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A comparison of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino Solitary individuals often exploit different views on our world, sometimes accompanied by a ‘disharmonious’ way of living, as we can see in these two books. The concept of a distant view on life, is applied in both works, be it Gustav von Aschenbach’s artistic dilemma in Death in Venice or Cosimo’s escape from rules and regulations …

…also be found in Gustav von Aschenbach’s pathetic pursuit of happiness in form of striking beauty, namely the ability of people to live their lives differently. As Calvino stated, Cosimo is something of a “Don Quixote of the Enlightenment”, watching, from his perch in the trees, the age of Voltaire pass by and a new century dawn. Aschenbach is similarly seeing his own life as a person of renown give way for death incarnate.