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Someone sent me a wonderfully eccentric little book, THE REAL TADZIO by Gilbert Adair (Carrol&Graf, 2001), which includes numerous tales (and photos) of Adzio Moes, the 11 year old Polish count who stole the heart of Thomas Mann and has since become an icon of the likes of Adonis. The book follows the long life of Adzio, with additional tales of Mann, Visconti, and Bjorn Andresen, the fifteen year old youth chosen out of all of Europe to portray Tadzio en film.
There is a wonderful quote from Bjorn: “I can’t wait to age. I was born with a face I did not ask for. One of the diseases of the world is that we associate beauty with youth. We are wrong. The eyes and the face are the windows of the soul and these become more beautiful with age and the pain that life brings. True ugliness comes only from having a black heart.”
From the back cover of THE REAL TADZIO: ‘In the summer of 1911 Thomas Mann visited Venice with wife Katia. There, in the Grand Hotel des Bains, as he waited for the dinner gong to ring, the author’s gaze was drawn to a nearby Polish family, the Moeses, consisting of a mother, three daughters and a young sailor-suited son who, to Mann, exuded an almost supernatural beauty and grace. Inspired by this glancing encounter with the luminous child, Mann wrote DEATH IN VENICE, and the infatuated writer made of that boy, Wladyslaw Moes, one of the 20th century’s most potent and enduring icons.
‘According to Gilbert Adair’s sparkling evocation of that idyll on the Adriatic, Mann wrote his novella, “as though taking dictation from God.” But who precisely was the boy? And what was his reaction to the publication of DEATH IN VENICE in 1912 and, later, the release of Luciano Visconti’s film adaptation in 1971? In a book that The Sunday Telegraph praised as “brilliantly crafted,” ... Gilbert Adair brilliantly juxtaposes the life of Wladyslaw Moes with that of his mythic twin, Tadzio, giving readers a fascinating account of a man who was immortalized by a genius yet forgotten by history.’
This is an irrisistably quirky little book and history lesson. I recommend it for all students of beauty,
l’amor, Mann, Visconti, and writing in general.
There is a wonderful quote from Bjorn: “I can’t wait to age. I was born with a face I did not ask for. One of the diseases of the world is that we associate beauty with youth. We are wrong. The eyes and the face are the windows of the soul and these become more beautiful with age and the pain that life brings. True ugliness comes only from having a black heart.”
From the back cover of THE REAL TADZIO: ‘In the summer of 1911 Thomas Mann visited Venice with wife Katia. There, in the Grand Hotel des Bains, as he waited for the dinner gong to ring, the author’s gaze was drawn to a nearby Polish family, the Moeses, consisting of a mother, three daughters and a young sailor-suited son who, to Mann, exuded an almost supernatural beauty and grace. Inspired by this glancing encounter with the luminous child, Mann wrote DEATH IN VENICE, and the infatuated writer made of that boy, Wladyslaw Moes, one of the 20th century’s most potent and enduring icons.
‘According to Gilbert Adair’s sparkling evocation of that idyll on the Adriatic, Mann wrote his novella, “as though taking dictation from God.” But who precisely was the boy? And what was his reaction to the publication of DEATH IN VENICE in 1912 and, later, the release of Luciano Visconti’s film adaptation in 1971? In a book that The Sunday Telegraph praised as “brilliantly crafted,” ... Gilbert Adair brilliantly juxtaposes the life of Wladyslaw Moes with that of his mythic twin, Tadzio, giving readers a fascinating account of a man who was immortalized by a genius yet forgotten by history.’
This is an irrisistably quirky little book and history lesson. I recommend it for all students of beauty,
l’amor, Mann, Visconti, and writing in general.
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Re: The Real Tadzio
Fri, August 13, 2004 - 6:28 AMthat sounds incredible! i'm going to go look for
a copy
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Re: The Real Tadzio: a reaction and memories
Wed, January 4, 2006 - 8:08 PMYour post is fascinating... I'll look for the book...
Visconti is a great favorite: starting with "The Leopard" and through "The Damned," "Ludvig," etc.
And Mann is another favorite: "The Magic Mountain," "Buddenbrooks," "Lotte in Weimar," etc. (And then there is a short story on incest which had me holding my breath...)
Two thoughts about "Death in Venice:"
— Before having read the book, I had the same experience of attitude toward Venice while leaving the city as expressed by Mann in his novella, and at the same place: at the Rialto bridge. Perhaps this is why I favor Mann's work: I find a verbal familiarity to many of Mann's impressions.
— Somehow, I felt that the role of Tadzio in the Visconti movie was miscast. Hmmmmm.
(By the way, I live in Honolulu...)
