SIX EARLY STORIES

by Thomas Mann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 1997

These urbane, but comparatively thin and derivative tales, all written between 1893 and 1908 (and later excluded from the omnibus Stories of Three Decades), display the young Mann's precocious mastery of narrative structure and economical characterization, and also a Henry James-like fondness for the semi-detached narrator. The most interesting are those that clearly foreshadow the later Mann: ""The Will to Happiness,"" perhaps the first of his many portraits of artists; ""Death,"" which adumbrates the masterly ""Death in Venice""; and particularly ""Fallen,"" which recounts with patient irony a sensitive young man's disillusioning dalliance with the actress he unwisely idolizes. Obvious apprentice work, these clever stories are nevertheless clearly prophetic of the great writer their author would soon enough become.

Pub Date: Aug. 3, 1997

ISBN: 1892295741

Page Count: 129

Publisher: Sun & Moon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997

Categories: FICTION