A semi-autobiographical novel set in a military academy in a desolate corner of the Austro-Hungarian empire, is the story of the intellectual awakening of an intelligent adolescent, and contains several passages on mathematics (and philosophy), notably a remarkably penetrating discussion of the meaning of imaginary numbers.

Young Törless was adapted into a movie, directed by Volker Schlöndorff (who also adapted The Tin Drum).

Confusions of Young Torless is not only about irrational numbers but also about parallels. In the beginning Musil describes the tracks of the railroad line not as one may expect (and as it for instance Gerhart Hauptmann does it in "Bahnwärter Thile") as converging at the horizon. Musil tells the reader the tracks will never meet. Which of course is true but you never see it like that. The thoughts about irrational numbers raises the philosophical question if numbers alltogether are inventions of man kind or if we find them (as we found for instance Australia or the Congo).