Thomas Mann, “Death in Venice” « Book Group of One

There's a great deal to be said for discovering classics at a mature age. Many of my university classmates (among them my husband) read Death in Venice for a seminar on European literature freshman year, and some of them will, ... On a whim , he breaks out of his temperate habits and travels to Venice, taking up residence at the Hotel des Bains on the Lido. Here he becomes enamored â€" and then obsessed â€" by a beautiful prepubescent boy named Tadzio, whom he, well, stalks. ...