The Man Without Qualities Vol. 2: Into the Millennium, from the Posthumous Papers

Rating:
Summary: "the man without qualities" has some qualities
Review: this 1800 page book has been placed in the same league as "the remembrance of things past" and joyce's "ulysses". if one is not put off by musil's antisemitism, and unnecessarily longwinded, only somewhat interesting, conversations, one is more than rewarded by musil's keen obervational skills and ability to portray highly ideosyncratic, pathological, psychological states. musil is a genius at capturing the subtleties of sexual relations and their consequences. in my opinion, musil lacks the basic humanity of both proust and joyce; the book would be vastly improved if a good editor eliminated a good deal of the tiresome discussions.