DOCTOR FAUSTUS

by Thomas Mann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 1948

This is a book to read as a novel of ideas- not as a story memorable for plot and pace. It is not easy reading; but the reader who brings to the reading the challenge of mature reasoning will find it provocative, revealing of a whole segment of German intellectual thinking of the period- chiefly pre-World War I. A brilliant tour de force, in the form of a biography of a German composer, Adrian Leverkuhn, as recounted by his lifelong friend, Serenus Zeitblom, it's a symbolic tale again dealing with the precarious sensibility of the artistic temperament. Adrian from childhood was strangely set apart, a touch-me-not personality, whose musical genius came to fruition late- and, the story would indicate, reached its zenith in a deal with the Devil. Dominating his life were two men, -- the musical mentor of his school days, Wendell Kretschmar, and Rudolph Schwerdtfeger, with whom he collaborated on several dramatic triumphs. Where Kretschmar was his good genius, Rudi perverted his already unstable emotional life into odd channels, and when the one girl who might have brought him out of himself appeared, Rudi, in the John Alden role, betrayed his friend. His biographer stands outside the play, serving now as Greek chorus, now as commentator, now as recipient of confidences,- the strange record of the dialogue with the Devil; the confession as to his failure at the one bordello he visited. And finally, as protector when madness brought Adrian's life to twilight and close. Throughout the strange and sometimes macabre story, the minutely detailed conversations, from school days on, reflect the mood, the tempo, the thought of sensitive youth of the day. Interjected at irregular intervals are Zeitblom's own comments on the turmoil of his world, caught in the maelstrom of World War II, during which he is writing and seeking to recapture a lost world. The stature of the writer, the breadth of thought compassed herein, will ensure this front page critical attention. Book of the Month selection.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1948

ISBN: 0375701168

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1948

Categories: FICTION