Robert Musil - The Man Without Qualities, 2 vols. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1995).  Translated by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike.

ISBN: 0394510526 | 1774 pages | PDF

"The Man Without Qualities" (German: Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) is a monumental, unfinished novel in three parts by the Austrian writer Robert Musil (1880-1942), who worked tirelessly on the book for more than twenty years.  Set in Vienna on the eve of World War I, this great novel of ideas tells the story of Ulrich, ex-soldier and scientist, seducer and skeptic, who finds himself drafted into the grandiose plans for the 70th jubilee of the Emperor Franz Josef. 

This 1995 edition, published in two volumes and translated by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike, is the first to present Musil's complete text, including material that remained unpublished during his lifetime.  Volume 1 contains Parts I and II ("A Sort of Introduction" and "Pseudoreality Prevails"); Volume 2 contains Part III ("Into the Millennium") in addition to twenty galley chapters, drafts of the final incomplete chapters, and Musil's notes on the development and direction of the novel.

For more on the novel's background and structure, see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Without_Qualities

Reviews

"Musil belongs in the company of Joyce, Proust, Kafka, and Svevo… [This translation] is a literary and intellectual event of singular importance." -- New Republic

"The Man Without Qualities is one of the towering achievements of the European novel, and this edition is one of the most important publishing events of recent years." -- The Observer