Recommendations from our site
“I would take this book to a desert island for a very good reason, which is that I’d never get to the end of it! It’s one of the longest unfinished novels ever written….The actual plot—if you can call it a plot—is the story of an attempt to think of something suitable to do for the celebration of Emperor Franz Joseph’s 70th year in power. He had come to power in 1848, so we’re talking about 1918. The novel has this somewhat surreal quality, partly because we, as readers, know that the Jubilee is never going to happen…Ulrich, who is the man without qualities—a good description—is a successful bureaucrat.” Read more...
Nicholas Parsons, Historian
“Along with Ulysses and A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, some say this is one of the three great books of the 20th century. It describes events in Vienna in 1914: a group of people prepares for the 70th anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef and the 30th anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm II. Hence it was called The Parallel Action. The main protagonist, Ulrich, struggles to reconcile the enlightenment spirit of rationality within him and the Nietzschean urge for mysticism and spirit. He fails. But he does have an affair with his sister in the process. And numerous discussions numerous characters, all representing parts of the declining Habsburg Empire. It’s a fantastic illustration of decline and the philosophical conflict of modernity.” Read more...
The best books on The European Civil War
Andreas Wesemann, Entrepreneurs & Business People
