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Flypaper
'They no longer hold themselves up with all their might, but sink a little and at that moment appear totally human'
Of the very first rank of prose stylists, Robert Musil captures a scene's every telling detail and symbolic aspect with a precise and remarkable beauty. In these nine stories and essays, he considers holidaymakers and stone monuments, tales of war and blackbirds, and the great pathos of a tiny death: a fly's impossible fight against the grip of flypaper.
This book includes Flypaper, Monkey Island, Fisherman on the Baltic, Sheep, As Seen in Another Light, Sarcophagus Cover, Monuments, The Paint Spreader, It's Lovely Here and The Blackbird.
80 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1936
9 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
About the author
Robert Musil
308 books1,378 followersAustrian writer.
He graduated military boarding school at Eisenstadt (1892-1894) and then Hranice, in that time also known as Mährisch Weißkirchen, (1894-1897). These school experiences are reflected in his first novel, The Confusions of Young Törless.
He served in the army during The First World War. When Austria became a part of the Third Reich in 1938, Musil left for exile in Switzerland, where he died of a stroke on April 15, 1942. Musil collapsed in the middle of his gymnastic exercises and is rumoured to have died with an expression of ironic amusement on his face. He was 61 years old.
He graduated military boarding school at Eisenstadt (1892-1894) and then Hranice, in that time also known as Mährisch Weißkirchen, (1894-1897). These school experiences are reflected in his first novel, The Confusions of Young Törless.
He served in the army during The First World War. When Austria became a part of the Third Reich in 1938, Musil left for exile in Switzerland, where he died of a stroke on April 15, 1942. Musil collapsed in the middle of his gymnastic exercises and is rumoured to have died with an expression of ironic amusement on his face. He was 61 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 18, 2015
أول قراءة لروبرت موزيل ولن تكون الأخير بالتأكيد.. هذا الرجل مبدع بلا حدود.. الكتاب عبارة عن قصص قصيرة ومقالتين..
April 7, 2018
I sure hope nobody decides to skip the finest in fiction 'A man without qualities' because this was somebody's starting point to give the great Robert Musil a try
September 1, 2021
A little book containing short stories and commentaries about everyday things. Some were more engaging than others, but I am interested to explore more of Robert Musil's work.
September 22, 2016
Tiny tales well told with a prose style that is all his own. Wonderful.
August 11, 2022
My first read of Musil. Not quite the best but got me enticed and hooked. I'm definitely going to dig in his works soon, specifically curious about "A man without qualities".
December 30, 2018
Excepcional edição com design primoroso, capa e ilustrações da artista Regina Silveira e numerada (apenas mil exemplares foram impressos).
Este é o segundo livro de Musil que leio. O primeiro foi "O Homem sem Qualidades", um dos livros que mais influenciaram minha visão de mundo. Robert Musil é denso e vai direto ao ponto em sua escrita, tendo um senso de humor bastante particular e pouco óbvio.
Esta edição da editora Carambaia apresenta 13 contos e textos, alguns mais longos, com algumas dezenas de páginas, e outros bem curtos, de um ou dois parágrafos apenas. O "Papel Mata-Moscas", "Um cavalo pode rir?" e "Para o Conceito de Gênio" foram meus prediletos.
Para mim, a leitura de Musil nem sempre é fácil. Às vezes preciso repassar alguns trechos, não só porque sou muito dispersa de um modo geral, mas também porque tem tanta coisa para se absorver que não é possível, pelo menos para mim, ler com a fluidez que outros autores proporcionam. Mas vejam que isso não é uma crítica: muito pelo contrário, acredito que, sem dúvida alguma, Musil faz valer cada segundo de dedicação, tanto como para as mil páginas de "O Homem sem Qualidades", como para este breve livro de contos.
Recomendo.
Este é o segundo livro de Musil que leio. O primeiro foi "O Homem sem Qualidades", um dos livros que mais influenciaram minha visão de mundo. Robert Musil é denso e vai direto ao ponto em sua escrita, tendo um senso de humor bastante particular e pouco óbvio.
Esta edição da editora Carambaia apresenta 13 contos e textos, alguns mais longos, com algumas dezenas de páginas, e outros bem curtos, de um ou dois parágrafos apenas. O "Papel Mata-Moscas", "Um cavalo pode rir?" e "Para o Conceito de Gênio" foram meus prediletos.
Para mim, a leitura de Musil nem sempre é fácil. Às vezes preciso repassar alguns trechos, não só porque sou muito dispersa de um modo geral, mas também porque tem tanta coisa para se absorver que não é possível, pelo menos para mim, ler com a fluidez que outros autores proporcionam. Mas vejam que isso não é uma crítica: muito pelo contrário, acredito que, sem dúvida alguma, Musil faz valer cada segundo de dedicação, tanto como para as mil páginas de "O Homem sem Qualidades", como para este breve livro de contos.
Recomendo.
June 2, 2018
Real rating: 7.2/10
Intriguing and thoughtful, yet full of itself. When reading the short stories within one does not feel like they are reading a character's opinions. The author's words strike with such a rigid academic misunderstanding of the world that pretentiousness oozes off the page, which is sad because the words within are brilliantly written, and I was particularly enamoured with "The Paintspreader" and its notion on what is an artist.
To sum up the work in the easiest way is to quote the work "On the heath near Rome: They had the long faces and the delicate skulls of martyrs." That line sounds brilliant, but with a moment or two of contemplation, one can see how the author perceives the world and how proudly opinion becomes fact.
Intriguing and thoughtful, yet full of itself. When reading the short stories within one does not feel like they are reading a character's opinions. The author's words strike with such a rigid academic misunderstanding of the world that pretentiousness oozes off the page, which is sad because the words within are brilliantly written, and I was particularly enamoured with "The Paintspreader" and its notion on what is an artist.
To sum up the work in the easiest way is to quote the work "On the heath near Rome: They had the long faces and the delicate skulls of martyrs." That line sounds brilliant, but with a moment or two of contemplation, one can see how the author perceives the world and how proudly opinion becomes fact.
August 18, 2021
Reseña: Atrapamoscas - Robert Musil
El aplausómetro literario estaba destinado para Mann y Kafka. Eran los referentes mundiales de los 20 y 30, la verborrea sobre ellos disparaba las más estrambóticas historias e ingeniosas anécdotas. A este festejo de la lengua alemana, tan drástica y totalitaria, no estaba invitado el austríaco Robert Musil.
Fue así que en silencio comenzó El hombre sin atributos en 1930, inacabada por cierto, con más de 1500 hermosas páginas escritras hasta 1942. De manera paralela, llevaba escribiendo diversos textos, sin dirección o género específico, de incalculable valor narrativo. Entre los más valiosos está Atrapamoscas (1936), una joya de textos dispersos y diversos, sin mayor anhelo ni ambición, que denota a un escritor que fácilmente podría constituirse entre los mejores del s.XX.
Y comer en la misma mesa que Borges y discutir sobre su bárbara -y silenciosa influencia- en argentinos como Saer o Cortázar. Musil escribía sobre la insignificancia de un papel que atrapa moscas y que no tiene nada que envidiar a la suerte de los humanos o sobre un Mirlo que canta, imita a otras aves y habla. Entrando de lleno al realismo mágico. Así de experimental era Musil: un estilista de la prosa, complejo, irónico e inolvidable.
#robertmusil
#literaturaaustriaca
#literaturauniversal
#bookstagram
El aplausómetro literario estaba destinado para Mann y Kafka. Eran los referentes mundiales de los 20 y 30, la verborrea sobre ellos disparaba las más estrambóticas historias e ingeniosas anécdotas. A este festejo de la lengua alemana, tan drástica y totalitaria, no estaba invitado el austríaco Robert Musil.
Fue así que en silencio comenzó El hombre sin atributos en 1930, inacabada por cierto, con más de 1500 hermosas páginas escritras hasta 1942. De manera paralela, llevaba escribiendo diversos textos, sin dirección o género específico, de incalculable valor narrativo. Entre los más valiosos está Atrapamoscas (1936), una joya de textos dispersos y diversos, sin mayor anhelo ni ambición, que denota a un escritor que fácilmente podría constituirse entre los mejores del s.XX.
Y comer en la misma mesa que Borges y discutir sobre su bárbara -y silenciosa influencia- en argentinos como Saer o Cortázar. Musil escribía sobre la insignificancia de un papel que atrapa moscas y que no tiene nada que envidiar a la suerte de los humanos o sobre un Mirlo que canta, imita a otras aves y habla. Entrando de lleno al realismo mágico. Así de experimental era Musil: un estilista de la prosa, complejo, irónico e inolvidable.
#robertmusil
#literaturaaustriaca
#literaturauniversal
#bookstagram
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2022
Passo algumas horas do meu dia no transporte público na ida e na vinda do trabalho e tenho preferido pegar os livros pequenos e médios que tenho na minha estante para ler. Tenho também dado preferência a eles porque é uma forma de redescobrir a minha própria estante e controlar um pouco o consumo desenfreado de livros (bastante influenciado por quem mais pensa em compras de livros do que em ler os livros que tem.
Dito isso, peguei esse livrinho de Robert Musil sem grandes pretensões, mas sabendo que Musil escreveu um calhamaço de mais de mil páginas que um dia pretendo ter e ler. Enquanto isso não acontece, posso dizer que aproveitei muito esse livros de ensaios escolhidos pelo tradutor Marcelo Backes.
Gostei de todos os ensaios e, principalmente, do ensaio que dá título ao livro "O papel mata-moscas". Com certeza pretendo ler o restante do que Musil nos deixou de sua escrita.
Dito isso, peguei esse livrinho de Robert Musil sem grandes pretensões, mas sabendo que Musil escreveu um calhamaço de mais de mil páginas que um dia pretendo ter e ler. Enquanto isso não acontece, posso dizer que aproveitei muito esse livros de ensaios escolhidos pelo tradutor Marcelo Backes.
Gostei de todos os ensaios e, principalmente, do ensaio que dá título ao livro "O papel mata-moscas". Com certeza pretendo ler o restante do que Musil nos deixou de sua escrita.
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August 2, 2025کاغذ مگسکُش/ رابرت موزیل/ ترجمهی محمد قصّاع/ نشر قدیانی
کتاب ۹ تا داستانک/جستار داره:
کاغذ مگسکش
جزیرهی میمونها
پوشش تابوت سنگی
ماهیگیران دریای بالتیک
گوسفند از زاویهای دیگر
بناهای یادبود
کپیکار
اینجا دوستداشتنیست
پرندهی سیاه
.
۵ داستانک اول معمولی ولی ۳ تا جستارِ بناهای یادبود، کپیکار و اینجا دوستداشتنیست، حقیقتاً خوندنی بودند آمّـــا آسِ قضیهْ داستانِ کوتاهِ آخر کتاب یعنی پرندهی سیاه هستش؛ فضای مبهم و رازگونی داره که توش یکی برای رفیقش سه تا داستان از تجربهی نوعی شهود -که برای خودش اتفاق افتاده- تعریف میکنه. در مواجههی اول، موزیل نویسندهی عجیب و غریب و ترسناکی به نظر میاد، انگار کافکاها رو ریختی روی بلانشوها.
کتاب ۹ تا داستانک/جستار داره:
کاغذ مگسکش
جزیرهی میمونها
پوشش تابوت سنگی
ماهیگیران دریای بالتیک
گوسفند از زاویهای دیگر
بناهای یادبود
کپیکار
اینجا دوستداشتنیست
پرندهی سیاه
.
۵ داستانک اول معمولی ولی ۳ تا جستارِ بناهای یادبود، کپیکار و اینجا دوستداشتنیست، حقیقتاً خوندنی بودند آمّـــا آسِ قضیهْ داستانِ کوتاهِ آخر کتاب یعنی پرندهی سیاه هستش؛ فضای مبهم و رازگونی داره که توش یکی برای رفیقش سه تا داستان از تجربهی نوعی شهود -که برای خودش اتفاق افتاده- تعریف میکنه. در مواجههی اول، موزیل نویسندهی عجیب و غریب و ترسناکی به نظر میاد، انگار کافکاها رو ریختی روی بلانشوها.
November 17, 2025
Let's be fair, more literary talent is on display in Flypaper than the vast majority of writers, living or dead, will ever come near.
I read this in Some Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, which also has an excellent piece on... doors.
I read this in Some Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, which also has an excellent piece on... doors.
October 27, 2018
Interesting mini-essays and super short fiction. More artistic than informative. Might recommend.
December 9, 2011
Flypaper-Robert Musil
"อย่างที่คุณรู้ ขณะที่ความผิดหวังครั้งแรกเรียกน้ำตาให้ไหลพราก ความผิดหวังซ้ำสองกลับนำมาซึ่งรอยยิ้ม"- Robert Musil
เข้าใจว่ามูซิลเป็นหนึ่งในนักเขียนที่ยิ่งใหญ่ในโลกภาษาเยอรมัน อย่างน้อยที่สุดเขาก็ทิ้งงานชิ้นใหญ่ที่เขียนไม่จบอย่าง Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man without Qualities) ไว้ประดับวงการวรรณกรรม ซึ่งมักถูกนำไปเทียบเคียงกับ A la rechercher du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time) ของมาร์แซล พรูสต์ ทั้งในแง่ปริมาณและคุณภาพ
กระดาษดักแมลงวัน (Flypaper) เล่มนี้คัดสรรงานเขียนแปดเรื่องสั้นๆและหนึ่งเรื่องที่ไม่ยาวเท่าไหร่ ซึ่งแน่นอนว่า 'อ่านรู้เรื่องบ้าง ไม่รู้เรื่องบ้าง' กระนั้นหลายต่อหลายเรื่องในเล่มนี้ก็อ่านสนุก (และเปิดดิกกันสนุกมาก!) ข้อโดดเด่นสุดๆของมันคือความคิดที่เขาสอดแทรกลงไประหว่างบรรทัด และภาษาเรียบลื่นงดงาม ไม่เสียชื่อ 'Prose stylist' อย่างที่หลายคนยกย่องและสำนักพิมพ์โฆษณา (คงต้องชมคนแปลด้วย) ขณะที่เนื้อหาแต่ละเรื่องก็น่าสนใจเอามากๆ อย่างเช่น Flypaper ที่เล่าเรื่องแมลงวันที่พยายามเอาชีวิตรอดจากแผ่นกระดาษ หรือ Sarcophagus Cover ที่พูดถึงคู่รักมัมมี่ได้โรแมนติกสุดๆ ฯลฯ
เราคิดว่าหนังสือเล่มเล็กๆแค่ 60 กว่าหน้า น่าจะเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นที่ดีสำหรับคนที่อยากทำความรู้จักวรรณกรรมโมเดิร์นภาษาเยอรมันให้มากขึ้น
สุดท้ายนี้ขอกราบงามๆ (ฮา)
ปล.โรแบรฺต มูซิล เป็นนักเขียนชาวออสเตรีย
"อย่างที่คุณรู้ ขณะที่ความผิดหวังครั้งแรกเรียกน้ำตาให้ไหลพราก ความผิดหวังซ้ำสองกลับนำมาซึ่งรอยยิ้ม"- Robert Musil
เข้าใจว่ามูซิลเป็นหนึ่งในนักเขียนที่ยิ่งใหญ่ในโลกภาษาเยอรมัน อย่างน้อยที่สุดเขาก็ทิ้งงานชิ้นใหญ่ที่เขียนไม่จบอย่าง Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man without Qualities) ไว้ประดับวงการวรรณกรรม ซึ่งมักถูกนำไปเทียบเคียงกับ A la rechercher du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time) ของมาร์แซล พรูสต์ ทั้งในแง่ปริมาณและคุณภาพ
กระดาษดักแมลงวัน (Flypaper) เล่มนี้คัดสรรงานเขียนแปดเรื่องสั้นๆและหนึ่งเรื่องที่ไม่ยาวเท่าไหร่ ซึ่งแน่นอนว่า 'อ่านรู้เรื่องบ้าง ไม่รู้เรื่องบ้าง' กระนั้นหลายต่อหลายเรื่องในเล่มนี้ก็อ่านสนุก (และเปิดดิกกันสนุกมาก!) ข้อโดดเด่นสุดๆของมันคือความคิดที่เขาสอดแทรกลงไประหว่างบรรทัด และภาษาเรียบลื่นงดงาม ไม่เสียชื่อ 'Prose stylist' อย่างที่หลายคนยกย่องและสำนักพิมพ์โฆษณา (คงต้องชมคนแปลด้วย) ขณะที่เนื้อหาแต่ละเรื่องก็น่าสนใจเอามากๆ อย่างเช่น Flypaper ที่เล่าเรื่องแมลงวันที่พยายามเอาชีวิตรอดจากแผ่นกระดาษ หรือ Sarcophagus Cover ที่พูดถึงคู่รักมัมมี่ได้โรแมนติกสุดๆ ฯลฯ
เราคิดว่าหนังสือเล่มเล็กๆแค่ 60 กว่าหน้า น่าจะเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นที่ดีสำหรับคนที่อยากทำความรู้จักวรรณกรรมโมเดิร์นภาษาเยอรมันให้มากขึ้น
สุดท้ายนี้ขอกราบงามๆ (ฮา)
ปล.โรแบรฺต มูซิล เป็นนักเขียนชาวออสเตรีย
September 1, 2013
A splendid collection of elegant prose, touching on a variety of mundane topics–from the eponymous flypaper, through to monuments, sheep, and sepulchral statues–expressed with clarity, colour, and the gentlest of touches. The only fissure is the final piece, the short story Blackbird, which unfortunately drags and falters under the weight of the prose, showing that, despite his supernal powers of description, Musil's real talent lay not in stories, but in binding the world in the finest of words.
October 30, 2011
Musil does very nice prose sketches, almost like mindfulness exercises, on a variety of subjects. He also branches into more surreal territory with an enigmatic longer story. I'd almost call him a less energetic Calvino. Worth checking out if you like that brand of prose.
November 7, 2012
Always wanted to read Musil, but never came across any of his books. Found this at TBC.
March 18, 2016
brilliant.
vollman and DFW have done something similar.
vollman and DFW have done something similar.
June 11, 2016
I appreciate Musil's wry humour but I kinda feel like he wrote a crapload of essays about literally NOTHING just to see how the literary critics would react. Well played, sir.
August 7, 2011
These pieces are like prose poems. I liked them very much.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews