Abstract
The book is concerned with literary representations of "things" and "matter-of-factness". Thematically, it derives from the Heidegerian term Zuhandenheit, and it focuses mostly on Central European texts.
The essential characteristics of the Heideggerian Dasein is "Being in the world", being in close relationship with the world. This closeness is based on the fact that human existence is typically performed as a practical activity - we dwell in the world through accommodating it, and we get to know things through using them.
Each and every thing is defined by its Zuhandenheit, by the fact that it is always at hand. However, that also means that we are truly aware of the presence and existence of things only when they start to lose their shape, function and usability - at the very moment of their collapse they reveal monumental shapelessness hidden beneath the surface of our daily activities.
The sense of things fills (and shows) the abyss of time, claims Heidegger.