The Confusions of Young Törless
★★★☆☆ 3.25 stars
Such a generous subject but such a boring book. And now, as some1 around here said, I can reply to: "Have you read Musil's famous ?" with: "No, but I read his very first book. Have you?" :DI'm almost sure I would have enjoyed it better if it had been written in the 1st person (I even liked Zeno more while reading Torless). The poetic (sometimes pathetic) language lost me. And all those philosophical perorations! Coming of age was never duller! I choose The catcher in the rye and The adventures
Robert Musil is one of my favorite authors and his story of Young Torless, published in 1906, is one reason. The novel reflects an obsession in this period with educational institutions and the oppressive impact they exert on personal development. While it is in the tradition of the German Bildungsroman, the novel of education, it is critical of educational system and the institutionalized coercion portrayed in the novel. In my reading experience I compared it with the experience of Philip Carey
The blurb on the back of my Picador copy says that 'Törless is drawn into the vicious brutalities of his fellow cadets in the secret attic that provides a torture chamber for sadistic homosexual ritual.' Given that the book was first published in 1906 I wasn't sure what to expect; I thought most of the 'horrors' would be implied rather than related explicitly; and it is to a certain extent but it still packs a punch, so be warned - this is not Tom Brown's School Days.The book begins with Törless
Description: At a boarding school in the pre-war Austro-Hungarian Empire, a pair of students torture one of their fellow classmates, Basini, who has been caught stealing money from one of the two. The two decide that rather than turn Basini in to the school authorities, they will punish him themselves and proceed to torture, degrade, and humiliate the boy, with ever-increasing sadistic delight. As each day passes, the two boys are able to justify harsher treatment than previously given. Torless
Decadent Austro-Hungarian kids torture and sodomize a classmate as a rehearsal of the upper-class adulthood awaiting them out of the military academy.Physical and psychological harassment! A crumbling empire! Pre-nazi post-sadism galore! Depravity! Pseudo-Freudian expressionism! The chance to hear the bookshop assistant's ooohs and aaahs as you put a book by Robert Musil on the counter! No need to say I licked my lips as soon as I read the blurb. Boy, I must have looked like Wile E. Coyote
Robert Musil
Paperback | Pages: 176 pages Rating: 3.73 | 6581 Users | 386 Reviews
Declare Based On Books The Confusions of Young Törless
Title | : | The Confusions of Young Törless |
Author | : | Robert Musil |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 176 pages |
Published | : | September 27th 2001 by Penguin (first published 1906) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. European Literature. German Literature |
Narration Conducive To Books The Confusions of Young Törless
Like his contemporary and rival Sigmund Freud, Robert Musil boldly explored the dark, irrational undercurrents of humanity. The Confusions of Young Törless, published in 1906 while he was a student, uncovers the bullying, snobbery, and vicious homoerotic violence at an elite boys academy. Unsparingly honest in its depiction of the author's tangled feelings about his mother, other women, and male bonding, it also vividly illustrates the crisis of a whole society, where the breakdown of traditional values and the cult of pitiless masculine strength were soon to lead to the cataclysm of the First World War and the rise of fascism. More than a century later, Musil's first novel still retains its shocking, prophetic power.Details Books Toward The Confusions of Young Törless
Original Title: | Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß |
ISBN: | 0142180009 (ISBN13: 9780142180006) |
Edition Language: | English |
Rating Based On Books The Confusions of Young Törless
Ratings: 3.73 From 6581 Users | 386 ReviewsCritique Based On Books The Confusions of Young Törless
A dark, dense, compelling read. It's simultaneously about the intrigues and backstabbing that goes on at an elite German military academy (think a much smarter all-male version of Cruel Intentions) mixed with a dense and complex look at a young boy trying to make sense of the world, his emotions, sexuality, philosophy, and pretty much everything else in life. The author tries to communicate the title character's inner state, including all the feelings that he does not have words to describe.★★★☆☆ 3.25 stars
Such a generous subject but such a boring book. And now, as some1 around here said, I can reply to: "Have you read Musil's famous ?" with: "No, but I read his very first book. Have you?" :DI'm almost sure I would have enjoyed it better if it had been written in the 1st person (I even liked Zeno more while reading Torless). The poetic (sometimes pathetic) language lost me. And all those philosophical perorations! Coming of age was never duller! I choose The catcher in the rye and The adventures
Robert Musil is one of my favorite authors and his story of Young Torless, published in 1906, is one reason. The novel reflects an obsession in this period with educational institutions and the oppressive impact they exert on personal development. While it is in the tradition of the German Bildungsroman, the novel of education, it is critical of educational system and the institutionalized coercion portrayed in the novel. In my reading experience I compared it with the experience of Philip Carey
The blurb on the back of my Picador copy says that 'Törless is drawn into the vicious brutalities of his fellow cadets in the secret attic that provides a torture chamber for sadistic homosexual ritual.' Given that the book was first published in 1906 I wasn't sure what to expect; I thought most of the 'horrors' would be implied rather than related explicitly; and it is to a certain extent but it still packs a punch, so be warned - this is not Tom Brown's School Days.The book begins with Törless
Description: At a boarding school in the pre-war Austro-Hungarian Empire, a pair of students torture one of their fellow classmates, Basini, who has been caught stealing money from one of the two. The two decide that rather than turn Basini in to the school authorities, they will punish him themselves and proceed to torture, degrade, and humiliate the boy, with ever-increasing sadistic delight. As each day passes, the two boys are able to justify harsher treatment than previously given. Torless
Decadent Austro-Hungarian kids torture and sodomize a classmate as a rehearsal of the upper-class adulthood awaiting them out of the military academy.Physical and psychological harassment! A crumbling empire! Pre-nazi post-sadism galore! Depravity! Pseudo-Freudian expressionism! The chance to hear the bookshop assistant's ooohs and aaahs as you put a book by Robert Musil on the counter! No need to say I licked my lips as soon as I read the blurb. Boy, I must have looked like Wile E. Coyote
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