New Releases by Thomas Mann

A sumptuous new translation of the sublime novella of desire, obsession, and one man’s downfall; another classic from the author of THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. “Probably the greatest of modern German novelists.” ― The New York Times One of the pre-eminent works of modern European literature, this enthralling story of desire, beauty and infatuation follows the erudite, respectable writer Gustav Aschenbach’s descent into obsession. Aschenbach has always lived a life of structured routine, but he has begun to be troubled by diminishing creative inspiration from his strict writing schedule. While walking in a cemetery north of Munich, he has a dizzying vision which prompts him to abandon his settled life and travel south to Venice. On checking into his hotel, Aschenbach notices a young Polish boy of perfect, sculptural beauty: Tadzio. As he lingers on at the hotel, Aschenbach falls into an ever-deeper infatuation with the youth, whose curled blond hair and porcelain face fill him with rapture, and even seem to cure his stubborn writer’s block. Ignoring whispered warnings of a cholera outbreak in Venice, Aschenbach stays at the hotel and follows Tadzio with increasing obsession, his mind swirling with mad desire. Classical in structure yet roiled by disturbing passion, Death in Venice is an enormously powerful story of one man’s undoing. Full of coiled tension and vivid inner conflict, it is one of Thomas Mann’s greatest masterpieces, and appears here in a lively new translation by Lesley Chamberlain.

In The Little Gentleman Friedemann (1897), Thomas Mann delivers a dazzling tale in which desire, passion and fragility come together with rare intensity. At the heart of the story is a young man marked by disability who tries to lead a quiet life, until the arrival of a fascinating woman turns his inner world upside down. Between impossible attraction and secret wounds, this novella reveals all the emotional power of Mann''s early writings. Still little known to English-speaking readers, this work stands out for the astonishing maturity of its 22-year-old author. It offers a sensitive and subtle introduction to Mann''s universe, where emotion, psychological insight and inner tension already occupy an essential place.

Death in Venice "Death in Venice", originally written in German by Thomas Mann, is a profound exploration of beauty, obsession, and mortality. Set against the lush backdrop of early 20th-century Venice, the novella intricately depicts the unraveling of Gustav von Aschenbach, an esteemed writer, who becomes consumed with an unattainable ideal of beauty embodied by a young boy, Tadzio. Mann''s narrative delves into themes of artistic inspiration, the conflict between rationality and passion, and the inevitable confrontation with one''s own mortality. A rich tapestry of symbolic imagery and philosophical introspection, "Death in Venice" has captivated readers since its publication, continually inspiring new interpretations and scholarly debates. Its enduring relevance lies in its universal exploration of human desires and the moral complexities that accompany them. This bilingual edition, showcasing the text in both German and English, provides an invaluable resource for language learners and literary enthusiasts alike. By presenting the novella in its original language alongside a translated version, readers are encouraged to engage more deeply with Mann''s intricate style and thematic depth. About the Author Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was a distinguished German novelist and essayist whose works have had a lasting impact on European literature. Born in Lübeck, Mann''s literary career spanned decades, earning him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. Known for his incisive analysis of European and German society, Mann''s narratives often explore the intersection of individual and social morality. "Death in Venice" is just one of his numerous masterworks, standing alongside celebrated novels such as "Buddenbrooks" and "The Magic Mountain". About Möwenstein Books Möwenstein Books specializes in producing bilingual editions of classic literary works, offering readers the opportunity to engage with texts in their original languages alongside accurate translations. Focused on fostering cross-cultural appreciation and language proficiency, Möwenstein Books provides a valuable resource for both casual readers and serious students of literature. Please note that the translation was produced using digital tools and should be considered a learning aid.

The Holy Sinner explores a subject that fascinated Thomas Mann to the end of his life - the origins of evil and evil''s connection with magic. Here Mann uses a medieval legend about "the exceeding mercy of God and the birth of the blessed Pope Gregory" - illuminating the notion of original sin and transcendence of evil.

A classic, controversial book exploring German culture and identity by the author of Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain, now back in print. When the Great War broke out in August 1914, Thomas Mann, like so many people on both sides of the conflict, was exhilarated. Finally, the era of decadence that he had anatomized in Death in Venice had come to an end; finally, there was a cause worth fighting and even dying for, or, at least when it came to Mann himself, writing about. Mann immediately picked up his pen to compose a paean to the German cause. Soon after, his elder brother and lifelong rival, the novelist Heinrich Mann, responded with a no less determined denunciation. Thomas took it as an unforgivable stab in the back. The bitter dispute between the brothers would swell into the strange, tortured, brilliant, sometimes perverse literary performance that is Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man, a book that Mann worked on and added to throughout the war and that bears an intimate relation to his postwar masterpiece The Magic Mountain. Wild and ungainly though Mann’s reflections can be, they nonetheless constitute, as Mark Lilla demonstrates in a new introduction, a key meditation on the freedom of the artist and the distance between literature and politics. The NYRB Classics edition includes two additional essays by Mann: “Thoughts in Wartime” (1914), translated by Mark Lilla and Cosima Mattner; and “On the German Republic” (1922), translated by Lawrence Rainey.

Tonio Kroger is a novel written by Thomas Mann and published in 1903. This work was the first one that Mann published. Tonio Kroger creates a pair with Death in Venice, a more famous story, because both tell of an artist''s life and his travels. Though the plots are different and the novels end quite differently, both describe Mann''s views on art.

Der Tod in Venedig by Thomas Mann

. .. the best of the letters present us with two fundamentally decent, sophisticated men grieving for the ruined world. In the 1930s and 1940s, they rail against the stupidity of war and the cowardice of diplomats, against the social savagery of the Nazis,

A Major Literary Event: a brilliant new translation of Thomas Mann''s first great novel, one of the two for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1929. Buddenbrooks, first published in Germany in 1900, when Mann was only twenty-five, has become a classic of modem literature -- the story of four generations of a wealthy bourgeois family in northern Germany. With consummate skill, Mann draws a rounded picture of middle-class life: births and christenings; marriages, divorces, and deaths; successes and failures. These commonplace occurrences, intrinsically the same, vary slightly as they recur in each succeeding generation. Yet as the Buddenbrooks family eventually succumbs to the seductions of modernity -- seductions that are at variance with its own traditions -- its downfall becomes certain. In immensity of scope, richness of detail, and fullness of humanity, Buddenbrooks surpasses all other modem family chronicles; it has, indeed, proved a model for most of them. Judged as the greatest of Mann''s novels by some critics, it is ranked as among the greatest by all. Thomas Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1929.

The ironic satire of a decaying German duchy and its rejuvenation by the appearance of an independent-minded American woman. Peopled with a range of characters from aristocrat to mad woman, this novel is a microcosm of Europe before the Great War. The book''s driving force is the development of a love between the young Prince, hidebound by tradition, and the exotic, beautiful Imma. Written by Noble Prize winning author Thomas Mann, his careful depiction of a decaying society rejuvenated by modern forces illustrates in fable what he regarded as a universal truth - that ripeness and death are a necessary condition of rebirth.

The correspondence of Theodor Adorno and Thomas Mann documents a rare encounter of creative tension between literary tradition and aesthetic modernism spanning the years 1943-1955.

This remarkable new translation of the Nobel Prize-winner’s great masterpiece is a major literary event. Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts–The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider–as a unified narrative, a “mythological novel” of Joseph’s fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. Deploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity, and pain. The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological insight, and epic grandeur. Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy of Mann’s achievement, revealing the novel’s exuberant polyphony of ancient and modern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.

"Mann''s pivotal role during the Nazi period as perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for the ''other Germany'' that lived in exile means that anyone studying the history of our century must begin with him. . . . These letters are literary and cultural documents that have few equals in our age."--James K. Lyon, University of California, San Diego "Mann''s pivotal role during the Nazi period as perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for the ''other Germany'' that lived in exile means that anyone studying the history of our century must begin with him. . . . These letters are literary and cultural documents that have few equals in our age."--James K. Lyon, University of California, San Diego

Degeneration of German merchant family of Lubeck, 1830 to 1870. Analogous to Galsworthy''s "Forsyte Saga". For other editions, see Author Catalog.

In The Little Gentleman Friedemann (1897), Thomas Mann delivers a dazzling tale in which desire, passion and fragility come together with rare intensity. At the heart of the story is a young man marked by disability who tries to lead a quiet life, until the arrival of a fascinating woman turns his inner world upside down. Between impossible attraction and secret wounds, this novella reveals all the emotional power of Mann''s early writings. Still little known to English-speaking readers, this work stands out for the astonishing maturity of its 22-year-old author. It offers a sensitive and subtle introduction to Mann''s universe, where emotion, psychological insight and inner tension already occupy an essential place. This bilingual German-English edition offers an immersive reading experience and an effective way to deepen your knowledge of both languages.