Search Results

Web resultSearch Results Web results Unions – Contra Mundum contramundum.net/2019/03/17/unions/Search Results Web results Unions – Contra Mundum contramundum.net/2019/03/17/unions/

Unions: Two Stories, by Robert Musil, translated and with an introduction by yours truly, will be out on April 15th, the anniversary of Musil's death. Beautifully typeset and designed by Contra Mundum's Alessandro Segalini, our book is graced with a cover featuring a painting by Musil's wife, Martha, allegedly inscribed to the dentist with whom she conceived her daughter during her second marriage (to Herr Marcovaldi), an incident which is referred to in the first story of the collection. Both the stories in Unions were inspired by Martha's experiences and psyche, and, as such, I feel that this book, especially in our edition, is Martha's book, issued in her honor. I have also dedicated my introduction to my sister, Simone Ellin, and all the other non-biological sisters in my life. It is a woman's book, about women's desire, though written by a man. An amazing act of ventriloquism, translated into English and, I like to think, somehow, now, translated back into a woman's voice.

Mark Mirsky inspired me to translate these stories, with a query about the original text of the first one, and it will appear in his magazine Fiction, some time in the spring. Rainer J. Hanshe, Contra Mundum's driving force, sustained me through the difficult task in all its phases, supplying invaluable insight into questions large and small.

You can read the description and advance order here: http://contramundum.net/2019/03/17/unions/

2 comments:

The Prophet Of FrivolityMay 24, 2019 at 8:29 AM
Thank you, Genese, I received my copy. Loved the introduction. Extremely valuable. Always waiting for more from you on Musil. Trivia, I think it is the first time I see anyone using 'Robert' instead of 'Musil' in any writing. :)
ReplyDelete
Replies
Musil AttemptsMay 27, 2019 at 7:23 AM
Thank you, Prophet of Frivolity! I don't think I was aware I got so familiar with Robert, but I suppose it slipped through the censors and editors! By now, about two decades into our one-sided friendship, I can only hope that he would allow me to use "du". But, really, I doubt it!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Attempts to Find Another Human Being

Around 1923 Musil planned to publish a collection of his essays under the title, "Versuche einen anderen Menschen zu finden" (Attempts to Find Another Human Being). In his notebooks he wrote:

"In fact, this could be the title for everything that I have ever written. I can think of no other excuse for spending one's whole life at a writing desk to become a beggar. [...] I can only imagine another duty with great difficulty. I have always been a writer, always pursued writing.
It has come to pass in my life that people have scolded me for it and have called me a sick human being, an intellectual, an unmoral human being, a scientist, in short, everything that I am not, and only with resistance, under the pressure of a few, people have become accustomed to thinking of me as what I believe myself to be, and want to be: a writer."