Mario and the Magician in Never too Late to Read Classics

Jun 11, 2020 Manybooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: thomas-mann, favourites-read, politics, history, book-reviews, short-stories, german-literature, killing-dictators

So yes, ever since I first read Thomas Mann's 1929 novella Mario und der Zauberer (Mario and the Magician) in a fourth year university course on 20th century German literature (in early December 1988), Mario und der Zauberer has definitely been one of my hands-down favourites from his, from Thomas Mann's pen, not only because of the presented contents and thematics but also and indeed very much strongly so since in Mario und der Zauberer Thomas Mann makes rare and appreciated use of a pretty wel So yes, ever since I first read Thomas Mann's 1929 novella Mario und der Zauberer (Mario and the Magician) in a fourth year university course on 20th century German literature (in early December 1988), Mario und der Zauberer has definitely been one of my hands-down favourites from his, from Thomas Mann's pen, not only because of the presented contents and thematics but also and indeed very much strongly so since in Mario und der Zauberer Thomas Mann makes rare and appreciated use of a pretty well simple and uncomplicated (well, at least for him) and therefore also generally easy enough to rather effortlessly understand writing style (and which also, in my opinion, does make Mario und der Zauberer a wonderful general introduction to Thomas Mann's prose fiction for high intermediate and above German as a Second Language students who might well want to expand their literary horizons a bit but would more than still likely feel rather majorly daunted by Thomas Mann's novels and even by his more involved and heavily descriptive novellas such as for example Der Tod in Venedig and Tristan).

And with regard to the general plot line and story of Mario und der Zauberer (and of course in my humble opinion), the featured contents and themes are actually just like Thomas Mann's featured stylistics for Mario und der Zauberer for the most part and generally rather straight-forward and not too esoteric, as well as obviously also being quite overtly and openly political in scope and feel (and indeed, as such considerably more so than much of Mann's earlier prose usually tends to be). However, even though Mario und der Zauberer clearly takes place in 1920s Italy (and that there is a very distinct and palpable anti-foreigner atmosphere being portrayed), I also do not think and have actually never believed that Mario und der Zauberer is meant to be primarily an indictment of the rise of Italian Fascism and Benito Mussolini. For while there most certainly is (due to the distinctly Italian setting of Mario und der Zauberer) also an obviously Italian scope to the story, main antagonist and villain Cipolla himself is (at least to and for me) not only one of Thomas Mann's typically decadent and dangerously so general artist figures, but equally and also simply a standard and as such also universal dictator type figure, an individual who forces others to do what he is preaching, demanding and pushing (and with the climax of Cipolla being killed by Mario not only therefore being totally just desserts but also something Thomas Mann most certainly seems both in favour of, and yes, he is, or rather, the narrator acting as Mann's mouthpiece is, more than willing to understand and without much hesitation forgive).

A novella that is definitely a total personal favourite (and perhaps even my favourite Thomas Mann piece of shorter fiction, period), Mario und der Zauberer is most certainly much less philosophical and spiritual and much more specific time, place and contemprorary issues oriented, much more political than much of Mann's fiction, but is still and in my opinion imbued with a general universality that makes it, that renders Mario und der Zauberer and thankfully so, not just a mundane and repetitive roman à clef so to speak, but a novella that actually transcends Italian Fascism and is of both interest and significance regarding politics and dictators in general (and yes, also demonstrating what needs to happen to dictators, and no, I will absolutely not mince my words saying that Cipolla has most appreciatively and certainly deserved his fate, that Mario is a hero, that dictators need to be gotten rid of by any means possible and necessary). ...more

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