Broch

The first volume of Herman Brock's 1931 novel, The Sleepwalkers, moves along placidly up to a point; the first hundred pages of so establish the dynamics of the plot, which centers on the young German army officer Joachim Von Pasenow. J is surrounded by opposing forces. His tyrannical napoleanic father insists that, following death of older brother in a duel of "honor," J come home to manage the family estate and to marry the daughter of wealthy neighbor. J is very attracted to the beautiful daughter , Elisabeth, but he is also deeply involved in a love affair w a woman in Berlin whom he had more or less rescued from a life of prostitution (Ruzena). His (only?) friend, Bertrand, a successful international businessman , has insinuated himself into both relationships - and at some point the novel feels frozen in place w the protagonist unable to make any decisions about his love, life, and future - a hamlet/prufrock sort of character. The novel takes a turn for the bizarre and dramatic, however, when the father , herr von pasenow, suffers some kind of nervous breakdown and insists on disinheriting his son and exhibits odd behavior (obsessed w mail delivery, angry at dead son for not writing). Meanwhile so-called friend Bertrand tries to set Ruzena up in a dress shop , which she rightly sees as a way to buy her off; furious, she shoots be w a pistol, grazing his arm. When J hears if this he goes off in search of the now- vanished R; finds her in ladies room at night club/casino. After ugly scene there she leaves w a customer- back to her old ways it seems. J - a la the German romantics (this part of the novel set in 1888 and called The Romantic) descendants of Young Werther considers suicide but literally falls asleep from exhaustion while writing the note. It's impossible however for readers to imagine his settling in marriage w either woman - one too socially outcast the other to good and "pure" - tho perhaps not naive about sexuality, a very open theme in this ahead-of-its-time novel. We hope,however, that he will have the chance to tell off his officious father.

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