Such a generous subject but such a boring book. And now, as some1 around here said, I can reply to: "Have you read Musil's famous ?" with: "No, but I read his very first book. Have you?" :DI'm almost sure I would have enjoyed it better if it had been written in the 1st person (I even liked Zeno more while reading Torless). The poetic (sometimes pathetic) language lost me. And all those philosophical perorations! Coming of age was never duller! I choose The catcher in the rye and The adventures of Huckleberry Finn without even blinking. And as for adolescence cruelty & adventure, try Lords of the flies.
Now let's get down to some serious reading.