Sitzbook: "Death in Venice"

The cover of the book indicates that it's been made into a movie by Warner Brothers.

I've not technically seen the movie, but I can tell you this: It's boring as shit.

As part of my ongoing Sitzbook project I read Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. I actually read this when I was in grad school, but Bobby offered to loan it to me, and it seemed like a quick read in a time when I'm trying to get closer to hitting my goal of 52 books by the end of the year.

Well, it is a quick read, but it's also a bit of a dull read. The most remarkable thing about it is that I actually read it in German the first time around; it's been scientifically proven that books in German are 37% more depressing than books in other languages. If you don't believe me, you should have seen the reading list for the German MA program. Over half the books ended with the protagonist dying, committing suicide, and/or murdering someone (usually a lover). 

But I digress. I guess the best thing I can say about Death in Venice is that it has a very succinct title. In fact, it pretty much tells you the plot of most of the book. A guy goes to Venice, sees a boy, and dies. Sure, he also walks down to the beach a bit and eats some meals, and Mann's sure to recount those events in excruciating detail, but that's really about it.

It was a quick read, at least, but if Mann had had a sharper editor, he probably could have pared it down to pamphlet size with the same end result.

So, that's it for now. Thanks to Bobby for loaning me the book, even though it wasn't my favorite one ever. And thanks to you for reading, and please stay tuned for more Blogtoberfest fun!

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