Letters of Heinrich & Thomas Mann 1900–1949: 12 (Weimar & Now: German Cultural Criticism) - Hardcover

Mann, Heinrich

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520072782 ISBN 13: 9780520072787

Publisher: University of California Press, 1998

Synopsis

Fortunately for us, brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann remained devoted and eloquent correspondents even while disagreeing passionately on matters literary, political, philosophical, and personal. In their correspondence, set against a shifting backdrop of locations in Europe and America, mundane concerns blend easily with astonishing artistic and critical insights. That these irrepressible siblings were among the giants of twentieth-century letters gives their exchanges unique literary and historical fascination. Beginning in Germany and Italy at the turn of the century, the letters document with disarming immediacy the brothers' views on aesthetics, politics, and the social responsibility of the writer, as well as their mutual jealousy, admiration, rivalry, and loyalty. The devastating rift caused by Thomas's support of Germany during World War I and his brother's utter opposition to the war took many years to mend, but they found their way back to friendship in the 1920s. After Hitler rose to power, both writers ultimately sought refuge in the United States. The letters offer a moving portrayal of their struggle, as novelists and socially engaged intellectuals, to bear witness to the cataclysmic historical changes around them and to their experience of exile, in Europe and then in America. This first complete English translation of their correspondence is a dramatic human dialogue and a major literary event.

About this title

Synopsis:

Beginning in Germany and Italy at the turn of the century, these letters document the views of Thomas and Heinrich Mann on aesthetics, politics and the social responsibility of the writer, as well as their mutual jealousy, admiration and rivalry. World War I caused a major rift between them.

About the Author:

Hans Wysling was Director of the Thomas Mann Archive at the Eidgen ssische Technische Hochschule in Z rich. Don Reneau is a freelance translator living in Connecticut. Anthony Heilbut is author of Thomas Mann: Eros and Literature (California paperback, 1997).

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0520072782
• ISBN 13: 9780520072787
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 462