THE TRANSPOSED HEADS

by Thomas Mann ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 1941

This must needs be viewed as a parable -- a philosophic treatise on relative value of mind and matter, in the form of a myth -- a tale of India, of a great love between two youths, the one almost wholly mental, the other almost wholly physical; of the girl who came between them, and of how they sacrificed themselves before the goddess Kali -- and of how the lovely Sita performed the miracle of restoring them to life, but in her over-zealousness(?) gave the head of the husband to the body of the friend, and vice versa. Was there ever a more delicate problem to solve? To which does the young wife belong? In the unravelling of this intricate situation, Mann has boundless opportunity to hold forth upon the weighing of the influence of the head upon the body, the material upon the spiritual, and so on. Just where this belongs in the Thomas Mann picture it is difficult to see. I cannot see a wide market for it, beyond that created by the name of the author.

Pub Date: June 6, 1941

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1941

Categories: FICTION