Is this one of Mann's best novels? No, it is not. But it is worth reading anyway. Thomas Mann is best known for novels that delve into an almost omphaloskeptic contemplation of Life, Humanity, Evil and Sin painted on the backdrop of the glorious lost Europe of the Nineteenth Century. As charming as Europe is today, what we see is a faint ghost of a graceful time that tried to hold all things, including class structure of society, under a crystal dome. Of course, this failed, and bloodily so, as is the case throughout history. But Mann tried to capture this sense of youth and grace lost in his novels from Buddenbrooks to The Magic Mountain.

In "The Black Swan" Mann uses a woman "of a certain age" as the symbol of lost youth and innocence. The main character struggles with menopause, the hormonal betrayal of women, and she reacts to the physical changes by falling in love with a younger man. This is a well-observed sketch of denial. With astounding insight, Mann has his character finally delude herself into believing she is pregnant--but the bloating is but the symptom of an inner decay. She is dying of ovarian cancer.

The perceptiveness of Mann about women, who suffer a loss of womanhood and fertility as a result of menopause is astounding. The worth of women to young men is for their beauty and fertility. What does a woman who cannot bear a family and who is aging and becoming ugly have to offer a youth? But this is not the only meaning in "The Black Swan." No, it is again a metaphor for the grace, innocence and beauty of old Europe. In the years following both World Wars, the once-graceful continent undergoes a sort of menopause after the violence of the changes brought by the vicious conflict. Europe is older, uglier and sadly, not much wiser.

Perhap's the Master's shortest and most unusual novella, here we see yet another side to this early 20th Century Genius. A study of a middle aged woman slightly deluded about her aging charms with a daughter who seems to sympathize, but really knows better. As usual, some great descriptions of nature, medieval castles, and philosophical discussions between the two. Mann's seeming obsession with the hidden decay of the body, and perhaps German culture and society, are crystal clear. The writing, even in English, is among his most mesmorizing. Really is there any doubt he is the GREATEST 20th Century Writer?!

Although Thomas Mann is probably best known for writing about the conflict between the artist and the non-artist and death versus life in all of us, he is also fascinated by the concept of diesease and the way it treats the human psyche. When, at the end of this (very short) novel, the doctor cuts the protagonist open and sees she is dying of cancer, the "tea leaves" he looks at frightenly trace her roller coaster emotional life for the past six months. HOWEVER, the doctor also has some theories, about menopause, estrogen and cancer, which--largely because of the addition of two Latin words, I was UNABLE TO FOLLOW. In short, I only understand PART of the end of this book! At the end of his life, Mann has defeated me in both English and German.

This book has silly mistakes of reference, stodgy exposition about the art that reads like it was intended for a textbook, and a pretty predictable plot. It's a police procedural (not a mystery) and the procedure is generally ok, but none of the characters is well developed. It's passingly interesting for an airplane, but not much more. Try Instance of the Finger Post instead.

I loved this book! Great story, great characters, and
the pacing of it just never lets up. Furthermore
it avoids the nauseating politically correct propaganda
junk that mars so many mysteries and action stories
in today's world; ones where women perform feats
of daring physical, psychological, and intellectual stunts
(while the men waffle around like flawed, clueless bozos)
that in real life just don't happen. If you want deep characterizations and
all
that, go back and reread Shakespeare. This book
plays out almost like a very satisfying, high quality movie.
I'd definitely be willing to seek out and read other works by this author in
the
future. Highly recommended.

This is the second Thomas Swan novel taking place in the art world. A set of theives set up a complex deception involving Leonardo Da Vinci, as the title implies. Jack Oxby is not very prominent in this book, but other characters move the book along. The chapters are short, which keeps you moving. I found it difficult to put down. I disagree with the review here stating that character developement is weak; I have a feel for each one of them. Surprises abound and it is a good view into the art world; as someone who works in it, it is not nearly as idealized as the museums would make you think! Good job Mr. Swan...please send us more!

When the President of the Unites States was William Jefferson . . .

Who is that? Oh, that must be Mr. Clinton! -- Exactly.

Without the last name it's hard to recognize who you're talking about.

Now, who is the Great Duke Dmitri Pavlovich? A person with that title is a member of the Emperor's family. A brother or a cousen of the Czar himself. In our case, he is a cousen of Czar Nicolas II. So his last name is Romanov, and full name would be the Great Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov. Pavlovich is a patonymic. To use it as a family name is the same as to use middle name instead of a last name.

Unfortunately, Thomas Swan doesn't know that. He calls Dmitry Romanov just "Pavlovich." Theoretically, it's nothing wrong to call someone by one's patronymic, but not it a that context.

I understand this has nothing to do with the main subject of his book. But if author doesn't care about such an obvious detail, I can't believe him in the rest.

Sorry.

This book is not a mystery story. It is a thriller. Don't expect to be challenged to figure out who the bad guys are, you are told who they are immediately. Not that this approach is wrong, there are plenty of good stories that don't make you guess.

The main problem with this book is that there is no logic behind the action. The main bad guy has no motive for his actions. Impossible coincidences are routine. Plot points are dropped never to be seen again. (What is the significance of the gems in the egg?) The conclusion makes no sense.

On the other hand, a friend I lent the book to said she liked it. Turn off your mind and you might too.

No question, The Final Faberge is Thomas Swan's best in his Jack Oxby series. The storyline moves from the dramatic assasination of Rasputin, to today, following the change in ownership of the last Imperial Egg designed and produced by Peter Carl Faberge's workshops. The settings are authentic, particularly the scenes set in St. Petersburg and Uzbekistan.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it hard to get through. The villains are identified early in the book, so the mystery element disappears. The characters are all so serious that there is no humor. I realize it is not a comedy, but a light moment here or there would make the characters seem human. What an unbelievably dreary collection of people. The technical elements seem to be correct if that is what you are looking for.