Sjedinjavanja: dve priče
The book consists of two longer novellas written in dense, introspective prose that heralds the later author of "Man Without Features." "Unities" is one of the pinnacles of early European modernism and Musil's most intimate work.
Both stories deal with Musil's central theme: the impossibility of truly uniting two people in a world where body and soul, desire and morality, reality and fantasy remain forever separated. The language is sensual and analytical to the point of pain, full of long sentences that try to capture the elusive.
"The Temptation of Silent Veronica" (Die Versuchung der stillen Veronika) Veronika, a young woman between childhood and adulthood, lives in a world of fantasies and erotic premonitions. She meets three men (her uncle, her uncle Demeter, and the mysterious Johannes) who awaken in her different forms of desire and fear. At a crucial moment, in a dream or half-dream, she experiences an animalistic, almost mystical ecstasy in contact with a dog - an experience that is at once a sexual awakening and an encounter with something demonic. Veronika ultimately remains "silent," undecided between life and giving up on it.
"The Perfection of Love" (Die Vereinigung) Claudine, a married woman, faces the emotional emptiness of marriage. Her old friend Alfred returns to the city; between them smolders an ancient, never-fulfilled love. In long interior monologues, Musil dissects the smallest nuances of feelings: the fear of betrayal, the desire for complete fusion with another being, the impossibility of true intimacy. Claudine and Alfred will not proceed to physical deception, but in their minds they will experience an absolute "union" of souls - a moment that is both the peak and the end of their love.
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