The most ludicrous business in literature: in Confessions of Zeno

No doubt the long middle chapter, Wife and Mistress, in Italo Svevo's Confessions of Zeno is dark and sorrowful, like the legato movement in a concerto - though Zeno is oblivious to everyone but himself and his exquisitely tuned sensibilities, how can we not feel sad for his mistress, Carla, suffering from poverty and loneliness, who links herself shamefully to Zeno only to live off of his envelopes full of cash that he hands her after each visit - without realizing that his visits to her are no different from his visit to a "woman of the streets" whom he encounters after the breakup with Carla? The humor in this section is bitter, and Zeno's actions are cruel rather than quirky. But the book lifts up again, the tone brightens, the mood lightens in the 5th chapter (these chapters are a 100 pages or so - really like novellas in a way), A Business Agreement (I think): in this section, Zeno and his brother-in-law Guido, a one-time rival who married Zeno's first crush, the beautiful sister, Ada, form a business together, and their doing so is practically a sit-com in itself. They decide to form some kind of trading-mercantile company. Zeno gives the good advice that they ought to have an office near "their" warehouse, so as to keep an eye on the goods, but Guido decides that the warehouse district smells of "fish and fur" - so they rent a beautiful office space downtown. In fact, they never have a warehouse. In fact, they never seem to do any work. They spend lots of time (it's actually Guido's company, but he somehow hires Zeno for his "expert" advice) buying the finest furniture and, inevitably, hiring the most beautiful secretary, who has no skills - but that doesn't really matter because they do no work. Guido has the theory that it's best to watch and wait - which of course allows him and Z. to avoid even going into the office for weeks at a time. They finally do order several tons of copper sulfate, and immediately watch the price drop - and then panic when the company threatens to  deliver the stuff. It's all very ridiculous, and Svevo's narration is delightfully dry and understated. Essentially, we're watching two spoiled rich kids who've never had to work at day in their lives play at begin adults, largely unaware of their foolishness, stupidity, and privilege. They probably - certainly, in fact - feel the wealth that they've inherited is something that they earned and that they deserve.