After reading Tonio Kroger in which sociopolitical issues are consciously (though not entirely) repressed as the story focuses on devoting life to art (but why is Tonio mistaken for a thief when he revisits his home town - artists are thieves) Mario and the magician is overtly political - clearly a roman a clef about the kfascist movement in Europe
In the 30s. Narrator and family vacation on Italian coast and feel slight and mysterious snubs and exclusions - like Jews in Germany (interesting that Mann sets it in Italy) narrator has his own class and race prejudices , which keep story from sentimental and bathetic. Family goes off to purported magic show extremely ominous thanks to mann's great foreshadowing and the scary entrance into the performance hall with the workers and fishermen around the perimeter and narrator's naive belief that they are friendly w his children.
Sent from my iPhone
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