
The Man Without Qualities
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Narrated by:
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John Telfer
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By:
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Robert Musil
In 1913, the Viennese aristocracy is gathering to celebrate the 17th jubilee of the accession of Emperor Franz Josef, even as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is collapsing and the rest of Vienna is showing signs of rebellion. At the centre of this social labyrinth is Ulrich: a veteran, a seducer and a scientist, yet also a man 'without qualities' and therefore a brilliant and detached observer of his changing world.
A classic of the 20th century, Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities (Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) is endlessly thought-provoking, insightful and stimulating. Part satire, part visionary epic, part intellectual tour de force, it is a work of immeasurable importance. In fact, The Man Without Qualities is one of the peaks of European modernist literature, along with Joyce’s Ulysses and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, though with its own distinct character.
First and foremost, it is a novel where the ‘plot’ largely provides the riverbank down which the river can flow—fortunate with a work that, despite its considerable length, is unfinished! This may explain why it is less known, less read and less championed than its more famous peers, but those who do take the trouble to dive in are astonished. For a start, though often dense in content, it is generally accessible and often a delight to read—furthermore, it is both engrossing and fun. It is not surprising that Musil (1880-1942) was contemporaneous with Freud, whose psychoanalytic ideas emerge in various ways throughout the novel. So do the shades of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and others who provide a philosophical backdrop—this is a great novel of ideas.
There are curiosities also, such as the sex-murderer Moosbrugger, who casts a dark but fascinating shadow over Ulrich’s society. And there is a variety of women with whom Ulrich interacts. There are girlfriends of passing involvement, such as Leona and Bonadea; there is Clarisse, wife of a close friend, and Diotima, seemingly a pillar of Viennese society. And his sister Agathe. They all act as challenging foils in any number of ways to tempt and undermine Ulrich’s sense of who he is.
Musil began writing The Man Without Qualities in 1921 and was still writing and revising it at his death (in Switzerland) in 1942. It is divided into three parts, which were published by 1933 though an English translation of all three parts did not appear until 1961. This recording features the latest (and exemplary) translation by Sophie Wilkins. In addition, it contains 20 chapters, prolonging part III, which were discovered in the mass of papers decades after Musil’s death. He intended to include them, but ultimately held them back for minor revisions.
This remarkable book, available for the first time on audio, is superbly read by John Telfer, who reflects the ‘decaying fin de siècle’ world as the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the old order, slides into oblivion.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Great voice performance
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Masterpiece
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Beautiful!
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A Masterpiece
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Hilarious. About nothing.
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An Extraordinary Literary Achievement
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Incredible performance
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The narration is a good balance of the lively and engaging without being exaggerated or excessive. Very listenable.
An unmatched intellectual epic
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I bought The Man Without Qualities many years ago and started it many times, but could never get past the first several chapters. Perhaps it was the daunting size of the story, or perhaps it was the nature of the story itself, with the existential angst of Nietzsche overwhelming and threatening to overflow out of the pages. In fact, I would get trapped after reading the first paragraph and spend days contemplating the depth of the ideas. This, it seems to me, is the great merit of this book-the emotive and compelling narrative that makes you think and feel about your thoughts and feelings. The character development is unusual in the sense that it’s like joining a conversation halfway through, learning some naughty secrets about someone, and then fluttering off to another conversation elsewhere. Morals and feelings are dissected more than discussed, giving you the feeling of witnessing a vivisection of civilization at the dawn of the 20th century and moments before the fall into barbarism. Musil is a master at directing the reader’s attention to the clash of the old and new, to ways of looking at things that might have been mundane up until that point. If you enjoy this, then you will enjoy the book.
And for the narrator, well….he is a genius! His reading style is perfect for the highbrow nature of the story and characters (politicians, upper class, military etc etc) and pulls off their voices with great success. He creates a wonderful atmosphere in his delivery that, as I mentioned above, makes you feel like a fly on the wall in one of the conversations.
This is a long listen and although I did find myself drifting off into reveries at times, and missing part of the narration, I kept a paper copy of the story handy or an Ebook version so I could highlight or bookmark areas I could go back to later and contemplate at leisure.
All in all, this book and performance will be one to both remember and revisit long after you finish it (note: the book itself was never finished so you end like a mountain climber on a precipice, trying to recover your balance, with the wind of the story at your back, and the possible endings in front of you)
Obviously everything this review has said is subjective and comes down to taste, so I leave it up to the good reader to decide.
A writer WITH qualities
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Yet individual chapters can be masterfully written, with some occasional overwriting. But the sweep is so vast, the digressions so disruptive, that it never really gels to a whole. This was a work of great ambition, but a bit more focus would make it more accessible.
Whole is less than sum of the parts
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