The philosphical novelist Robert Musil's autobiographical first novel, published in 1906. Torless (we are never given his first name) is an adolescent student at an Austrian boarding school. He and his classmates, Reiting and Beineberg, catch fellow student Basini stealing from one of them. Rather than report him to their teachers, they decide to take matters into their own hands. At first they bully and beat him, threatening all the while to turn him in. It's physical and psychological torture in equal measure. But then things take an even darker turn. Reiting and Beineberg start to sexually abuse him, taking him to a private den where these violations are performed in an almost ritualistic manner. Torless knows in a vague manner what is going on. He is also attracted to Basini himself, whom he finds to be an androgynous beauty. Basini, sensing that Torless wants to abuse him like the other boys, strips off his clothes and offers himself. Torless is dazzled by Basini's flawless white skin. And so begins a strange, sadomasochistic relationship, with the passive Basini eventually confessing his love for Torless. As Torless finds himself drawn into these events, he experiences confusion about his rational and irrational self. He performs immoral acts, but questions his culpability. He feels that he is there, but also not there, merely watching events unfold and trying to figure out what they mean. The text often has an expressionistic, Freudian feel, sinking deep into the perverse subconscious. Robert Musil describes the id, Torless's shameful desires, wrestling with the super-ego, the rational part of the mind. Some of these passages are mind bending, occupying the liminal space between being and nothingness. It is Torless's dark night of the soul, and the reader must wade through the murk, hoping to see him come out the other end. Despite its sordid subject matter, this is a philosophical novel that wrestles with questions of right and wrong. It's a book that some might find uncomfortable in light of contemporary sexual abuse scandals, but is worth a look at for its high literary value and morally complex subject matter. The Confusions of Young Torless, by Robert Musil. Published by Riverrun. $22.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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