The title of this book might just be another case of writers getting a little too precious about the power of the written word.
In theory, the title comes from the fact that the main character, Thomas Mann, starts by doing a few basic magic tricks to entertain his young children while their mother is away. They start calling him The Magician, and the name stuck.
But none of that happens until fairly late in the book.
I did not realize as I was reading this book that Thomas Mann was a real person who really wrote all these books and managed to make a good living off it. I had never heard of him before, and I certainly haven’t read any of his books.
Apparently, Tóibín did a lot of research and relied heavily on first-hand accounts to get the material for this book, so it should be fairly accurate. But, like I said, I know nothing about the subject, so I can’t say how accurate it is.
The book is told in third person limited from Thomas’s POV. We get his perspective on everything, and I don’t think we ever get information on anything that happens without him either being present for it or told about it.
Thomas was born in the late 19th century, just a few years after Germany as we know it now was created as a country.
Thomas had an older brother and two younger sisters. At first, it was always assumed he would take over his father’s business. He didn’t particularly want to take over his father’s business, but he figured he could do that during the day if he could come home to books at night. He dreamed of having a huge library. A boy after my own heart.
But his father died when Thomas was still young, and he left instructions for the business to be sold and guardians to manage his estate to support his wife and children.
Thomas’s older brother was given an allowance to live on while pursuing a writing career, but when Thomas asked for the same opportunity, he was denied. Instead, a job as a clerk was found for him and he was told he had to take it to support himself.
Instead, he worked on his novel when he was supposed to be working. Eventually, he was found out and fired, which was fine because he published his novel and it instantly became a bestseller.
It’s funny because that’s exactly how I thought my life would go after college, until I realized the real world doesn’t work like that. I guess it does for some people.
Anyhoo, when he’s not writing, Thomas is pursuing sexual and romantic relationships with men. But, times being what they are, he also strikes up a courtship with a wealthy heiress and ends up marrying her.
They do have six children together, but Thomas doesn’t stop flirting with men. It’s never explicitly stated whether his wife knows, but at one point his daughter strongly implies he’s being way too obvious and shouldn’t flirt with men in front of his family.
I only had a week to read this book before my book club met to discuss it, and I was proud of myself for finishing with time to spare, especially considering how long this book is. It was an easy read, but I’m not sure I would have read it so quickly if it hadn’t been for my book club. I’m not even sure I would have finished it if it hadn’t been for my book club. What kept me coming back to the book was the pressure to finish it before the discussion. I’m not sure I can honestly say there was anything in the book itself that kept me coming back. It’s pretty bland.
A member of my book club who was familiar with Thomas Mann before reading this book thinks the writing style Tóibín employs is deliberately designed to emulate Mann’s writing style.
At one point I was asked whether the flaws of the characters are the focus of the story and it made me realize that it seems like the flaws of other characters are the center of the story. Thomas appears to view himself as blameless in all things. That means he never grows as a person and a character without an arc is boring.