The Magician by Colm Tóibín

Having read Colm Tóibín's The Master, a historical fiction on the life of Henry James, I was eagerly anticipating his piece on Thomas Mann. In general, Tóibín always delivers, so this time as well. In 2020 I read Tilmann Lahme's biography Die Manns  (my review under link) about this fascinating family. I don't know whether it is good or not to have read a biography before a historical fiction. For me, when I read a historical fiction on any subject, I like to read a nonfiction about it, so for me it was good. I don't think it is necessary in general. However, it did confirm to me that Tóbín, as expected, knows what he is writing about. 

When you read about the Mann family a famous quote by Leo Tolstoj comes to mind; "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Manns are certainly an unhappy family, and probably unhappy in its own way. Affected by the dominance of Thomas Mann, the great writer. He is not dominant in any violent or abusing sort of way. However, it is understood that the family will not disturb him in his work, and therefore everything in the house, and the life of the family members, is centered around this rule. 

We follow Thomas Mann from his teenage years when his father dies, and the family's situation changes. They move from Lübeck to Munich where his mother arranges for him to work in an insurance business. Already now, Thomas knows he wants to become a writer. His brother Heinrich, is already writing and supported by the mother. Finally, she agrees in letting the two sons go on a longer trip to Italy to find their bearings. It is here that Thomas starts his writing career.

Back in Munich he enters into the cultural crowds of this, at the time, very creative and buzzing city. If Lübeck was old money and proper behaviour, Munich is free and full of creative and entertaining life. He gets inspired and starts his master piece, Buddenbrooks, Since some time he has discovered his sexuality, leaning towards love for young men, which will stay with him for the rest of his life. He, however, marries the daughter of a rich scientist, Katia Pringsheim. You get the feeling that it is due to Katia that Thomas could become the successful writer he became. She took care of everything; family, house and made sure he could concentrate on his writing. 

We follow the family through the changing times in Germany with the rise of the Nazis, and the difficult years that follow. Thomas Mann has the highest regard of Germany and its literary inheritance.

"1934 -  Up to now, he had seen himself as exceptional, and that was why he had not wanted to join the dissidents. But more than anything else, he had been afraid. This was something that Katia understood, but not Erika nor Klaus nor Heinrich either. They did not understand timidity. For them there was only clarity. But this, Thomas believed, was a time of clarity just for the brave few; for the rest, it was a time of confusion. And he belonged to the rest in a way that did not, now, make him feel proud. He presented himself to the world as a man of principle,  but instead, he thought, he was weak."

They are reluctant to leave Germany although the situation and underlying threats increases. Finally, he and Katia go to Switzerland for a holiday and do not return. They settle down and the family routines are established. The also take the opportunity to learn English. 

"After some months, Katia found a young English poet living nearby and invited him to come for conversation classes, with no grammar, announcing that she was more comfortable in the past tense and would like to talk about history.

"History is all in the past tense," she said, "so that will help us. He was. It was. She was. They were. There was. There were.""

Maybe already here they realise that their lives will never be the same. It will be history and they have to find a new place to live. They decide to go to France where other refugees have settled in Sanary-sur-Mer. 

"While Thomas thought that most of the Germans in Sanary, including Brecht and Walter Benjamin, and Stefan Zweig, met merely to grumble in congenial company, Heinrich said that he discussed art and politics with them.

"No matter who is in power in Germany," Thomas said, "these men will feel left out."

"You should spend more time with them," Heinrich said. "They see beyond the war, and even beyond the peace. They meet to discuss ideas. Important books will come from this."

"They want to make a new world," Thomas replied. "And I rather liked the old one. So I would hardly be any use to them.""

After the sejour in France they leave for the United States where they stay until the fifties.  In the beginning Thomas does not want to speak out in public about his political feelings. After all he is not interested in politics, only books and literature. Once he starts publishing his thoughts, he becomes a forefront figure in the emigrants' circle, resisting the new Germany, by words, if not by actions. 

"1938 - His study there, even though he had his books and the old desk from the house in Munich, and some items that were tokens of his former life, was a pale replica of his real study. In the mornings when he worked, he could act out the role of himself, write as if he had never left Germany. Since ha had taken the language with him and the cast of mind, he could, in theory, write anywhere. But outside his study was a foreign country. America did not belong to him, or to Katia either; they were too old to make the change. Instead of adapting to novelty, or learning to appreciate the virtues of the new country, they were living in a time of loss."

Thomas and Katia had six children; Erica, Klaus, Golo, Monica, Elizabeth and Michael. The two eldest become part of the new scene of Germany after World War I. They are both writers, actors, directors, anything to do with culture. They both live and adapt the new sexual freedom that arises in these circles. All of the children are rather individual, none of them are happy and all of them dependent on their parents for most of their lives. 

"They (Erica and Klaus) were in their thirties now. They could no longer be written about as the fiercely talented young Manns, but rather as people who had failed to make a substantial mark in the world, who wanted the world to pay them a homage that they did not quite merit. As the danger of Hitler became more apparent, Klaus and Erika would seem tedious as the carried a banner saying "I told you so." Soon, he was certain, no one would have much interest in what these two former wunderkinder had to say. "

If you have an interest in Thomas Mann, his writing and life, this is a book for you. It is an extraordinary family, not very likeable, maybe spoilt by the success of Thomas Mann, and the life style they have. Tóibín takes you into the heart of the family, their feelings, aspirations and dreams, successes and failures. The question is, why such a talented family failed to live a life of happiness and contentment, even if one looks at the difficult times they were living in. Maybe this letter from Michael to his father, explains it all. It was sent after the parents failed to come to the funeral of Klaus who committed suicide in 1949.

My dear Father," Michael wrote, "I was there when they lowered Klaus's coffin into the ground and I played a largo for this generous soul as they covered him with earth. The beauty of the place where he is buried made his death unbearable. Nothing was comforting, not the blue sky, not the littering sea, not the music. Nothing.

"You man never have noticed this, but Klaus, even though he was so much older than me, did not try to be a surrogate father to me, but, instead, always succeeded in being my older brother, a brother who listened to me and looked out for me when no one else did. He lived much of the time unnoticed in his own house. I remember how brusquely his views were dismissed by you at the table and I remember his hurt at seeing that you did not think his views were important.

"I am sure the world is grateful to you for the undivided attention you have given to your books, but we, your children, do not feel any gratitude to you, or indeed to our mother, who sat by your side. It is hard to credit that you both stayed in your luxury hotel while my brother was being buried. I told no one in Cannes that you were in Europe. They would not have believed me.

"You are a great man. Your humanity is widely appreciated and applauded. I am sure you are enjoying loud praise in Scandinavia. It hardly bothers you, most likely, that these feelings of adulation are not shared by any of your children. As I walked away from my brother's grave, I wished you to know how deeply sad I felt for him."

The works of Thomas Mann is well integrated in the story, giving a real life background to some of his works. Tóibín conveys a personal account of Mann's work, the good parts as well as the bad parts. It is also an interesting account of times in Germany during the first part of the 20th century. Thomas Mann's never failing belief in the Germany he once knew and loved, the country of Goethe and other great authors. You have a feeling he was living in his own bubble, occupying his study for most of the day, and from time to time came out to face his family and the outside world. A fantastic read.