As a result, there is no unfolding plot, no overarching narrative, no colourful descriptions, making this even more abstract than Thomas Mann’s other works and it does not help that there is (also in keeping with the biography form) a marked prevalence of telling over showing. One reason for this difficulty is that Doktor Faustus is not really a novel but a fictional biography, and Thomas Mann takes this form seriously, presenting us with a proper biography (albeit on a fictional subject) and not just a thinly disguised novel. This reputation is not completely undeserved, it is a complex and difficult book and takes some effort to get into – on the other hand, however, the rewards for making that effort are exceptionally great. Doktor Faustus is – besides Zauberberg and the Josef novels – one of Thomas Mann’s great novels (and yes I’m aware that most people would add Buddenbrooks to that list or even have it solely consist of that novel – for my part, however, I think it is very overrated and one of Mann’s lesser efforts) – and has a reputation of being inaccessible even by his standards.
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