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Originally Posted by issybird
There was an early instance that revealed underlying anti-Semitism, as I recall. When Thomas takes Tony to Travemüunde, he talks about the people there:
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I read in a short piece by Peter Gay that Mann wrote an anti-Semitic story early in his career which he later suppressed; according to Gay, very few have read it or know of it, I assume.
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I really liked that, the way huge shifts in politics took place in the background (a passing reference only to unification!). It largely didn't affect life day-to-day, but a huge shift had occured by the end. Similarly, the industrial revolution happened on the periphery; in the course of the book, society changed from one that traveled by horse or by sail and could only communicate as fast as those methods, to one that moved by railroad and steamship and communicated instantly by telegraph. There was the one scene emblematic of major changes (there may have been others that aren't occuring to me) where Thomas notes with approval that the streetlamps are being replaced with gas. But Thomas was falling behind the times and his downfall was partially attributable to that.
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Thank you for these insights. Thomas Mann did make a public stand against National Socialism and his books were banned. I guess he had to incorporate these remarks as anti-Semitism was common in the period of the Buddenbrooks.
And yes, the context is rather interesting, also for my own country.
Having said this: I finally ended the book. 'finally', as I felt myself plodding along for the last 200 pages. I didn't have the feeling something unexpected would happen and it didn't. But tragic all.