What are you currently reading?

[Lethevich]

What reason?

I phrased it poorly (as usual) - a reason for why he chose it instead of "culture".

[Philoctetes]

Just finished The Royal Family: Two words to sum up for now - Stunningly Dense.

New book:
I, The Divine by Alameddine

[M forever]

Just finished The Royal Family: Two words to sum up for now - Stunningly Dense.

Indeed they all are. That comes from all the inbreeding.

[Renfield]

Indeed they all are. That comes from all the inbreeding.

[orbital]

I've finished all the originally published chapters of The Man Without Qualities and am continuing on with the Posthumous Papers. It would be impossible for me to make a general statement about what I've read so far, as Musil's miraculous novel was written in a way that makes summing up in so many words untenable. College freshman classroom material it is not. Even so, I feel I have to say something.

In some places (specifically the conversations between Ulrich and Agathe) it seems to me that here Musil was on the very edge of that which it is even possible to write about.

It is not very uplifting — in my case it has only compounded my preexisting feeling of the futility of having convictions and ideals and the impossibility of applying them in everyday living. In this way I relate to Ulrich, who sees everything that is "true" at one moment able to be totally negated in the next. Living life as an experiment. Though, my own irresoluteness probably has as much to do with my own mercurial character as it does my surroundings.

Perhaps needless to say, I recommend — but it's not for everyone (though, the only ones that are interested in reading what little I have to say would be definitely be well-served by diving in ).

Corey, I am so glad you liked it (and possibly more  ) :wipes forehead: I'd hate to make you go through 1,700 pages of something you would not enjoy as much as I hoped you would.

Perhaps the reason I enjoyed the book as much I did was that I could almost fully identify with Ulrich. He summed up my moral-relativist worldview better than I ever could -not in a nutshell  , but with books like this, the longer the better.

When I think about how many ways this novel could have gone, at any point throughout, it is hard not to agree with the general consensus that, for all practical (and satisfactory) purposes it might be better that  it is left unfinished.
I still could not open my moving boxes (that's where the book is) and a digital copy is not available (at least in English), otherwise I have been burning with the desire to re-read the second volume 

[Kullervo]

I was beginning to think I was being ignored!  I was wondering: did you read all of the Posthumous Papers? I was wondering if the fragments and sketches of possible situations were worth reading. Though, I'm so into it now, I might as well read them anyway.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I was beginning to think I was being ignored! 

You weren't. I did see your post, Corey, but I have all of Musil (in German) still waiting patiently on the shelf, and couldn't contribute anything... I have read parts of Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (to give it its original title) and Törless and articles by Musil. He is a fascinating author, and I plan on reading him systematically once I have finished my own novel. But at the moment I can't free the mental space he needs!

[orbital]

I was beginning to think I was being ignored!  I was wondering: did you read all of the Posthumous Papers? I was wondering if the fragments and sketches of possible situations were worth reading. Though, I'm so into it now, I might as well read them anyway.

You should definitely read them as well, they will not conclude anything of course, but AFAIR there were some fascinating papers such as the flypaper and the man without character. The false starts and some eloborate descriptions could be skipped, but I did not want to

BTW I hope I am not giving you wrong information because I had read another paper of his called: Posthumous papers of a living author, but I am not 100% if these were included in this edition 

[Kullervo]

You should definitely read them as well, they will not conclude anything of course, but AFAIR there were some fascinating papers such as the flypaper and the man without character. The false starts and some eloborate descriptions could be skipped, but I did not want to

BTW I hope I am not giving you wrong information because I had read another paper of his called: Posthumous papers of a living author, but I am not 100% if these were included in this edition 

In my edition, after Into the Millennium there are the 20 chapters that Musil had published and then recalled to work on them again, and after that there are various character sketches, ideas for possible situations (I've already skimmed through it a bit) and different versions of chapters from the first two volumes. It says From the Posthumous Papers, so I would imagine that there would be more.

[orbital]

In my edition, after Into the Millennium there are the 20 chapters that Musil had published and then recalled to work on them again, and after that there are various character sketches, ideas for possible situations (I've already skimmed through it a bit) and different versions of chapters from the first two volumes. It says From the Posthumous Papers, so I would imagine that there would be more.

yes I had the same edition, but I also had this:

I am not sure which one contained which  but I now think that the articles I mentioned were here and not in the MWQ edition. I did not read everything in there I think, although I remember a particularly interesting section on Moosebrugger.

[orbital]

All's Well That Ends Well...

Well, that wasn't the best choice for the first Shakespeare comedy I wanted to read in a row 

[Philoctetes]

Finished I, the Divine. It was a nice book.

Next up:
The Crimson Petal and the White by Faber

[Philoctetes]

Finished Men as Women, Women as Men. A very interesting scholarly/academic work on a very un'western' idea of gender.

Next up Viktor Shklovsky's Energy of Delusion

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Next up Viktor Shklovsky's Energy of Delusion

Shklovsky is one of the Russian Formalists... What kind of book is it? Essay? Fiction?

[Kullervo]

Finished Men as Women, Women as Men. A very interesting scholarly/academic work on a very un'western' idea of gender.

Next up Viktor Shklovsky's Energy of Delusion

Did you give up on the Faber?

[Philoctetes]

Did you give up on the Faber?

Not at all, I read three books at a time, each on a different day.

[Philoctetes]

Shklovsky is one of the Russian Formalists... What kind of book is it? Essay? Fiction?

It's a critical essay.

[Kullervo]

You must not have to work.

[Philoctetes]

You must not have to work.

Well, I work, but not really. My job pays nothing, but it also requires nothing, but even if the terms were different. I'd still be reading three books. It's simply the schedule I have set up.

[Philoctetes]

Well tentatively, I've taken poetry off of my reading list. I just can't get into it right now. I find it quite boring, but I can appreciate the craft. I just can't read it, for right now.

So for now, I've replaced it with Preen, a fashion/culture magazine.