Felix Krull recounts his life in the voice of a charming, vain confidence man, born into a family of a sparkling-wine manufacturer in the Rhine region. He learns early that appearances matter and discovers that he can fake illness to dodge military service. He works as a lift boy in a Paris hotel, falls into a theft, and then takes the place of a young Luxembourg marquis for a trip around the world. Thomas Mann wrote the book across decades and left it unfinished, using the picaresque tradition to joke about art, performance, and class.
It will please readers who like Mann's irony without the weight of The Magic Mountain. If you enjoy stories of charming impostors, this one offers wit and clever prose.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1989
- Publisher
- FISCHER Taschenbuch
- Language
- DE
