meet?

Let's meet at the Commonwealth Bar in Brooklyn, at 97 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

About the piece

Mario and the Magician (1930) is a novella by Thomas Mann set during a summer holiday in an Italian seaside town. What begins as a seemingly ordinary trip slowly turns unsettling, leading to an unexpected and dramatic climax. The story is narrated in a restrained, observational style, with events unfolding through a tourist’s point of view.

About the author

Thomas Mann (1875–1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, and essayist known for his richly symbolic and philosophical works. He gained international recognition with Buddenbrooks (1901), a novel about the decline of a merchant family, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. In his early years, Mann held conservative and nationalist views, expressing skepticism toward democracy and modern liberalism.

Over time, however, especially during the political upheavals of the 1930s, he shifted his stance and became a strong defender of democratic values and intellectual freedom. Forced into exile, he lived in Switzerland and later the United States, where he continued to write and speak out on political and cultural issues. His major works include Death in Venice (1912), The Magic Mountain(1924), and Doctor Faustus (1947), which reflect his deep engagement with themes such as identity, morality, illness, and the role of the artist in society.

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