海角大神

Seventeen years after he published 鈥淭he Master,鈥� his bravura novel about Henry James, Irish writer Colm T贸ib铆n takes on another literary titan in this powerful historical novel about German novelist and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann.聽聽

鈥淭he Magician鈥� masterfully weaves together T贸ib铆n鈥檚 take on Mann鈥檚 personal and interior life with the creation of his major works 鈥� including 鈥淒eath in Venice,鈥� 鈥淭he Magic Mountain,鈥� and 鈥淒octor Faustus鈥� 鈥� against the backdrop of the insidious rise of Nazism. Hitler鈥檚 election in 1933 sent Mann, his wife Katia 鈥� who was born into a wealthy, highly cultured family of assimilated Jews 鈥� and their six children into exile in Switzerland and later in the United States.聽

The result is a remarkable dual portrait of Germany鈥檚 history in the 20th century and of a great, internationally famous writer who was thrust into a public role with which he was not entirely comfortable. Mann, who had the ear of the Roosevelts, became outspoken against Nazism, although his natural inclination was to withdraw from the raucous world into his study and his work.聽

鈥淭he Magician鈥� can be enjoyed even by readers unfamiliar with Mann鈥檚 novels, and should appeal not just to fans of T贸ib铆n鈥檚 work but to history buffs who are interested in the buildup to World War II and its aftermath.聽聽

Among other things, T贸ib铆n鈥檚 novel is a stirring paean to literature and music, which his introspective protagonist compares in several of the book鈥檚 most soaring passages. While listening to his youngest son Michael鈥檚 string quartet perform Beethoven鈥檚 Opus 132 for family and friends in the embarrassingly opulent Pacific Palisades house the Manns built during the war, Mann marvels at music鈥檚 power to transcend the rational and 鈥渢o evoke feelings that allowed for chaos as much as order or resolution.鈥� At one point he regrets that his writing often falls short of the sublimity of music, but comments, 鈥渋t is a grubby business writing novels. Composers can think about God and the ineffable. We have to imagine the buttons on a coat.鈥澛�

T贸ib铆n imagines far more than the buttons on a coat, taking us deeper into his character鈥檚 psyche than a nonfiction biography would allow. As in 鈥淭he Master,鈥� his style is considerably less ornate than that of his protagonist, but many of T贸ib铆n鈥檚 familiar themes are here, including the pain of the exile鈥檚 return after a long absence, which he described movingly in 鈥淭he Empty Family鈥� as coming home to 鈥渁 landscape of endings.鈥澛�

A prominent theme shared with 鈥淭he Master鈥� is the lifelong strain of his main character鈥檚 carefully repressed homosexuality. In fact, T贸ib铆n鈥檚 focus in the early chapters on young Thomas鈥� longings heightens the surprise of his abrupt engagement to Katia Pringsheim. T贸ib铆n does a particularly sensitive job depicting the Manns鈥� long, successful marriage, whose happiness and stability rested on a tacit understanding that Thomas would do nothing to embarrass Katia by acting on his desires 鈥� although she recognized and accepted them, even when they surfaced in his work. Interestingly, three of their children were openly gay or bisexual.聽聽

T贸ib铆n, who has joked that he hopes never again to write about a family with six children, does yeoman鈥檚 work bringing Mann鈥檚 extensive, fractious clan to life and keeping track of them as they move around the world during the war like pins on a map. As a family saga, 鈥淭he Magician鈥� encompasses numerous upheavals, including multiple suicides.聽

There are also marked political disagreements among various family members. One ongoing source of stress in T贸ib铆n鈥檚 narrative is Thomas鈥� lifelong rivalry with his older brother Heinrich, also a celebrated novelist in pre-war Germany, now best known for 鈥淭he Blue Angel,鈥� the film adaptation of one of his books. After Thomas鈥� early success with his coming-of-age novel, 鈥淏uddenbrooks,鈥� which chronicles the decline of their wealthy merchant family in L眉beck, Heinrich comments that 鈥渘ovels should not deal so obsessively with private life鈥� and that Thomas must learn to think.聽聽

Heinrich, like Mann鈥檚 oldest son Klaus, also a prolific novelist, was left-leaning. Their books, unlike Thomas鈥�, did not sell well in the United States, and they both ended up relying on his support. The poet W.H. Auden 鈥� whom the Manns鈥� oldest child, Erika, married in order to secure an English passport 鈥� wittily referred to Klaus Mann, one of three Klauses in the family, as 鈥淭he Subordinate Klaus.鈥澛�

T贸ib铆n also conjures his protagonist鈥檚 frequently conflicted, self-critical thoughts, in which he rues his timidity in taking a resolute political stance at various junctures in his life. In a particularly powerful passage, Mann reflects on his reluctance to address evil 鈥渟o darkly outside his own comprehension鈥� in his work: 鈥淗e could imagine decency, but that was hardly a virtue in a time that had grown sinister.聽 He could imagine humanism, but that made no difference in a time that exalted the will of the crowd. He could imagine a frail intelligence, but that meant little in a time that honored brute strength.鈥澛�

This sobering, cautionary reminder about what happens when bad people gain popular support is a magnificent achievement.聽