[zoolissentesy]

Yet, at some point during this deceptively simple section, I decided to keep on reading because of what's hinted...

My favorite, so much so that it tingles, theme in literature is that of personal evolution and change from one ''state'' into another, with all of the emotional pain and hardship which ensues. Isn't it in this section where the smelly rose bush is introduced very cursorily? This, and the excursion Klaus Heinrich and Ditlinde make which introduces them to the shoemaker, felt to me like a clue that the real story hadn't truly begun.

I've thought over this past week about the seeming contradiction between Mann's subtle flattery of Kaiser Wilhelm in this novel, while he at the same time is exposing the weaknesses of the Imperial rule. What missing piece am I not getting? Need to read more about Kaiser Wilhelm.