The Magician
Winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:3rd Mar '22
Should be back in stock very soon
This novel intricately portrays the life of Thomas Mann, exploring themes of love, identity, and the impact of historical events, as seen in The Magician.
In The Magician, Colm Tóibín explores the complex life of Thomas Mann, a towering figure in European literature whose existence was marked by both acclaim and profound contradictions. Set against the backdrop of two World Wars, the narrative delves into Mann's unrequited love, his struggles with personal identity, and the tumultuous historical events that shaped his life. Tóibín masterfully weaves together themes of exile, war, and family, painting a vivid portrait of a man caught between his artistic ambitions and the harsh realities of the world around him.
Mann's experiences during the First World War reveal his initial support for the German army, a stance that would later place him at odds with his own values as he foresaw the rise of Nazism in the Second World War. His family life was equally complex; he fathered six children while concealing his homosexuality, navigating the delicate balance between familial ties and personal truths. Through these intimate details, The Magician provides a lens into the emotional and societal challenges that Mann faced, making his story resonate with universal themes of love and loss.
Ultimately, Tóibín's novel is not just a biography but a sweeping exploration of the twentieth century through the life of one remarkable individual. By chronicling Mann's literary achievements and his painful disconnection from his homeland, The Magician invites readers to reflect on the intersections of art, identity, and history, offering a poignant meditation on the human experience.
This is an enormously ambitious book, one in which the intimate and the momentous are exquisitely balanced. It is the story of a man who spent almost all of his adult life behind a desk or going for sedate little post-prandial walks with his wife. From this sedentary existence Tóibín has fashioned an epic * Guardian *
I love everything Colm Tóibín has written and The Magician is another masterpiece . . . Historical fiction at its best -- Nicola Sturgeon * New Statesman, Books of the Year *
Sumptuous and satisfying * The Times, A Best Fiction Book of 2021 *
The Magician, recreates as biographical fiction the life, thoughts and achievements of Thomas Mann. It is dark, beautifully constructed and, I think, as near as one author can get to entering the mind of another -- Melvyn Bragg * New Statesman, Books of the Year *
The Magician uses the life of Thomas Mann to explore the complex relationships between intimacy and history, public and private lives, and the slippery nature of creativity itself. I found it mesmerising -- Fintan O’Toole * New Statesman, Books of the Year *
Taking on Thomas Mann is no easy task, but Tóibín's fictional account of the inner life of the great German novelist is masterful -- Frederick Studemann * FT, Best Books of 2021: Critics’ Picks *
The Magician is not a biography but a work of art, an emotional reckoning with a century of change, centred on a man who tried to stand upright but was swayed by the winds of that change * The Times *
In a novel of many moods, its every page rings true * Mail on Sunday *
An expansive yet deeply personal exploration of the life of exiled German writer Thomas Mann . . . Containing beautiful observations on life and literature, and a sweeping sense of historical scale, The Magicianremains tightly written and wryly funny * Independent *
Both epic and intimate, The Magician is most successful in its moving portrait of three generations of sprawling, loving, fractious family life . . . a triumph * Financial Times *
ISBN: 9780241970584
Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 26mm
Weight: 314g
448 pages