ch wünsche dir viel Glück dabei.
― The New Original Human Beatbox (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 30 July 2016 02:58 (seven years ago) link
Ach. Ich wünsche dir viel Glück dabei.
(I would have just typed instead of c+p, but easier to get the umlauts the other way)
― The New Original Human Beatbox (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 30 July 2016 02:59 (seven years ago) link
I keep meaning to retry this. I got about halfway last time. I remember I was enjoying it - think I must have got distracted by something else.
― two crickets sassing each other (dowd), Saturday, 30 July 2016 06:09 (seven years ago) link
Ronan - did you read Thought Flights?
just saw this question from upthread. i have it but haven't read it yet. maybe read a few pages. need to remedy.
― Bein' Sean Bean (LocalGarda), Saturday, 30 July 2016 08:33 (seven years ago) link
'The Confusions of Young Torless' is excellent, and only about 180 pages.
SHAMELESS SELF-PLUG: I used to write a great short books column for Bookslut - http://www.bookslut.com/authors.php?author=James%20Morrison - but gave up due to complete indifference from the editor.
― James Morrison, Sunday, November 9, 2008 4:48 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
sick. im gonna read all of these i love short books
― flopson, Monday, 1 August 2016 02:36 (seven years ago) link
First impressions after roughly 100pp. The approach to story or content is extremely diffuse. The best description of the story so far might be 'some things happen'. But this diffusion is more than offset by the crisp acuity and rueful humor of the author's voice. I am carried along happily wherever Musil wishes to take me, trusting implicitly that he will take me to a place of interest, sentence by sentence.
incidentally, Musil's prose, as viewed through the lens of the translation, is purely remarkable without being striking. He doesn't form his phrases to impress you through stylistic posturing. Instead they each carry an intellectual tension that he successfully resolves over and over again, either as wit or as insight. It's pretty cool to watch him work.
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Thursday, 17 November 2016 02:08 (seven years ago) link
Nicely put, aimless. Diffuse is the word---in 1000 pages the plot will not be much further advanced, but there is something great or lgely on each of those pages
― I hear from this arsehole again, he's going in the river (James Morrison), Thursday, 17 November 2016 09:14 (seven years ago) link
What translation, Aimless? Anybody?
― dow, Saturday, 19 November 2016 01:39 (seven years ago) link
I have the Sophie Wilkins & Burton Pike translation.
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Saturday, 19 November 2016 02:26 (seven years ago) link
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/03/26/robert-musil-infinities-man-without-qualities/
This review has Hofmann saying a bunch of really nice things about Musil but its really unbalanced as a critique of translation in the sense that I have no idea why the NYRB edition is a good translation in the same way that the Archipelago edition of the Novellas is terrible. The review of the NYRB is simply puff.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 9 March 2020 15:23 (four years ago) link
Finally made up my mind to get the 2-vol, but on the way, I ran into an ad for Agathe, published in Dec. 2019. Should I get this too? Read it first?
― dow, Monday, 13 July 2020 02:42 (three years ago) link
Maybe I should wait for *all* the related material? Brian Wilson, Arthur Russell, Bolano, aieeee
― dow, Monday, 13 July 2020 02:44 (three years ago) link
Agathe is basically a carefully edited extract. Get the full thing and read it first.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Monday, 13 July 2020 10:57 (three years ago) link
Thanks. Had to call the plumber, so yet another sign that I should read all the books I have before ordering more.
― dow, Tuesday, 14 July 2020 16:42 (three years ago) link