"What did one see if one looked in any depth into the world of this writer's fiction? Elegant self-control concealing from the world's eyes until the very last moment a state of inner disintegration and biological decay; sallow ugliness, sensuously marred and worsted, which nevertheless is able to fan its smouldering concupiscence to a pallid impotence, which from the glowing depths of the spirit draws strength to cast down a whole proud people at the foot of the Cross and set its own foot upon them as well; gracious poise and composure in the empty austere service of form; the false, dangerous life of the born deceiver, his ambition and his art which lead so soon to exhaustion ---"

Decay Form Fiction Art

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About Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist and essayist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. Born in Lübeck on 1875-06-06, he wrote major works including Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and The Magic Mountain. He died near Zürich on 1955-08-12.

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