Kien, a significant sinologist, leads a grotesque cave life in his library of 25,000 volumes. His world exists in his mind, but his mind is devoid of any sense of the world. When he is seduced into marriage by his housekeeper and confronted with ordinary life, he can only escape into madness. This novel, first published in Vienna in 1935, occupies a central place in 20th-century literature. Like Joyce's 'Ulysses,' 'The Blindness' serves as a powerful metaphor for the solitary, reflective mind's struggle with reality.