Undoubtedly he was spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and practically distressed by the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 in Germany (he left then for Austria) and then the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, which forced him and Martha into exile. He lost his readership and sponsors (mostly Jews), his publishers, his financial and existential stability, and his peace of mind. His novel project, set before WWI, was threatening to become no longer so relevant (though one could well argue that it was as relevant as ever as the forces he describes in the firsts sections are ones that contributed, he believed, to the rise of totalitarianism). He also was continually struggling with serious physical illnesses.
Absolutely a great question. In my longer essay about Mann and Musil I go into the differences quite a bit. Mann was extremely wealthy from the early 20s on, and when he won the Nobel Prize, even wealthier. When he finally publicly denounced the Nazis, he still had the same very good income and lived practically like a prince in America, without having to give up his books, his favorite arm chair, or his gramaphone and all its records.
It makes perfect sense that Mann's wealth and fame enabled him to write and publish at will, in contrast to Musil. Thanks for taking the time to reply!
I wonder: how much of his creative writing problem is due to the politico-economic crisis he was living in?
Undoubtedly he was spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and practically distressed by the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 in Germany (he left then for Austria) and then the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, which forced him and Martha into exile. He lost his readership and sponsors (mostly Jews), his publishers, his financial and existential stability, and his peace of mind. His novel project, set before WWI, was threatening to become no longer so relevant (though one could well argue that it was as relevant as ever as the forces he describes in the firsts sections are ones that contributed, he believed, to the rise of totalitarianism). He also was continually struggling with serious physical illnesses.
Thanks, Genese. It looks like I asked an obvious question. But then there were others, like Mann, who remained prolific. Good to contrast them!
Absolutely a great question. In my longer essay about Mann and Musil I go into the differences quite a bit. Mann was extremely wealthy from the early 20s on, and when he won the Nobel Prize, even wealthier. When he finally publicly denounced the Nazis, he still had the same very good income and lived practically like a prince in America, without having to give up his books, his favorite arm chair, or his gramaphone and all its records.
It makes perfect sense that Mann's wealth and fame enabled him to write and publish at will, in contrast to Musil. Thanks for taking the time to reply!