As always for translations of Mann, we start with H.T. Lowe-Porter. Her translation of Death in Venice, as might be expected in the 1930s, soft-pedals the sexuality. It's there but somewhat coded and the chaste, platonic aspects of Aschenbach's attraction to Tadzio are more prominent. But Lowe-Porter is the great popularizer of Mann and she does make the story accessible, perhaps more than later translators, more concerned with accuracy and with capturing Mann's subtleties, could. One of her great innovations, often followed by later translators, was to break Mann's German sentences, which tended to be long and complicated, into shorter English bites.

Her very readable version can be found in several volumes, including Stories of Three Decades (1936) with a preface by Mann himself and twenty-three other stories arranged by the author, as well as Death in Venice: And Seven Other Stories first published in 1954, I believe.

The first English translation of Death in Venice wasn't Lowe-Porter's however but by literary critic and philosopher Kenneth Burke. His Death in Venice and Other Stories was published in 1925. His translation of the novella may be the version that many baby boomers are most familiar with since it was widely re-issued in paperback in 1971 in concert with the release of Luchino Visconti controversial movie adaptation, starring Dick Bogarde as Aschenbach. Burke's Death in Venice is more sensually explicit. W.H. Auden called it the definitive translation. To my ear though, it is still too heavy-handed. His sentences are sometimes long and ponderous and other times short and punchy. One hears the German from time to time through the English, which one may or may not think is a good thing.

For a younger generation, so many translations are available now that it is difficult to know which to review. Here are some picked off the shelf more or less at random:

1994: The Norton Critical Edition of Death in Venice—compete with maps, Mann's notes and essays—features a surprisingly sprightly translation by academic Clayton Koelb who also edited the book. Sentences are often short and to the point, somehow American sounding, though without missing any of the profound material.

1995: For a translation that goes against the trend, you can check out Stanley Applebaum's rendering of the story. Applebaum makes a virtue of not popularizing Mann, by retaining the long sentences and translating Mann very literally. The translation is also available in the double volume Death in Venice & A Man and His Dog. If you have any German you can check for yourself how close he sticks to it, as he also includes the original German text on facing pages in this volume.

1998: Joachim Neugroschel translated the twelve pieces found in Death in Venice and Other Tales. Almost worth the price of admission is the Translator's Preface which provides insights into translation in general and translation of Mann in particular. And Neugroschel's translations do indeed flow very nicely in English. He displays a poetic rhythm that sounds just right for the subject matter. It's interesting how changing or moving a few words here and there can make the work feel more natural so it feels as though it were originally written in English. Not casual but fitting the thoughts. This may not be how Mann's work sounds in German, but it does give him an appealing voice in English.