Royal Highness Paperback – July 1, 2011

Let's get this out of the way first: Although this was published by a fly-by-night company, it's an OK edition, without any typos (although the back cover does refer to Thomas Mann as a "Noble Prize" winner. I don't know why the cover is a picture of Nicholas II surrounded by mathematical symbols, but whatever.You sometimes hear that after the great success of Buddenbrooks, Mann's next novel was a disappointment, too lightweight and forgettable. I picked it up anyway, thinking that maybe it was only bad *by Thomas Mann standards* Maybe it was still good, the way Martin Chuzzlewit or Dombey and Son are good.In fact, Royal Highness is pathetically insubstantial. Mann has written 20-page short stories that were heftier. The theme of the book can be stated as "It's lonely at the top." Klaus Heinrich is the regent of a little German duchy. We get to see what he does all day, (it *is* fun to read about what a prince does all day) and how meaningless it is, and how impossible it is to form personal connections with his subjects. His brother and sister and tutor offer their thoughts on the life of a monarch. Then, in the novel's only plot development, he falls in love with the daughter of an American capitalist. Capitalists also find it lonely at the top. This is a novel that can be reviewed like a 5th grade book report.

Royal Highness, an early Mann novel, offers a gently satiric glimpse into life in one of the many petty principalities that dotted central Europe before the First World War. With a plot reminiscent of Lehar's "Merry Widow", this relatively short novel lacks either the social penetration of Buddenbrooks or the contest of profound ideas found in Mann's best work from the Magic Mountain on. What it does have however is a great deal of charm, and prose considerably less freighted than Mann's greater works, captured well in this readable translation.

This is first book by Thomas Mann that I have read. It gives good insight into a royal German family and everyday troubles the family is going through. It also highlights changing class structure in Germany during this time, especially importance and power of money. Even the most powerful people--the royal family--are powerless if without money. It also alludes to prejudices in North American society, and gives the impression that these same prejudices can be overlooked in a society when that society is in need.

While RH is a story about a prince and his princess, it is completely absurd to call this novel a "fairy tale." RH is, at most, a modern telling of a chivalric romance, more along the lines of Zola and Lawrence than anything by the brother's Grimm. The work of an obviously young Mann, RH shows much of the style and depth of his later works. Beautiful and brilliant, Royal Highness rings with literary excellence.

With the same detailed precision of description as you read in "Buddenbrooks" and "The Magic Mountain," but in a less known book, Mann describes the emptiness in the life of pomp and circumstance. This is a long-term read not a page turner. But it is worth the effort.

A marvelous story of decline and redemption, decay and vitality, the nature of reality and the triumph of love, in a picturesque setting peopled with memorable characters. But this edition is beyond the pale. "Dangled" babies instead of dandled, "hung" coaches instead of sprung - this edition is rife with typos and syntax errors. Amazon should be ashamed of itself for purveying such poorly edited and translated stuff.

The story provides a glimpse into the lonely, gilded cage occupied by royalty.

A clever book of subtle and sometimes not so subtle humor of a time in Europe slightly before World War I.

This is the worst piece of rubbish I've seen since I first started using Amazon 25 years ago. I can only assume it's been rendered into German by translation software. 'He slants under his cotton eyebrows stares at the asphalt'??? This trend (if it is one) will be a disaster for literature. Why on earth do I have to give it even one star?

I like all Thomas Mann so its an easy choice to give 5 stars to. Its a historical romantic story - but goodness it applys equally well to our current monarchy - shame the outcome doesn't though! A lovely insightful story that carrys you along with a couple of moments of tension when you think you may be worried for the protagonists. Nothing like Buddenbrooks other than Mann's brilliant ability to pen pictures of people with words that make each character stand out and inhabit their personality completely.

Having read most everything Thomas Mann ever wrote, I was surprised when this little novel popped up. And I'm glad it did - it shows off Mann's sense of humor, and has a certain sweetness and sentimentality which makes it altogether charming.

This is much more accessible than the more heavyweight Mann books such as The Magic Mountain. It is short and charming: you can read as just a love story, but it is much more profound than that. I've read it several times over the years, but it was only recently that I looked it up on the WWW and discovered that the lonely prince, trapped in his meaningless life, is a metaphor for Mann himself. And Irma corresponds to ... reader, find out for yourself.

Plot almost non-existent (and at times ludicrous), but as a portrait of a dying monarchy, a loveless childhood and some stunning writing, its worth a read.