Robert Musil (1880–1942)
Author of The Confusions of Young Törless
About the Author
Robert Musil (November 6, 1880 - April 15, 1942) was an Austrian writer. Musil's Young Torless is a novel of troubled adolescence set in a military school, modeled on the one attended by both Musil and Rainer Maria Rilke. It was his first book and was immediately successful. He then abandoned his show more studies in engineering, logic, and experimental psychology and turned to writing. He was an officer in the Austrian army in World War I, lived in Berlin until the Nazis came to power, and finally settled in Geneva. He also wrote plays, essays, and short stories. The Man without Qualities, Musil's magnum opus, is a novel about the life and history of prewar Austria. It was unfinished when Musil died, though he had labored over the three-volume work for ten years. Encyclopedic in the manner of Proust and Dostoevsky, "it is a wonderful and prolonged fireworks display, a well-peopled comedy of ideas" (V. S. Pritchett)---and a critique of contemporary life. It made Musil's largely posthumous reputation. "Musil's whole scheme prophetically describes the bureaucratic condition of our world, and what can only be called the awful, deadly serious, and self-deceptive love affair of one committee for another" (Pritchett). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Division of 'Man Without Qualities' into volumes has created confusion about combining works.
(ger) Division of 'Man Without Qualities' into volumes has created confusion about combining works.
Image credit: Photo © ÖNB/Wien
Series
Works by Robert Musil
The Man Without Qualities: A Sort of Introduction; Pseudo Reality Prevails {Vol. 1 of 2} (1930) 1,344 copies, 17 reviews
The Man Without Qualities: Into the Millennium; From the Posthumous Papers {Vol. 2 of 2} (1933) 754 copies, 14 reviews
The Man Without Qualities: A Sort of Introduction; Pseudo Reality Prevails; Into the Millennium; From the Posthumous… (1995) 486 copies, 13 reviews
The Man without Qualities: A Sort of Introduction; The Like of It Now Happens I {Vol. 1 of 3} (1965) 302 copies, 3 reviews
The Man Without Qualities: Into the Millennium (The Criminals) {Vol. 3 of 3} (1933) 151 copies, 1 review
Gesammelte Werke: Band 2: Prosa und Stücke - Kleine Prosa - Aphorismen - Autobiographisches - Essays und Reden -… (1978) 24 copies
Als Papa Tennis lernte 7 copies
La conoscenza del poeta: saggi 5 copies
Frühe Prosa und aus dem Nachlaß zu Lebzeiten: Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß,… (2000) 5 copies
Racconti e teatro (racconti) 5 copies
Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß. Textausgabe mit Kommentar und Materialien: Reclam XL – Text und Kontext (2016) — Author — 4 copies
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften 4: Fortsetzung aus dem Nachlass 1937-1942 (Musil Gesamtausgabe) (2017) 4 copies
Als Papa Tennis lernte, Der Inbegriff des Erfolgs, Kreuzfahrt (3 TB) — Contributor — 4 copies
Człowiek Bez Właściwości - Tom IV 4 copies
Sämtliche Werke (Vollständige Ausgaben): Romane Literaturkritiken Essays Autobiographische Schriften: Der… (2015) 3 copies
Il redentore: "L'uomo senza qualità" in una versione preliminare (Letteratura universale. Gli Anemoni)… (2013) 3 copies
In Zeitungen und Zeitschriften II (Musil Gesamtausgabe): Unselbstständige Veröffentlichungen 1922–1924 (2020) 3 copies
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften 5: Zweites Buch, Fortsetzung aus dem Nachlass 1933-1936 (Musil Gesamtausgabe) (2018) 3 copies
Tagebücher, Aphprosmen, Essays und Reden {Gesammelte Werke in Einzelbänden, Band II; Adolf Frisé} 3 copies
Robert Musil - Gesammelte Werke: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften, Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß, Drei Frauen, Die… (2014) 3 copies
Robert Musil: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften Remix. Herausgegeben von Katharina Agathos und Herbert Kapfer [Regie: Klaus… (2013) 3 copies
Prosa temprana y obras postumas publicadas en vida / Prose early and posthumous works published in Life (Spanish… (2007) 3 copies
Über die Dummheit 2 copies
Człowiek Bez Właściwości - Tom II 2 copies
Człowiek Bez Właściwości - Tom I 2 copies
El hombre sin atributos vol.2 2 copies
Diari, 1899-1941 2 copies
Diari (1899-1941). Volume secondo 2 copies
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften. Remix. 20 CDs und Buch: Lesung mit Kommentaren und Begleitbuch (698 S.) (2004) 2 copies
L' uomo senza qualita: 1 2 copies
Sämtliche Erzählungen 2 copies
Gesamtausgabe 2 copies
The Man Without Qualities ; Vol 1 2 copies
L'homme sans qualités 1 1 copy
Despre prostie 1 copy
Sjedinjavanja 1 copy
PESHTJELLIMET E TERLESIT 1 copy
Günlükler 1 copy
THE MAN WITHOUT QUALITIES Volume 1 a Sort of Introduction the like of it Now Happens (I) (1961) 1 copy
L'homme sans qualités 2 1 copy
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften . Roman ; Band III : Zweites Buch, Kap 13-38, Aus dem Nachlaß, Kap 39-66 1 copy
Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften . Roman ; Band II : Erstes Buch , Kap 87-123 , Zweites Buch , Kap 1-12 1 copy
Drei Frauen. Rororo ; 1 copy
L'uomo senza qualit© 1 copy
Aus den Tagenbücher 1 copy
Tagebücher [I] 1 copy
Niteliksiz Adam Cilt 1 1 copy
Robert Musil. Klagenfurter Ausgabe (Kommentierte Edition sämtlicher Werke, Briefe und nachgelassener Schriften/Mit… (1992) 1 copy
XXXVI Biennale Venezia 1972 1 copy
Zgodbe ki to niso 1 copy
The Man without Qualities: A Sort of Introduction; The Like of It Now Happens I & II; Into the Millennium (The… (1961) — Author — 1 copy
Romanzi (2 volumi) 1 copy
Romanzi, vol.1 1 copy
Romanzi, vol.2 1 copy
Tri žene / Jabuka 1 copy
Musil Robert 1 copy
Pseudoreality 1 copy
Into the Millennium 1 copy
From the Posthumous Papers 1 copy
Mož brez posebnosti 1 copy
Omadusteta mees : romaan. Kolmanda osa lp ja neljas osa : autori eluajal ilmumata janud kirjanduslikust pandist (2006) 1 copy
Los Alucinados 1 copy
Journauz (2 tomes) 1 copy
Mann Ohne Eigenschaften 1 1 copy
Mann Ohne Eigenschaften 2 1 copy
Fanatici, I 1 copy
Associated Works
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 565 copies, 8 reviews
Tales of the German Imagination from the Brothers Grimm to Ingeborg Bachmann (Penguin Classics) (2012) — Contributor — 64 copies, 1 review
Oskar Kokoschka, Städteportraits : Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Wien in Zusammenarbeit mit der Oskar… (1986) — Contributor — 4 copies
Meesters der vertelkunst : zevenenderdig verhalen uit de moderne wereldliteratuur (1975) — Contributor — 2 copies
Die Einsamen. Kindheitsnovellen von O. Dymow, A.v. Hatzfeld, H. Hesse, J. Mühlberger, R. Musil, F. Ssologub und… (1947) — Contributor — 2 copies
Money. Exhibition catalog — Designer — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Musil, Robert Rudolf Matthias Edler von
- Other names
- Musil, Robert Matthias
- Birthdate
- 1880-11-06
- Date of death
- 1942-04-15
- Burial location
- Mont Salève, Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (ashes cast)
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Austria
- Country (for map)
- Austria
- Birthplace
- Klagenfurt, Austria-Hungary
- Place of death
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Cause of death
- stroke
- Places of residence
- Vienna, Austria
Stuttgart, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Geneva, Switzerland (death)
Klagenfurt, Austria (birth) - Education
- military boarding school (Eisenstadt)
Mährisch Weißkirchen (Hranice)
military college (Vienna , Austria)
Deutsche Technische Hochschule Brünn (Engineering)
University of Berlin (Dr. phil|1908) - Occupations
- librarian
editor
novelist
playwright
writer
theatre critic - Organizations
- Austro-Hungarian army (officer)
- Awards and honors
- Kleist-Preis (1923)
Kunstpreis der Stadt Wien (1924)
Gerhart-Hauptmann-Preis (1929) - Disambiguation notice
- Division of 'Man Without Qualities' into volumes has created confusion about combining works.
Members
Reviews
Lists
Five star books (1)
Favourite Books (1)
Scolaire (1)
1930s (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 309
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 10,328
- Popularity
- #2,300
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 126
- ISBNs
- 577
- Languages
- 25
- Favorited
- 83
Nothing happens. The narrative drifts from one scene to the next, from one setting to another, from one conversation to the next, from thoughts to thoughts, and from one life event to another.
You search for one distinguishing characteristic of Ulrich, the main protagonist in the story, but after going through almost 1,400 pages, you realize nothing sets him apart from anyone else. You, the reader, will wake up to the shocked realization that this insight applies to every character in the book.
Now, when you gaze around you, or introspect, you may understand with dismay that this great insight applies to you and to people around you. Most of us disappear into the great mass we call humanity, and the events of our lives disappear into the great void we call history.
Everyone understands books differently from another and, for me, this book represents human life and we could be the characters in the book. Conversations, thoughts, normal conversations and disputes fill the pages of the book, something that you may expect if you write the book of your life. I consider the conversations between Ulrich and his sister, Agathe, to be the most fascinating, but they appear late in the narrative.
I confess it is difficult to read 1,400 pages of a meandering narrative and, towards the middle, I began huffing and puffing. By the end, fatigue coursed through me, making me wonder if I’d make it to the end alive!
If Robert Musil had introduced Agathe in the middle or, before the middle, the book may have taken a few interesting turns. I sensed a deep, almost illicit bond between the siblings, but it’s possible I read too much into the conversation.
If the writing fascinates you, then I suggest you reread the book after a few years. I doubt most modern readers will get past the first one hundred pages: we live in an impatient world.… (more)