The difference between a normal person and an insane one is precisely that the normal person has all the diseases of the mind, while the madman has only one!
The Man Without Qualities is a novel written by Robert Musil. Released (unfinished) in 1930-1943, it shows the last days of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It is usually published in three or four volumes.
Characters[]
- Ulrich - the protagonist of the entire novel, a mathematician
Part I: A Sort of Introduction[]
- Moosbrugger - a murderer
- Bonadea - Ulrich's mistress
- Walter - Ulrich's neurotic friend
- Clarisse - Walter's wife
rest to be added
Part II: Pseudoreality Prevails[]
- Count Leinsdorf - the creator of the committee to demonstrate Austrian supremacy
- Ermelinda Tuzzi (or Diotima) - Ulrich's cousin
- Paul Arnheim - a business magnate and writer from Prussia, based on Walther Rathenau
- Stumm von Bordwehr - an unpopular General
- Franz Joseph I
rest to be added
Part III: Into the Millennium (The Criminals)[]
- Agathe - Ulrich's twin sister
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
Set in Vienna on the eve of World War I, this great novel of ideas tells the story of Ulrich, ex-soldier and scientist, seducer and skeptic, who finds himself drafted into the grandiose plans for the 70th jubilee of the Emperor Franz Josef. This new translation—published in two elegant volumes—is the first to present Musil's complete text, including material that remained unpublished during his lifetime.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sleepwalkers | Hermann Broch | 1930-32 | A Modernist fragmentary novel with a similar setting |
| In Search of Lost Time | Marcel Proust | 1913-1927 | Another Modernist fragmentary novel |
| Ulysses | James Joyce | 1922 | Another Modernist fragmentary novel |
| The World of Yesterday | Stefan Zweig | 1942 | A memoir with a similar setting |
| 2666 | Roberto Bolaño | 2004 | Another major fragmentary novel |
| The Last Days of Mankind | Karl Kraus | 1918 | A Modernist play with a similar setting |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Goodreads