A Companion to Thomas Manns
Magic Mountain (Studies in German
Literature Linguistics and Culture)
Not A Cliff's Notes, A Real Climbing Buddy For This Mountain
Thomas Mann was the first writer since Goethe to attract a large
international audience to stories written in German, bringing Germanfiction
into the mainstream of European literature. His second majorwork, The
Magic Mountain (1924), explores the heady intellectualculture of the
chaotic and broken Germany that emerged from the FirstWorld War, and,
along with the earlier Buddenbrooks/, earned hima Nobel Prize for
literature in 1929. Mann himself considered TheMagic Mountain to be his
greatest novel, and few in his own daydoubted the preeminence of this
modernist classic; however, many haveargued that the age of literary
modernism has passed. If this is so,how might we best understand Manns
masterpiece now? Topicscovered in this volume, which aims to provide
both a survey of and newresearch into important aspects of the work,
include Manns comicvision, his homosexuality, his fraught attitude toward
Jews, the placeof his novel in the landscape of postmodern life, the theme
ofsolitude, music in the novel, and technology.STEPHEN D. DOWDEN is
professor of German at Brandeis University. Contributors:DAVID
BLUMBERG, MICHAEL BRENNER, STEPHEN DOWDEN, EDWARD
ENGELBERG, ULKER GöKBERK, EUGENE GOODHEART, JOSEPH P.
LAWRENCE, KARLA SCHULTZ, SUSANSONTAG, KENNETH
WEISINGER
Personal Review: A Companion to Thomas Manns Magic
Mountain (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
The eleven critical essays in "A Companion" are some of the best literary
essays on the monumental novel by Mann "The Magic Mountain." The
essays actually range wider than just this huge book and take in themes
throughout Mann's fiction, both novels and short stories and novellas.

Some are specific; Mann and his conflicted view on Jews (he was almost
anti-Semitic in some instances, yet married a Jewish woman and wrote a
supremely Jewish book "Joseph and his Brothers.") Others cover themes
that are general to his writing--sickness, music, decline, art. After reading
these essays, my mind was teeming with new ideas and I began to see
entirely new threads in all Mann's books. For example, the use of teeth as
a symbol in "Buddenbrooks." An essay discusses the weak teeth of
Thomas Buddenbrooks (which cause his death) and his son Hanno, a
symbol of decline and decay, literally. And carrying that thread forward,
one notices the description of abundantly, almost unnaturally healthy teeth
(Gerda Buddenbrooks and the dubious Aline Puvogel, the courtesan who
marries Christian, Tom's brother, who have teeth that are described as
incredibly white and strong.) Detlef Spinel ("Tristan") has teeth that are
large and decayed--the outward manifestation of some inward decay,
perhaps what has drawn to stay at an elegant sanatorium.
Though the essays deal mainly with "Magic Mountain" I found them
insightful as well for "Dr. Faustus." In short, if you love the fiction of
Thomas Mann, reading these essays is time well and pleasurably spent.
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