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7 unusual facts about The Man Without Qualities


Brigitta Westphal

Robert Musil's novel "The Man Without Qualities" became a key source of inspiration for the painter, out of which two cycles with 14 oil pictures each developed.

Dreyse needle gun

Prominent Austrians frequently betray a subtle and often humorous obsession with the Prussian Needle gun in Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities.

Imperial and Royal

A discussion of Kakania became a highlight of the first volume of Robert Musil's novel The Man Without Qualities (1930).

The Man Without Qualities

According to Italian writer Alberto Arbasino, Fellini's 1963 film 8½ used similar artistic procedures and had parallels with Musil's novel.

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Elsa (Berta) von Czuber, whom Musil met while he studied in Brno between 1889 and 1901, inspired him with the image of Ulrich's sister Agathe.

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B. Pike, Robert Musil: An Introduction to His Work, Kennikat Press, 1961, reissued 1972.

Tom Nairn

His original source for the term is the nickname 'Kakania' that Robert Musil uses for the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in The Man Without Qualities.



see also