A Man Without Qualities, Vol. I

"The Man Without Qualities" is the main novel by Musil. The writer worked on it for over twenty years but never managed to finish it. Despite this, "The Man Without Qualities" became one of the greatest works of German literature, which can rightfully be called the greatest study of the human soul. In 1913, the government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire establishes a committee tasked with developing a special plan of events for the upcoming celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph's reign in five years. The committee consists of industrialists, bankers, aristocrats, military personnel, and politicians. By chance, a young officer, engineer, and mathematician Ulrich - the "man without qualities," a cynic devoid of the meaning of life and indifferent to moral norms - ends up among its ranks.