*****
We fast forward a couple of decades, and now Kröger is a successful writer living in Munich. In an attempt to relax, and get over some writing issues, he decides to take a trip to Denmark (taking in his old hometown on the way), ending up at a quiet coastal resort. One day, after several weeks of tranquillity, a party of guests arrives, shattering the peace and quiet Kröger craves - and among them are two very familiar blond figures...
The story will ring a whole group of bells with anyone who has ever read Death in Venice, and there are many similarities with the more famous novella (although this one has a slightly less depressing ending!). As is often the case in his work, Mann is exploring here the difficulties of being an artist, at the same time drawing deeply on his personal history to paint a picture of a Bohemian from a middle-class family. It can be a little patronising when Kröger looks down on the attempts of working men to create their own little works of art, and his plea to keep literature away from those 'normal', happy folk who don't need it is a little bizarre...
Despite this though, Tonio Kröger is a wonderful piece of writing. You feel as if you are actually there with our unusually-named friend, walking around the old walls of Lübeck in the rain with Hans Hansen, crossing the sea to Denmark on a stormy night, sitting on the beach watching the grey-tipped waves roll in from a grey horizon... It's one of those stories which will be a constant companion in the years to come, a perfect book to curl up with in winter, when all you want is warmth, a cup of tea and a well-written story. Happily, I now have my paper copy for that very purpose - reading it on my Kindle just isn't the same...
*****
...which is not to say that my little electronic friend is not useful in its own right. After all, my first reading of Tonio Kröger was in digital form, and were it not for free e-copies of classics, it's doubtful that I would have got into the author of the next of today's stories.
Earlier this year, I downloaded several of Theodor Storm's short stories and novellas and had a wonderful few days losing myself in his storytelling world. The best (and most famous) of these is Immensee (Lake of Bees), an evocative, and almost painful, tale of missed opportunity. The story, divided up into about eight short sections, is contained within a frame narrative: an old, stern-looking man walks home and goes to his study, where he sits alone in the twilight. When the fading light hits a portrait hanging on the wall, he mutters the name 'Elisabeth' - and memories come flooding back...
The real story then begins, and the reader is taken through the childhood of young Reinhard and his younger neighbour, Elisabeth. The two children spend all their free time together, and it is clear from the start that theirs is a love waiting to happen. Reinhard later leaves to study in the city, and Elisabeth is left behind to wait for his return. Sadly though, a lot can happen in a couple of years - the next time the young couple meet, by the Immensee, Elisabeth is a married woman...
Despite this though, Tonio Kröger is a wonderful piece of writing. You feel as if you are actually there with our unusually-named friend, walking around the old walls of Lübeck in the rain with Hans Hansen, crossing the sea to Denmark on a stormy night, sitting on the beach watching the grey-tipped waves roll in from a grey horizon... It's one of those stories which will be a constant companion in the years to come, a perfect book to curl up with in winter, when all you want is warmth, a cup of tea and a well-written story. Happily, I now have my paper copy for that very purpose - reading it on my Kindle just isn't the same...
*****
...which is not to say that my little electronic friend is not useful in its own right. After all, my first reading of Tonio Kröger was in digital form, and were it not for free e-copies of classics, it's doubtful that I would have got into the author of the next of today's stories.
Earlier this year, I downloaded several of Theodor Storm's short stories and novellas and had a wonderful few days losing myself in his storytelling world. The best (and most famous) of these is Immensee (Lake of Bees), an evocative, and almost painful, tale of missed opportunity. The story, divided up into about eight short sections, is contained within a frame narrative: an old, stern-looking man walks home and goes to his study, where he sits alone in the twilight. When the fading light hits a portrait hanging on the wall, he mutters the name 'Elisabeth' - and memories come flooding back...The real story then begins, and the reader is taken through the childhood of young Reinhard and his younger neighbour, Elisabeth. The two children spend all their free time together, and it is clear from the start that theirs is a love waiting to happen. Reinhard later leaves to study in the city, and Elisabeth is left behind to wait for his return. Sadly though, a lot can happen in a couple of years - the next time the young couple meet, by the Immensee, Elisabeth is a married woman...
"Elisabeth... hinter jenen blauen Bergen liegt unsere Jugend. Wo ist sie geblieben?""Elisabeth ... behind those blue mountains lies our youth. Where did it go?"
Shortly afterwards, the story ends, and we return to our old man sitting alone in his study, the darkness engulfing him as the black waters of the Immensee once did.
