Death in Venice (1911) by Thomas Mann
Welcome to the 2019 edition of the European Book Club! We would like to invite you to join us on a reading road trip as we meet to discuss novels that travel around and highlight Europe's diversity!
In the next meeting of the European Book Club in Toronto, we will be discussing Thomas Mann’s
Death in Venice.
The book can be ordered online or at your local bookstore. Our library also carries an English and German copy of the book.
The famous novella by Thomas Mann is about the tragic travels of writer Gustav von Aschenbach. He is an honored author in his fifties, disciplined, ascetic and dedicated to his work. When he suffers writer’s block, he travels to Venice. Upon his arrival he sees a young boy and although he never talks to him or gets to know him, he becomes increasingly obsessed with his beauty and youth. While von Aschenbach feels liberated at first by the beautiful city and the sight of the boy, the once successful and dignified writer becomes more and more fanatic. Venice becomes the stunning background to this tragedy about hopeless love and the conflict between restraint and excess.
The Book Club discussion will be moderated by Philipp Schnaase. Born and raised in Rostock, Schnaase studied Philosophy and Social Science not only in his home town, but also in Münster, and in Montreal, where he received his MA in Philosophy. Philipp Schnaase is a regular host for the Deutscher Filmklub at the Goethe-Institut and works as a Development Associate, Major Gifts at the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation.
The European Book Club meets periodically to discuss European literature that has been translated into English. This year the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) will discuss European authors that have written about another country that is not their homeland. Each institute will be hosting two book clubs including one meeting at a guest cultural institute location (based on the country the book takes place in).
EUNIC the network of the European cultural relations institutes in Toronto is formed by Alliance Française, British Council, Camões Toronto, Italian Cultural Institute and Goethe-Institut Toronto and exists since 2010.
October 29
Sostiene Pereira by Antonio Tabucchi, presented by Camões Toronto at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (496 Huron St.)
November 28
Codex 632 by José Rodrigues dos Santos, presented by Camões Toronto at Centro de Lingua Portuguesa at Victoria College (91 Charles St. W, Room VC204)
December 5
Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa, presented by the French Embassy at the Camões Toronto at Centro de Lingua Portuguesa at Victoria College (91 Charles St. W, Room VC204)
All discussions are at 6:30pm. Please note that the locations will rotate.
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