InsaneJournal

Not quite Death in Venice
It's strawberry time in North Carolina which always makes me think of the continual imagery of over-ripe strawberries that Thomas Mann uses throughout Death in Venice. Of course, the over-ripe strawberries are a symbol of the decay that surrounds Venice and the impending death from the Cholera Epidemic in the short story.

But it got me thinking, it could be fun to do a twist on the short story with Brian and Justin.


Upon his 30th Birthday Advertising and Media man Brian (the Gustav von Aschenbach character) goes to Venice to "die young and leave a beautiful corpse". Brian takes a vacation to Venice where he stays at the Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido island. While there, Brian has a strange obsession with a young man named Justin (the Tadzio character - a few years older).

When an epidemic breaks out, Brian whisks Justin back to Pittsburgh.