Philip Payne

Legends from West Africa

Ohia and the Thief

Graham Bartram

The Cambridge Companion to the Modern German Novel

Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities is perhaps the most important novel in German written in the twentieth century - certainly it is among the most brilliant, puzzling and profound. This, the first comprehensive study of the work to appear in English, guides the reader towards Musil's central concerns. It examines how Musil laboured through draft after draft to produce material that would pass his own strict literary 'quality control' and traces major themes through different layers of narrative with the aid of close textual analysis. It details how Musil subjects leading figures of fin-de-siecle Vienna to intense ironic scrutiny and how, by drawing on his extensive knowledge of philosophy, psychology, politics, sociology and science, he works into his novel essayistic statements which record the state of contemporary European civilisation. Through a disturbing and deeply serious liaison with his sister, Musil's hero Ulrich, is shown to struggle through to the brink of self-discovery and enlightenment.

A Critical Study

Robert Musil's 'The Man Without Qualities'

Junior Research Fellow in Russian and German Intellectual History Galin Tihanov

Galin Tihanov

A fresh and extensive look at the works of the great Austrian novelist in the context of the German and Austrian culture of his time.

A Companion to the Works of Robert Musil

Philip Payne

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