Death in Venice - Paperback

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by Thomas Mann (Author), Lesley Chamberlain (Translator)

A sumptuous new translation of the sublime novella of desire, obsession, and one man's downfall; another classic from the author of THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN.

"Probably the greatest of modern German novelists." ― The New York Times

One of the pre-eminent works of modern European literature, this enthralling story of desire, beauty and infatuation follows the erudite, respectable writer Gustav Aschenbach's descent into obsession.

Aschenbach has always lived a life of structured routine, but he has begun to be troubled by diminishing creative inspiration from his strict writing schedule. While walking in a cemetery north of Munich, he has a dizzying vision which prompts him to abandon his settled life and travel south to Venice.

On checking into his hotel, Aschenbach notices a young Polish boy of perfect, sculptural beauty: Tadzio. As he lingers on at the hotel, Aschenbach falls into an ever-deeper infatuation with the youth, whose curled blond hair and porcelain face fill him with rapture, and even seem to cure his stubborn writer's block. Ignoring whispered warnings of a cholera outbreak in Venice, Aschenbach stays at the hotel and follows Tadzio with increasing obsession, his mind swirling with mad desire.

Classical in structure yet roiled by disturbing passion, Death in Venice is an enormously powerful story of one man's undoing. Full of coiled tension and vivid inner conflict, it is one of Thomas Mann's greatest masterpieces, and appears here in a lively new translation by Lesley Chamberlain.

Author Biography

Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was perhaps Germany's most famous twentieth-century writer. Born to a merchant family in Lübeck, Mann was preparing to enter the family business when his father suddenly died and the business was liquidated. The family moved to Munich, where Mann began his literary career with the epic novel Buddenbrooks (1901), which was a huge success. Further novels and stories followed, including Death in Venice (1912) and The Magic Mountain (1924); five years following publication of the latter novel, Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. When Hitler came to power, Mann fled to Switzerland, and from there he escaped to California at the outbreak of the Second World War. He is buried in Switzerland, where he spent his final years.

Lesley Chamberlain is a British writer and critic who has written extensively on German and Russian literature and published three novels.

Number of Pages: 112

Dimensions: 0.64 x 7.73 x 5.05 IN

Publication Date: May 05, 2026