Les premières œuvres de cet auteur autrichien puisent leur inspiration dans ses propres expériences au sein d'internats militaires, vividement dépeintes dans son premier roman. Ses écrits plongent dans de profonds territoires psychologiques, explorant souvent la complexité de l'identité et de la perception humaines. Plus tard dans sa carrière, sa prose est devenue de plus en plus ambitieuse, abordant de vastes enquêtes philosophiques et des commentaires sociaux. Son style analytique distinctif et sa rigueur intellectuelle en font une voix significative de la littérature moderne.
" Ce livre étincelant, qui maintient de la façon la plus exquise le difficile équilibre entre l'essai et la comédie épique, n'est plus, Dieu soit loué, un " roman " au sens habituel du terme" : il ne l'est plus parce que, comme l'a dit Goethe, " tout ce qui est parfait dans son genre transcende ce genre pour devenir quelque chose d'autre, d'incomparable ". Son ironie, son intelligence, sa spiritualité relèvent du domaine le plus religieux, le plus enfantin, celui de la poésie ". Thomas Mann, Journal, 1932 Traduit de l'allemand par Philippe Jaccottet
Chacun sait en effet que la signification des injures ne tient pas tant à leur contenu qu'à leur usage ; et tous ceux qui parmi nous aiment les ânes n'en sont pas moins peinés de leur être comparés. ROBERT MUSIL
Set in 1911, this collection features two experimental stories that delve into the complexities of love and temptation. "The Completion of Love" and "The Temptation of Quiet Veronica" showcase Robert Musil's early explorations of emotional and psychological themes, influenced by his relationship with his fiancé, Martha Marcovaldi. These narratives reflect Musil's commitment to understanding human experiences, laying the groundwork for his later, more extensive works.
This text presents passages selected from his daybooks, affording the reader insights into Musil's passage from a young scientist to a soldier in the World War I to budding novelist. The diaries serve as a first-hand document of life in "fin de siecle" Vienna and Austria during two world wars.
"Musil belongs in the company of Joyce, Proust, Kafka, and Svevo. . . . (This translation) is a literay and intellectual event of singular importance."--New Republic.
From the author of 'A Man without Qualities,' a novel about spirituality in the modern world. Agathe is the sister of Ulrich, the restless and elusive “man without qualities” at the center of Robert Musil’s great, unfinished novel of the same name. For years Agathe and Ulrich have ignored each other, but when brother and sister find themselves reunited over the bier of their dead father, they are electrified. Each is the other’s spitting image, and Agathe, who has just separated from her husband, is even more defiant and inquiring than Ulrich. Beginning with a series of increasingly intense “holy conversations,” the two gradually enlarge the boundaries of sexuality, sensuality, identity, and understanding in pursuit of a new, true form of being that they are seeking to discover. Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities is perhaps the most profoundly exploratory and unsettling masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction. Agathe, or, The Forgotten Sister reveals with new clarity a particular dimension of this multidimensional book—the dimension that meant the most to Musil himself and that inspired some of his most searching writing. The outstanding translator Joel Agee captures the acuity, audacity, and unsettling poetry of a book that is meant to be nothing short of life-changing.
"We do not have too much intellect and too little soul, but too little precision in matters of the soul."—Robert Musil. Best known for The Man without Qualities, Musil wrote these essays in Vienna and Berlin from 1911 to 1937, reflecting on the crisis of modern culture as seen in science, capitalism, nationalism, and evolving roles of women and writers. He sought to navigate a world where moral systems appeared to be in decay, aiming to reconcile functional relativism with the passionate pursuit of ethical values. Born in 1880 and passing in 1942, Musil's earlier work, Young Törless, is available in English, and a new translation of his major novel is forthcoming. This collection features thirty-one essays, ranging from "The Obscene and Pathological in Art" to "On Stupidity," marking a significant literary event for English readers. Musil is recognized as a pivotal modern thinker, addressing issues that shape our time with a depth comparable to Mann, Joyce, or Beckett. These essays are essential for understanding a writer dedicated to bridging the gap between scientific precision and the essence of life and art.
Robert K. Musil redefines the achievements and legacy of environmental pioneer
and scientist Rachel Carson, linking her work to a wide network of American
women activists and writers and introducing her to a new, contemporary
audience. číst celé
One of the great short novels of the early twentieth century. It is a novel of
youth; a novel of growing up; and it casts an unflinching look at the world.
