Reading Thomas Mann

>>9417286
I've only read Death in Venice, so I'm not the most apt person to provide an answer. I just want to say that I don't see how that story could have a sequel. I'm going to guess that no, Death in Venice is not any sort of prerequisite for reading The Magic Mountain. I hope someone more knowledgable comes around because I too am looking forward to reading more Mann soon.

>>9417286
My mothers Godmother died recently and iI inverited quite a few numbers of books and there are a lot of Thomas Mann novels but I know little to nothing about his books.
Is he worth reading?

>>9417436
>inherited

>>9417436
>worth reading
Was the early 20th century Nobel Prize not a good enough indicator for you?

>>9417473
I haven't really heard much about him and never looked him up either...

>>9417486
Start with Buddenbrooks, but before you read him you should at least have read the Bible, Schopenhauer, Goethe, and be pretty knowledgeable on German idealism in the early 20th century. And don't expect the """plot""" to be the main focus for any of his books other than maybe Joseph and His Brothers, and being the 1500 page monster it is you should probably read that one last

>>9417510
I have that book at my parents house I think but it is in Fraktur and I am not used to reading that...

It's not necessary to read Death in Venice before The Magic Mountain, nor is it necessary to read the Bible, Schopenhauer, Goethe or books on German idealism. You can get something out of his books on multiple levels, even if it's "just" entertainment.

>>9417286
I have read both books. It's not at all necessary to read Death in Venice before Magic Mountain (in terms of plot they are completely unrelated and do not reference each other). However, I'd recommend reading Death in Venice first to see if you like Mann, because Magic Mountain is very long and a pretty big time commitment. Death in Venice, on the other hand, is somewhere between a short story and novella in length.

It is not necessary to read the Bible, Schopenhauer, Goethe, or anything the other anon mentioned. I fucking hate this meme on /lit/ that you must have already read the entire western canon before attempting to read any single work from the canon. Magic Mountain is a philosophical novel, yes, but the ideas are presented very clearly in conversations between the characters (almost like a Platonic dialogue), so feel free to just read the god damn book.

>>9417827
But Platonic dialogue is unbearable.