The Holy Sinner

Blurb

The Holy Sinner is a German novel written by Thomas Mann. Published in 1951 it is based on the medieval verse epic Gregorius written by the German Minnesinger Hartmann von Aue. The book explores a subject that fascinated Thomas Mann to the end of his life—the origins of evil and evil's connection with magic. Here Mann uses a medieval legend about 'the exceeding mercy of God and the birth of the blessed Pope Gregory' as he used the Biblical account of Joseph as the basis for Joseph and His Brothers—illuminating with his post-modernist "irony" the nature and relevance of medieval philosophy to the modern world.