It should not be inappropriate to compare two contemporary novels of approximately the following description: One novel relates the disillusions of a young provincial in Paris, the other the disillusions of a small-town man in Munich. The two novels center around the historic period of 1848. The two heroes have literary and artistic gifts, but prove more or less failures. Each of the two young men becomes interested in four women and each is incapable of making a definite choice for himself. Each fights a duel, exactly in the middle of the novel, and nobody knows exactly why. The two novels give practically complete life-stories of the extravagant heroes, and give into the bargain a full—if sometimes disguised—account of the authors' views on painting, literature, philosophy, religion, and politics.