
Death in Venice
by Thomas Mann
'Death in Venice' Summary
The main character is Gustav von Aschenbach, a famous author in his early 50s who recently has been ennobled in honor of his artistic achievement (thus acquiring the aristocratic "von" in his name). He is a man dedicated to his art, disciplined and ascetic to the point of severity, who was widowed at a young age.
As the story opens, he is strolling outside a cemetery and sees a coarse-looking, red-haired foreigner who stares back at him belligerently. Aschenbach walks away, embarrassed but curiously stimulated. He has a vision of a primordial swamp-wilderness, fertile, exotic and full of lurking danger. Soon afterward, he resolves to take a holiday.
After a false start in traveling to Pula on the Austro-Hungarian coast (now in Croatia), Aschenbach realizes he was "meant" to go to Venice and takes a suite in the Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido island. While shipbound and en route to the island, he sees an elderly man in company with a group of high-spirited youths, who has tried hard to create the illusion of his own youth with a wig, false teeth, make-up, and foppish attire. Aschenbach turns away in disgust. Later, he has a disturbing encounter with an unlicensed gondolier—another red-haired, skull-faced foreigner—who repeats "I can row you well" when Aschenbach orders him to return to the wharf.
Aschenbach checks into his hotel, where at dinner he sees an aristocratic Polish family at a nearby table. Among them is an adolescent boy of about 14 in a sailor suit. Aschenbach, startled, realizes that the boy is supremely beautiful, like a Greek sculpture. His elder sisters, by contrast, are so severely dressed that they look like nuns.
Later, after spying the boy and his family at a beach, Aschenbach overhears Tadzio, the boy's name, and conceives what he first interprets as an uplifting, artistic interest.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
GermanPublished In
1912Authors

Thomas Mann
Germany
Paul Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and nov...
Books by Thomas MannDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Road to Understanding by Eleanor H. Porter
Eleanor H. Porter's *Road to Understanding* is a poignant tale exploring the complexities of family dynamics, societal pressures, and the search for s...

A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia by Amanda Minnie Douglas
It is a delightful and enchanting book that takes readers on a journey to the past. Written by Amanda Minnie Douglas, this captivating tale transports...

Correio da Roça by Júlia Lopes de Almeida
In 'Correio da Roça', Maria, a recent widow, and her four daughters are forced to leave their luxurious life in Rio de Janeiro and relocate to a remot...

Five Mice in a Mouse-trap by the Man in the Moon by Laura Richards
"Five Mice in a Mouse-trap by the Man in the Moon" by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards is a whimsical and enchanting tale that begins with a captivating...

The Jack-Knife Man by Ellis Parker Butler
In a small town in the American Midwest, a mysterious stranger arrives with a single suitcase and a pocketful of jackknives. The stranger, who calls...

The Man Who Hated Mars by Randall Garrett
On the desolate, crimson expanse of Mars, where the sun casts eerie shadows and the wind whispers secrets, a man haunted by his past finds himself emb...

Five Little Peppers in the Little Brown House by Margaret Sidney
Five Little Peppers in the Little Brown House recounts the heartwarming tale of the Pepper family, a group of five orphans living in poverty with thei...

The Storm Of London by Fernande Blaze De Bury
Our clothes tell our story. They reflect our rank, have to suit a perfect event, and much more. But what happens when they disappear? Sounds frighteni...

Galileo by Walter W. Bryant
Step into the world of one of history's greatest scientific minds and witness the revolutionary discoveries that shook the foundations of the universe...

The Alley Cat’s Kitten by Caroline Fuller
This is a captivating story that will whisk readers away into a world where a feline family embarks on a remarkable journey of survival, resilience, a...
Reviews for Death in Venice
No reviews posted or approved, yet...