Broch, Hermann, 1886-1951, Austrian novelist. Broch is one of the masters of European modernism. Influenced by Immanuel Kant and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Kraus, and the Vienna Circle, his trilogy Die Schlafwandler (1931-32; tr. The Sleepwalkers, 1932) describes the disintegration of social values and of organic coherence in the modern world. Der Tod des Virgil (1945; tr. The Death of Virgil, 1945) is a lyrical, stream-of-consciousness novel stylistically evoking James Joyce. His Hugo von Hofmannstahl and His Time (1964, tr. 1984) is one of the great accounts of fin-de-siècle Vienna. Also a mathematician and businessman, Broch lived in the United States after 1938.

(born Nov. 1, 1886, Vienna—died May 30, 1951, New Haven, Conn., U.S.) Austrian writer. A student of physics, mathematics, and philosophy, Broch published his first major work, The Sleepwalkers (1931–32), when he was in his 40s. A trilogy tracing the disintegration of European society between 1888 and 1918, it exemplifies his innovative multidimensional novels in its use of many different narrative forms to present a wide range of experiences. His other novels include The Death of Virgil (1945), which presents the last 18 hours of Virgil's life, and The Spell (1953), a portrayal of a Hitlerian stranger's domination of a village. He also wrote essays, letters, and reviews.

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(born Nov. 1, 1886, Vienna—died May 30, 1951, New Haven, Conn., U.S.) Austrian writer. A student of physics, mathematics, and philosophy, Broch published his first major work, The Sleepwalkers (1931–32), when he was in his 40s. A trilogy tracing the disintegration of European society between 1888 and 1918, it exemplifies his innovative multidimensional novels in its use of many different narrative forms to present a wide range of experiences. His other novels include The Death of Virgil (1945), which presents the last 18 hours of Virgil's life, and The Spell (1953), a portrayal of a Hitlerian stranger's domination of a village. He also wrote essays, letters, and reviews.

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