Talk:Robert Musil

Improving references

There is a network site (http://www.robertmusil.net/) that links to seemingly interesting references, for example a quotation form Elias Canetti, or the (unreferenced fact that "The Man Without Qualities has been voted most important book of the 20 th century in the German language", or a 2003 biography of Robert Musil, written by Karl Corino, published by Rowohlt publishers (in German it seems). These maybe worth checking.

Translations

Is it so widely accepted that the newer translation is an improvement?

Died with look of ironic amusement

Note: it seems to me that speculation about the significance of the look on Musil's face at his death is not objective enough for an encyclopedia article. Such possible information is best left to full biographies. That's my opinion. However, I didn't do all the work writing the article, so I'll leave it alone and if others agree, perhaps this minor point can be addressed.

The comment about the look on his face at death is almost a standard part of the Musil legend. The significance is that he died suddenly, leaving a massive, major novel unfinished.

Can we find a references to someone who says this? As written it seems to be weasling on it. RJFJR (talk) 16:09, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes I can! And did! On the accasasion of Musil’s 70th birthday in 1950 Melvin J. Lasky's monthly Der Monat printed a commemorative essay by playwright Franz Theodor Csokor, online on www.ceeol.com. Therein Csokor cited what after Musil’s death his widow had written him:

...Nach einem ruhigen, teils am Schreibtisch, teils im Garten verbrachten Vormittag ging er die Treppe hinauf, die zum Badezimmer führte, indem er sagte: ,Ich will noch vor Tisch baden.‘ Und beim Auskleiden, vielleicht bei einer gymnastischen Übung, vielleicht auch nur bei einer heftigen Bewegung, traf ihn der Gehirnschlag. — Wenige Minuten, nachdem er hinaufgegangen war, öffnete ich die Tür des Badezimmers, um ihn zu rufen — und fand ihn leblos. Es war unmöglich zu fassen, daß er tot sei, so lebendig und etwas spöttisch-erstaunt sah er aus!

After a quiet forenoon spent partly at the desk and in the garden he went upstairs to the bathroom saying: 'I'll have a bath before meal.' And when taking off his clothes, maybe when doing gymnastics or just making an hefty movement, the stroke hit him. - A few minutes, after he had gone upstairs, I opened the door to the bathroom to call for him - and found him lifeless. It was impossible to believe that he should be dead, looking so alive with some mockery and astonishment on his face! --Vsop.de (talk) 17:09, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Cleanup

I added this tag because the article in its current form seems to be awkwardly written and some of the details may be suspect. I'm not sufficently familiar with Musil's life or have access to significant sources to do this myself. Philip Cross 20:34, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

One suspect detail: Musil never met Kafka, as the article states. In actuality, while Musil was editor(?) of "Die Neue Rundschau," he wrote Kafka, asking (in vain) for a contribution. Musil was one of the first to recognize Kafka's work, favorably reviewing "Der Heizer." (added by Johannes Wich-Schwarz, July 27, 2006)

Walser and Musil

I am happy to clean up this article, and to add appropriate references to Musil's relationship to Robert Walser, whom he revered (and reviewed). I am, however, new at this and before I make any more changes I have a basic question about a minor edit I just made:

I added Robert Walser to the list of names under Trivia. This links to Robert Walser (disambiguation) instead of directly to the Swiss modernist writer. Is there a way to fix this?

By "piping" (|) between the linked article name and the text appropriate to the source article. I've fixed the immediate problem. By the way, it is usual on Wikipedia to use four tildes (~) to sign contributions to talk pages. Philip Cross 19:19, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Date?

There is a sentence here that I don't quite understand.

Even before this, in 1905, Musil had met Martha Marcovaldi (January 21, 1874 - November 6, 1880) who was in subsequent years to become his wife.

What is the purpose and meaning of the date (my underlining here)? --Aethralis 21:17, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

The second date has been changed in the current version of the article. It now appears to be her birth and death dates. RJFJR (talk) 16:04, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

trivia section

"Cool, proud, uncommunicative, cold, harsh in his judgement, sharp, a military tone of speaking, vain, elegant, polite, well dressed, distant, official, impeccable, an impressive personality though not a sympathetic or congenial one, proud of his time as officer during the First World War, inaccessible, felt unrecognized, kept people far from him and hence fell into isolation, made slighting rather than positive remarks."

Did Frisé "index" this laundry list in Plädoyer für Robert Musil?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~jikje/New/bio.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.84.35.181 (talk) 12:04, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

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NOOO!--Caute AF (talk) 23:05, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Musil'scher Farbkreisel

it says: "During this time he began work on Young Törless and invented the device "Musil'scher Farbkreisel", chromatometer that resolves all the colours of the spectrum into whiteness."

First, this is taken from http://www.virtualvienna.net/main/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=299 I don't know who is quoting whom.

Second, it's nonsense scientifically. see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musilscher_Farbkreisel Google translation of that page says: "Musil shear color top The Musilsche color or variation roundabout is a simple tool for continuous, continuous production of mixed colors by additive color mixing with a rotating two-tone circle."

I will change offending sentence. Maybe someone else can do better GangofOne (talk) 22:28, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

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