Thomas mann writer

Alex Ross on how the German novelist’s tormented conservative manifesto led to his later modernist masterpieces.

Thomas Mann spent the years during World War I composing “Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man,” an idiosyncratic assault on democracy and reason that was recently reissued. The book’s political ideas are of little use, Christopher Beha writes, but Mann’s critique of how democracies enlist writers to serve as their social conscience resonates forcefully today.

In June 18, Thomas Mann House, a residence for scholars, will be inaugurated in Los Angeles. The house will foster intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and the United States, offer the opportunity to leading thinkers who are living or have lived in Germany to explore issues of contemporary importance, to generate fresh thought, and to deepen American -- German relations.

Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain Penguin Modern Classics 1475, 1983 Cover: A detail from 'Dent du Midi' by Oskar Kokoschka in the collection of Mrs W. Feilchenfeldt, Zurich

1935. Thomas Mann és Márai Sándor, Budapest,

THOMAS MANN

the music and the devil

Thomas Mann

I have no right to call myself one who knows. I was one who seeks, and I still am, but I no longer seek in the stars or in books; I'm beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me. My story isn't pleasant, it's not sweet and harmonious like the invented stories; it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves. ~Hermann Hesse