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generalheff's review against another edition
2.0
This book describes Törless - a boy at boarding school - and his coming to terms with the onset of puberty and encountering "sensuality" for the first time by taking part in ruthlessly bullying and raping a fellow pupil who he and his friends caught steeling.
According to the introduction, German military schools at the turn of the twentieth century were ruthless places where such behaviour was not uncommon. Rainer Maria Rilke, for instance, once commented that he was reminded of his time attending the same school as the Young Törless upon reading Dostoevsky's description of being in a Siberian prison camp in Notes from a Dead House. So the shocking nature of the material is in itself not a reason to view the book negatively.
What is a reason to dislike the book, however, is just how tedious and pretentious it is. Around the distressing - thought somewhat parenthetical - descriptions of a boy being mentally and sexually abused, we are treated to tiresome discussions of philosophy as Törless grapples with philosophical questions like how do we articulate in words deep and dark feelings, or what are imaginary numbers (no doubt a tired metaphor for the boy's struggles but one I don't have any interest in decoding).
It's all so much a representation of Törless' growth, but it is painfully dull, utterly banal and not at all as sophisticated or "intellectual" as the introduction claims. Nor is it a view into "dictatorial attitudes that prefigure the outbreak of ... fascism" as the blurb suggests. It is, simply put, a poor description of some teenage mental turbulence grafted onto some pretty thinly drawn characters enmeshed in a disturbing story of abuse.
The book does have some insightful lines that just lift it out of the dread 1-star category: for example, when discussing why banal literature can be useful for young people, Musil amusingly comments that it can carry them "over the dangerous, soft emotional ground of those years during which one has to mean something to oneself and is yet still too much of an unfinished article really to be anything." This and a few more gems besides managed to grab my interest for a passing second but unfortunately it was too little to salvage the work.
In sum, I can see why I had never heard of this book before I picked it up in a three for two offer, had not heard of Robert Musil and am thoroughly grateful the book was so easy and quick to get through.
According to the introduction, German military schools at the turn of the twentieth century were ruthless places where such behaviour was not uncommon. Rainer Maria Rilke, for instance, once commented that he was reminded of his time attending the same school as the Young Törless upon reading Dostoevsky's description of being in a Siberian prison camp in Notes from a Dead House. So the shocking nature of the material is in itself not a reason to view the book negatively.
What is a reason to dislike the book, however, is just how tedious and pretentious it is. Around the distressing - thought somewhat parenthetical - descriptions of a boy being mentally and sexually abused, we are treated to tiresome discussions of philosophy as Törless grapples with philosophical questions like how do we articulate in words deep and dark feelings, or what are imaginary numbers (no doubt a tired metaphor for the boy's struggles but one I don't have any interest in decoding).
It's all so much a representation of Törless' growth, but it is painfully dull, utterly banal and not at all as sophisticated or "intellectual" as the introduction claims. Nor is it a view into "dictatorial attitudes that prefigure the outbreak of ... fascism" as the blurb suggests. It is, simply put, a poor description of some teenage mental turbulence grafted onto some pretty thinly drawn characters enmeshed in a disturbing story of abuse.
The book does have some insightful lines that just lift it out of the dread 1-star category: for example, when discussing why banal literature can be useful for young people, Musil amusingly comments that it can carry them "over the dangerous, soft emotional ground of those years during which one has to mean something to oneself and is yet still too much of an unfinished article really to be anything." This and a few more gems besides managed to grab my interest for a passing second but unfortunately it was too little to salvage the work.
In sum, I can see why I had never heard of this book before I picked it up in a three for two offer, had not heard of Robert Musil and am thoroughly grateful the book was so easy and quick to get through.
zach_l's review against another edition
No rating. If you are an adolescent male struggling with your sexuality but also addicted to Nietzsche, I have found you the novel of your dreams. "The Confusions of Young Törless" is one of the earliest works of gay fiction (before "gay fiction" was really a genre) and I assign it no rating because although I did not particular enjoy it, I do not want to undermine its significance! The book itself is deeply philosophical, in a rather precious (and hard to follow) way that mixes layers of psychology and morality and political allegory. In short, it provides endless material for 1,000+ college essays but as a general read it was more of a slog. That said, the inner torment of Törless feels real when you get past the intellectual language and you can sense the author's own struggles coming through the page.
nunuseli's review against another edition
4.0
Creo que leí este libro cuando aún no estaba preparada para hacerlo. Y aún así me impresionó. Tengo que releerlo porque estoy convencida que ahora aún me impresionará/gustará más.
wkoch's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.0
tom_f's review against another edition
2.0
Strong as a portent of the origins of totalitarianism, strong also in its specific observations of the fluctuations between doubt and certainty that are the result of Törless’ constant overthinking, weak as an attempt at disguising an amateur psychological thesis as a novel. The confusions advance in muddy tracts of prose that ruminate too long on abstract mental states. I feel like one of the teachers at the end.
antoniosantos's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars.
It's a good book, but tense and cruel at times, it basically deals with perversion, psychological/physical torture and severe bullying. it is very reflective, and makes crucial points to understand totalitarian and cruel systems through and a perspective of teenagers inside a boarding school.
It's a book from 1906 that brings up timeless themes, which is why it seems up-to-date.
It's a good book, but tense and cruel at times, it basically deals with perversion, psychological/physical torture and severe bullying. it is very reflective, and makes crucial points to understand totalitarian and cruel systems through and a perspective of teenagers inside a boarding school.
It's a book from 1906 that brings up timeless themes, which is why it seems up-to-date.
ozielbispo's review against another edition
4.0
O Jovem Törless foi o romance de estreia do austríaco Robert Musil (1880 – 1942), e foi publicado em 1906.
Mussil é famoso pelo livro, “O Homem sem Qualidades", mas "Törless" por ser um livro de estreia é sensacional.
É um livro bem-parecido com o livro impressionista "O Ateneu" de Raul Pompéia.
O jovem Törless +-15 anos, é enviado a um distante internato religioso/ escola militar. Lá em vez de nele encontrar o paraíso vislumbrado pelos pais, se depara com o inferno. Violências e abusos, ocorrem o tempo todo; os mais fortes vencem, assim como em" O Ateneu".
Bassini, um garoto afeminado e frágil é humilhado e abusado sexualmente por dois garotos do internato, Reiting e Beineberg, após ter sido descoberto roubando dinheiro de um garoto. Para não ser exposto, ele aceita passar por essas humilhações. Vemos aqui práticas odiosas que o desfecho do século XX consagraria: os abusos sexuais, o ‘bullying’ e a tortura. Também podemos dizer que foi um prenúncio dos estados totalitários que surgiriam na Europa após a primeira Guerra.
Oscilando entre a vergonha e o desejo Törless se vê de repente, preso nesta teia de horror, onde o amor é quase como o ódio, tendo o seu caráter corrompido a ponto de corroborar com a brutalidade contra Bassini.
Não sabemos até que ponto as experiências estranhas e aterrorizantes do menino Törless correspondem ás do menino Robert, autor do livro. Quando Musil foi questionado se o livro era um retrato daquele período de sua vida, ele respondeu, rindo, que o que ele havia escrito não era nada comparado à realidade.
Deixo abaixo o link do filme que é considerado uma obra-prima pela crítica mas que eu não gostei por ser muito superficial, totalmente diferente do livro.
https://vk.com/video185581600_170518995
Mussil é famoso pelo livro, “O Homem sem Qualidades", mas "Törless" por ser um livro de estreia é sensacional.
É um livro bem-parecido com o livro impressionista "O Ateneu" de Raul Pompéia.
O jovem Törless +-15 anos, é enviado a um distante internato religioso/ escola militar. Lá em vez de nele encontrar o paraíso vislumbrado pelos pais, se depara com o inferno. Violências e abusos, ocorrem o tempo todo; os mais fortes vencem, assim como em" O Ateneu".
Bassini, um garoto afeminado e frágil é humilhado e abusado sexualmente por dois garotos do internato, Reiting e Beineberg, após ter sido descoberto roubando dinheiro de um garoto. Para não ser exposto, ele aceita passar por essas humilhações. Vemos aqui práticas odiosas que o desfecho do século XX consagraria: os abusos sexuais, o ‘bullying’ e a tortura. Também podemos dizer que foi um prenúncio dos estados totalitários que surgiriam na Europa após a primeira Guerra.
Oscilando entre a vergonha e o desejo Törless se vê de repente, preso nesta teia de horror, onde o amor é quase como o ódio, tendo o seu caráter corrompido a ponto de corroborar com a brutalidade contra Bassini.
Não sabemos até que ponto as experiências estranhas e aterrorizantes do menino Törless correspondem ás do menino Robert, autor do livro. Quando Musil foi questionado se o livro era um retrato daquele período de sua vida, ele respondeu, rindo, que o que ele havia escrito não era nada comparado à realidade.
Deixo abaixo o link do filme que é considerado uma obra-prima pela crítica mas que eu não gostei por ser muito superficial, totalmente diferente do livro.
https://vk.com/video185581600_170518995