{"product_id":"death-in-venice-9780060576059","title":"Death in Venice","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mannhere in a new translation by Michael Henry Heim with a new introduction by Michael Cunningham  author of The Hours It is a story of the voluptuousness of doom  Mann wrote. But the problem I had especially in mind was that of the artists dignity. Published on the eve of World War I  a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity  Death in Venice tells the story of Gustave von Aschenbach  a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead leads to his erotic doom. Amid this growing fixation  Venice is struck by an epidemic  and the once-idyllic city devolves into a decaying  ominous backdrop that mirrors Aschenbachs inner turmoil. Overwhelmed by his unfulfilled desires and the tension between art  morality  and human passion  he chooses to remain in the city  unable to part from Tadzios presence. The novella climaxes as Aschenbach  now physically and emotionally enfeebled  watches Tadzio from a distance on the beach one final time. As the boy gazes out at the sea  symbolizing purity and eternal beauty  Aschenbach succumbs to his own deterioration and dies alone. Through its rich symbolism and classical references  Death in Venice serves as a meditation on the transcendence of beauty  the frailty of human existence  and the paradox of longing for the unattainable.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67904871366709,"sku":"ByrdShop_0060576057","price":36.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780060576059.jpg?v=1793853115","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/death-in-venice-9780060576059","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}