false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg 191948 5 Born into an affluent Austrian family in 1880, Robert Musil died penniless 62 years later, a solitary, bitter man who felt his genius had gone unrecognized. Certainly Musil's name is not nearly as well known as those of his contemporaries Marcel Proust, James Joyce, or Thomas Mann; still, the old man's shade might take some comfort in the critical and popular response his unfinished masterpiece, <I>The Man Without Qualities</I>, has garnered in recent years. Its latest, 1995 translation revived interest in an author many consider one of the greatest--if least read--writers of the 20th century. Readers who want to know more about the man behind <I>The Man</I> are in luck: Robert Musil's <I>Diaries</I> are now available in English. <p> Musil was an inveterate diarist; while the German edition of his journals is comprehensive, its translator and English-language editor, Phillip Payne, has chosen to be more selective. Gone are entries that summarize or excerpt the work of other authors; those that are "unintelligible to all but Musil experts"; early drafts of works that are not of particular interest; or entries that add little of significance to our understanding of Musil's life or work. What's left, however, is more than adequate, and provides a fascinating window into the life, times, and creative process of a literary master. There are Musil's working notes to himself ("Set up at least 100 figures, the main human types in existence today: the Expressionist, the Courths-Mahler, the profiteer, the psycho-pedagogue, the disciple of Steiner, etc. Then have these figures crossing each other's paths"); comments about his world ("My generation was anti-moral or amoral because our fathers talked of morality and acted in a philistine and immoral fashion ... children today are moral, but want people to take morality seriously"); and meditations on the most private aspects of his personal life (discussing his wife, Martha, he writes, "She isn't anything that I have gained or achieved; she is something that I have become and that has become "I"). Robert Musil's <I>Diaries</I> are a remarkable portrait of the artist throughout his life and a standing testimony to his genius. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 323011 1981 Diaries : Robert Musil 1899-1942 total:25|5:8|4:11|3:4|2:2| 25 100 44 0 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 3 0 false Tue Sep 01 17:24:21 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 17:24:21 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Tue Aug 25 18:30:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 18:30:00 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Wed Aug 12 08:24:46 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 08:24:46 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 5 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jun 30 13:37:43 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 13:39:52 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 0 0 false Sun May 24 03:17:46 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 03:17:46 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 0 0 false Thu Apr 30 18:59:35 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 18:59:35 -0700 2009 332468 0465016510 9780465016518 2 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223675550m/332468.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332468.Diaries_1899_1941 0 0 false Wed Mar 18 23:46:01 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 23:46:01 -0700 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 2 0 false Mon Feb 09 13:41:06 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 13:41:06 -0800 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 07:47:56 -0800 2009 Wed Apr 08 02:45:16 -0700 2009 332468 0465016510 9780465016518 2 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223675550m/332468.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332468.Diaries_1899_1941 0 0 false Sat Jan 17 17:08:46 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 21:13:13 -0800 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 0 0 false Fri Jan 16 12:45:18 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 12:45:25 -0800 2009 332468 0465016510 9780465016518 2 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223675550m/332468.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332468.Diaries_1899_1941 0 0 false Fri Jan 09 01:01:27 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 01:01:42 -0800 2009 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 0 0 false Sat Dec 20 15:35:03 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 15:35:03 -0800 2008 332468 0465016510 9780465016518 2 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223675550m/332468.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332468.Diaries_1899_1941 0 0 false Thu Nov 20 23:22:06 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 23:22:06 -0800 2008 332468 0465016510 9780465016518 2 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223675550m/332468.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/332468.Diaries_1899_1941 0 0 false Mon Nov 10 18:08:23 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 10 18:08:23 -0800 2008 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Sat Sep 13 19:48:49 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 13 19:48:49 -0700 2008 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Thu Aug 28 08:41:02 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 08:41:19 -0700 2008 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 0 0 false Mon Aug 11 02:15:21 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 02:15:21 -0700 2008 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 4 0 false Wed Jul 16 21:19:16 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 21:19:16 -0700 2008 191948 0465016502 9780465016501 23 0 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172574292m/191948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191948.Diaries_Robert_Musil_1899_1942 3 0 false Fri Jul 11 11:03:46 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 11:03:46 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=191948