Ulrich, the main character of R. Musil's great novel 'The Man Without Qualities,' confronted with 'the incredible loneliness of man in the desert of trivialities,' tries to isolate himself from the glitter and poverty of the outside world with the help of his ego. The story of his life can be read as a painstaking exploration of the modern human soul, which has not lost the ability to dream and imbue the world with an indefinite yet meaningful purpose. Like another great book, Joyce's 'Ulysses,' 'The Man Without Qualities' remains a challenge from the Writer to the Reader, a challenge every connoisseur of true literature must answer.