HEIDI U RI3AHN I) E JAU R ECU I
101
a sense he couldn ' t have po rtrayed it as he did in
Felix KYIIII,
fo r exampl e,
th ough he did as k himsel f wh en he resumed wo rk on th e story after a 43-
yea r hi atu s if it was
dc
1/101/
a,\?c,
if o ne sho uld turn " th e powers o f one's
adva nced yea rs
to
such j o kes."
He kn ew hi s capabilities. At eighty, when he wanted to beg in wo rking
out th e details of a play ca ll ed " Luth er's Wedding," an art-savvy guardian
angel ripped th e pen fi'om hi s hand in th e ni ck of time. He was awa re o f
the fac t that th e wo rds hi s charac ters uttered could hardl y be tho ught o f as
having "materi al phil osophi ca l impo rtance," and he kn ew as wel l that he
was no scintillatin g aph o ri st. That was why he adamantl y refu sed permi s–
sion fo r a co ll ection o f aphori sms whi ch had been cull ed from hi s works.
According to Thomas Mann , in wo rds fr om
Dea th iI/ Vi'llice:
"Th e w riter's
joy is fo und in the tho ught that ca n w ho ll y become feelin g, the feelin g that
can wholl y become thou ght," constituted the " bri ghtes t" o f hi s "aphori s–
ti c fl as hes," and they remained un co ll ected . Unfo rtunatel y, however, these
wo rds aren't Th omas Mann 's at all but were adopted almos t ver ba tim fr om
work by Platen. In art o ne " deals in abso lutes," whi ch isn't "child 's play,"
he said , not w ith out immediatel y adding, " Uut th en aga in , it is child 's play."
Followin g a reading fi'om
The Holy Si,l/,CY
he angril y no tes " th e typi cal
crudeness of th e philosoph er Marcuse, who was merel y very amused by it
all. It is funn y, thank God, but it still isn' t onl y funn y."
Hi s faith in hi s ex traordin ary des tiny was central
to
hi s ability to cope
with life.
Till' Holy Sillll cy
takes up thi s th eme. And later, rega rdin g Joseph,
he w rites: " O ften I admire it entirel y obj ec ti vely, purel y as ph enomeno n ,
how a well- meaning individual is able to w in aga inst even th e mos t unfa–
vo rabl e circumstances and make th e bes t of it fo r himse lf." Wh en on e
considers how Mann 's li fe, rooted deepl y in Ge rman middl e- cl ass mental–
ity, was compl etel y derail ed by po liti ca l events and how he neverthel ess
was able to make " th e bes t" o f it fo r himse lf and hi s co untrymen, one is
amazed. 13y hi s own co nfess io n apo liti ca l, deepl y ensn ared in th e precari –
ous phil osophies o f Schopenhauer and Ni etzsc he, he ended hi s li fe as th e
ac kn owledged guidin g li ght of German emi g rati on. He rece ived th e
N obel Pri ze fo r
BllddclI/lYooks
and
Reflcctiolls
(!(
an Ullpolitical Mall ;
fo r hi s
tireless wo rk in th e se rvice o f freedo m and human di gni ty he was award–
ed th e Offi ce r's C ross o f th e Leg io n o f H ono r. He stead fas tl y refu sed to
second-guess himse lf, insisted stubbo rnl y in hi s old age that hi s life had
been charac teri zed by a " developin g uni ty." That th ere had been di scon–
tinuity in hi s life was a "s tupid fa bl e."
R~(Icctio lls
was an "extremely
truthful boo k written in th e wro ng key," fi'om whi ch he had lea rned a
grea t dea l, fo r it was a wo rk o f spiritual di stress and trul y ardu o us self–
examinati o n fo r whi ch he had
to
be g rateful if onl y because th e lengthy
ordea l made
The Magic MOlllltaill
poss ibl e. He maintain ed that it was no t
