Robert Musil
The Man without Qualities.
Picador, 2017. Picador Classic. Second printing. Translation by Sophie Wilkins of "Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften" (Rowohlt, 1978). With an introduction by Jonathan Lethem. 9781447289432 xii/1130 pages.
Softcover volume, measuring approximately , is like new.
In 1913 the Viennese aristocracy are gathering to celebrate the seventieth jubilee of the accession of Emperor Franz Josef, even as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is collapsing and the rest of Vienna is showing signs of rebellion. At the centre of this social labyrinth is Ulrich: a veteran, a seducer and a scientist, yet also a man "without qualities" and therefore a brilliant and detached observer of his changing world.
A classic of the twentieth century, Robert Musil's "The Man without Qualities" is endlessly thought-provoking, insightful and stimulating. Part satire, part visionary epic, part intellectual tour de force, it is a work of immesearable  importance."