Self-Confession of the Great Deceiver Kruel: Thomas Mann's Collected Works (Exquisite Edition)

Author: (German) Mann, translated by Junyu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-05-01
Features: This is Thomas Mann's last work and his only crime novel. In this book, the author breaks away from his traditional serious writing style, adopting a humorous and satirical tone to vividly portray the life of a playboy. The artistic level achieved in the plot presentation, character development, and language refinement of the novel remains difficult for later generations to match.
Kruel was born into a wealthy merchant family. Nurtured by his family, he was intelligent and talented from a young age. As he grew older and possessed natural beauty, he had a lot of charm with women and navigated the upper class with ease. The bankruptcy and suicide of his father led to a sharp decline in his family's fortune, which dealt a heavy blow to Kruel. He began to give up on himself, becoming reckless and hedonistic. He spent his time loafing in major cities like Frankfurt, Paris, and Lisbon, indulging in the life of the rich and famous, learning to associate with prostitutes and using smooth talk to deceive wealthy women of jewelry and the hearts of wealthy young ladies. He not only sank into self-destruction but also harmed others, engaging in fraud, theft, and all sorts of misdeeds, but ultimately ended up in prison, ruined and disgraced.
Critics consider this book to be Thomas Mann's "most outstanding and most exquisite achievement," as well as his "most personally distinctive work."