The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil

Ulrich seems to encompass those same qualities. Much is discussed and planned, but little ever happens. His portrait of the country shows the self-destructive tendencies he observed in Europe during that time period. Musil’s version of the country is referred to as “Kakania,” the Dual Monarchy (a shortened form of kaiserlich und koniglich, or k und k, German for “imperial and royal”). The novel flits from character to character in the depiction of a slightly off-kilter version of pre-war Austria. He spends his last days pondering the nature of reality. Moosbrugger is a murderer and rapist, sentenced to death for the murder of a prostitute.

A criminal named Moosbrugger is introduced. He has no central philosophy of life or moral guidelines to live by. He does not really live he only passively observes the world around him. He is indifferent to morality and ethics, and as such, has become the “man without qualities” of the title. His life seems to lack a grounding in reality he is aimless and directionless. The first volume, A Sort of Introduction, introduces the reader to protagonist Ulrich, a thirty-two-year-old mathematician in search of meaning. It has been described as a “novel of ideas” that often delves into allegory, existentialism, and the meaning of truth. The Man Without Qualities spans more than 1,700 pages and depicts Austria in the years just before World War I. Musil opposed publication of his work before he was able to complete it, and later regretted giving in to his publisher’s demands. It was published in various forms and versions between 19. Austrian writer Musil spent more than twenty years writing it, and it remained unfinished upon his death in 1942.

Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities, first published in German, is a three-volume modernist novel that remains unfinished.

The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil