Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamlet53
Yes, Christian is a hopeless drag on the family, seemingly interested in nothing but leading a life of entertaining leisure. It is also no help that from an early age he was a hopeless hypochondriac.
I find the occasional mentions of “poor Klothilde” (she seems always to be mentioned with that modifier, that or hungry) odd, as if the character is there for comic relief. Her one role seems to be to consume mass quantities of nourishment.  |
For me, "poor Klothilde" of the gaunt appearance despite the gargantuan appetite, was a very klunky metaphor to say that extravagant living does not fill spiritual emptiness.
This to me is the real flaw of the book. Great and powerful scenes such as the "revolution" and Johann's confrontation with Grünlich, but interspersed with far too many instances of overwriting and overkill.
Klothilde at least wasn't meant to be anything but a one note character, though. I have real problems with both Christian and Gerda. Christian as he evolved into a dissolute, dissipated and depressed drag on the family was entirely credible. However, in his early years, when he was supposed to be so charming and entertaining, it was a case of "show me, don't tell me." Mann was fine when depicting how Christian would gross out his fellow diners, say, but not in showing his amusing side. At least with Tony we got some laughs, with her deeply felt groans of "Grünlich!"
As for Gerda, she's an enigma. Whyever did she marry Thomas? There's no good explanation for that. She had no need to marry, Thomas didn't share her interests, and she spent the book sitting in a corner watching the family and not participating. It's a little surprising that Mann didn't use her thoughts as a mouthpiece for his own commentary, although I'm relieved he didn't. Too much of that going on already!