This is an excerpt from The Confusions of Young Torless. If you'd like some context or are interested in the book, you can get caught up by previewing the book on Amazon (it's on page 12 IIRC).
Anyway, here's the excerpt:
- They are reactions of the brain. However, that to which one responds as the character or emotional core, as the line or timbre of a person; that compared to which their thoughts, decisions, and actions seem less definitive, seem accidental, replaceable; that, for example, which had attached Torless to the prince beyond all rational judgement; that ultimate, unmoving background, had at this time completely dissipated within Torless.
The part about the prince makes it a little more clear, but it still seems like a very convoluted way of letting us know that Torless' decisions and actions are lacking the guiding force of well-defined character/inner-being.
Here's what I got based on the previous 2 paragraphs: These reactions: (1) show how one responds as the character and line [of the poem] (2) show how the thoughts/decisions/actions [of the characters in the poem?], seem accidental, replaceable, and less definitive (3) allow Torless to be attached to [a fictional prince that he has created] beyond all rational judgement However, these reactions, ultimate and unmoving [while he is writing the poem], had completely dissipated within Torless [after he finished writing the poem.] The one I'm not sure about is (2). I don't know what the "their" in "their thoughts, decisions, and actions" is referring to. Apparently, the novel was originally written in German, so maybe you'll have more luck with the original German text if you can read German or know someone who can read German. I really don't know how far off I am because I haven't read the entire novel before.[The feelings Torless get while writing a poem] are reactions of the brain.
Yes, it's convoluted. Basic rule of (copy)/writing: if you notice in a paragraph you repeat the same phrase multiple times, it's time to rephrase what you're saying in a simpler manner. Example: rephrasing to make it simpler: edit, realizing my last paragraph was still convoluted. Should've been: No, I don't use the oxford comma.The dog from the house on the street was brown. The cat from the house on the street was purple. The chinchilla from the house on the street was fluorescent.
There are three animals from the house on the street: 1) a green cat; 2) a brown dog; and 3) a fluorescent chinchilla.
There are three animals from the house on the street: a green cat, a brown dog and a fluorescent chinchilla.