Der Tod in Venedig

I love short stories. How the author can with so few words tell a perfect story to make us see something we didn't know existed... or did know, but weren't aware of.

Gustav is so human in his love, obsession, desire, and effort to please... thinking of him sitting in the barber chair getting “rejuvenated”, seeing the youth blossom on his face... a ridiculous old man, like the old man he despised at the beginning of the story. Ridiculous, but so sad, so recognizable... I can't help but feel deep sympathy.

This story reminds me very much of Lolita, as we don't know at all what goes on in the head of the boy. We don't know if he is basking in the older man's obsession, or if he is wary of it. We only have Gustav's story of it. But contrary to Lolita, Gustav doesn't r the boy.