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Title: Fischer Taschenbücher, Bd.85, Herr und Hund by Thomas Mann ISBN: 3-596-20085-7 Publisher: Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 Format: Paperback

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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Non-fiction story of a man, a dog, and their friendship
Comment: Another reviewer seems to have missed the point of this book--it's an extended essay about Mann's relationship to his beloved German Shorthair Pointer, Bashan, not a novel. The plot, in essence, is the plot of life.

A new translation exists with a new title (Bashan and I) which Amazon.com doesn't carry. Here's the blurb from the publisher, Penn Press/Pine Street Books:

Bashan and I
Thomas Mann. Herman George Scheffauer, Translator
248 pages / 5 x 7 1/4
Paper Sep 2002 / ISBN 0-8122-1833-7 / [money]/ [money]
Pine Street Books

"Termed the finest study of the mind of a dog ever written, a few boldly assert that it is no doubt one of the greatest portrayals of a man's mind. . . . An extremely lovable story. . . . An enchanting classic."--New York Times

Bashan and I is the moving story of Thomas Mann's relationship with his spirited German short-haired pointer. From their first encounter at a local farm, Mann reveals how he slowly grows to love this energetic, loyal, and intelligent animal. Taking daily walks in the nearby parkland, Mann begins to understand and appreciate Bashan as a living being, witnessing his native delight in chasing rabbits, deer, and squirrels along with his careful investigations of stones, fallen branches, and clumps of wet leaves. As their bond deepens, Mann is led to contemplate Bashan's inner life, and marvels at the ease with which his dog trusts him, completely putting his life into his master's hands.
Over time, the two develop a deep mutual understanding, but for Mann, there is always a sense of loss at never being able to enter the private world of his dear friend, and he slowly becomes conscious of the eternal divide between mankind and the rest of nature. Nonetheless, the unique relationship quietly moves to the forefront of Mann's life, and when master and companion are briefly separated, Mann is taken aback by the depth of his loneliness without his dog. It is this deep affection for another living creature that helps the writer to reach a newfound understanding of the nature of love, in all its complexity.

Rating: 2
Summary: I read the book
Comment: I read the book in German, and I was disappointed by the lack of plot. Most of the book is description, which might be interesting to local Munich historians, but rather bored me. Furthermore, the German style is exemplary of what Mark Twain pokes fun at in his "The Awful German Language"; sentences that wind on and on and call for multiple reading in order to be understood, and I'm a native German speaker...

If I am allowed some speculation, I venture the suspicion that listening to this text its meaning will be even more difficult to grasp, unless it is extraordinarily well read. Thomas Mann has certainly written better works than this account of him and his dog Bauschan - read those.