Product Description
A new biography of Western literature's most iconic writer, from the acclaimed novelist and author of About Schmidt.

Kafkaesque: the very word evokes tortuous bureaucracy, crushing self-doubt, and an almost unbearable inadequacy in the face of higher powers. After Kafka, it can be said, literature was not the same. In the few novels and short stories he left behind, he distilled the horrors of the new age. Kafka's is the voice of the outsider—that is, the voice of each one of us—at once defined by its affiliations and completely, utterly alone.

The product of both a transitional age (the beginning of the 20th century) and a territory in flux (Czechoslovakia), Kafka spoke and wrote German in Czech territory. He was a Jew among Christians, a non-observant Jew among believers. Louis Begley, himself a multilingual exile and, like Kafka, a lawyer and writer, renders Kafka's life with sensitivity and insight. Begley's discussion of Kafka's masterpiece The Trial, along with shorter works such as "The Metamorphosis," opens a window on a tormented soul, one of the most intriguing figures of the modern period. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Pleasing Kafka Biography
"All I possess are certain powers which, at a depth almost inaccessible under normal conditions, shape themselves into Literature."I think this Kafka quote tells much about where his work comes from.I can understand how Mr. Begley, who worked as an attorney in NYC while also being a writer, would be fascinated by Franz Kafka, who worked as an attorney in Prague while also being a writer.I also believe both had Eastern European Jewish roots.I think when one writer can closely identify with another writer enough to write a biography, it is a start for a good one.I enjoyed this book, but perhaps that's because Kafka's life is one with which I can also identify. If Kafka's life is something that is of interest to you, but I don't know why it would be unless you are a writer, realized or not, who can identify with him, or if you're the kind of person who lives inside your head.
http://gaylealstrom.com

KAFKA: HIS WORKS, HIS LIFE, HIS TIME
FOR THOSE IN NEED OF A SHORT BUT EXPERT REVIEW OF KAFKA, HIS WORKS, HIS LIFE AND HIS TIMES, THIS BOOK FILLS THE BILL NICELY. EACH OF HIS WRITINGS ARE SUMMARIZED AND THEN RELATED TO HIS LIFE. THOSE THAT WERE NOT COMPLETED, OR POLISHED TO AN END BY OTHERS, ARE IDENTIFIED. A CHRONOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF HIS LIFE IS PRESENTED IN DETAIL. HIS FANTASY AND EMOTIONAL LIFE IS WELL PRESENTED, INCLUDING HIS DESCRIPTION OF HIS WRITING AS AN OVERFLOW OF FANTASY PUSHING HIIS CREATIVITY. HIS MEDICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC HISTORY [TUBERCULOSIS: FROM WHICH HE DIED AND MENTAL ILLNESS: WHICH SURFACED AS NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS ON 1/27/1922 AND END OF AUGUST 1922]ARE WELL DESCRIBED FROM A LAY ORIENTATION.

The Frozen Sea
An extended essay that will be enjoyed by all who may be interested in the great writer Franz Kafka. Louis Begley, an intelligent and wise author, has produced a clear, concise review of the life and literary works of the man whose books provide an axe "for the frozen sea inside us."

The bearable lightness of being (and reading) Kafka
Thanks largely to Max Brod and scores of subsequent literary commentators who read Franz Kafka through Beckettesque lenses, the image of Kafka most of us grew up with is of a tortured, self-loathing, desperately unhappy and hopelessly ill prophet who'd looked into the abyss, recognized the futility of existence and the absence of God, and tried to write about it in allegorical tales in which he's usually the thinly disguised protagonist.Given this settled picture of who Kafka is and what he's all about, plowing through one of his books can be a pretty grim task, unbearably heavy, dark, gloomy.

The virtue of Louis Begley's The Tremendous World I Have Inside My Head is that he helps us take a fresh look at the author whom the "Kafkaesque" school of interpreters has almost ruined for many of us.Relying heavily on Kafka's own words in his journals and letters, Begley invites us to re-think Kafka.In the first place, he allows us to see that Kafka's personal life wasn't the ubiquitously dark and tragic closet thing it's commonly thought to be.Kafka was as capable of laughter, frivolity, calm, and immersion in the quotidian as the rest of us.He was well-known rather than reclusive during his lifetime, and entered with gusto into the wrangles and feuds typical of the literati.(Kafka tells us, for example, that he hates fellow author Franz Werfel because of his wealth, health, and youth.)

Second, Begley argues that there's an "intrinsic and unshakable humanism" in Kafka's work that is frequently overlooked by commentators and readers who've been trained to see his work as exclusively allegorical, darkly religious (or perhaps anti-religious), and politically prophetic.This doesn't mean that the dark side isn't in Kafka.It obviously is.It's just to say that it ought not be the one standard by which we read and judge his work.

Finally, Begley worries that these ideological readings of Kafka disregard in an almost total way the very thing that Kafka most wanted to be known for:the aesthetic value of his work.Kafka was a craftsman of the highest order who would labor mightily--some might say obsessively--over single sentences and paragraphs.He had a message he wanted to convey, naturally.But he also wanted to chisel beautiful word sculptures.

After reading Begley's book, I had two responses.First, I realized, with a great sense of relief and liberation, just how Brodbeaten I've been for years, and how Brod's gloomy interpretations of Kafka have diminished rather than enhanced my ability to appreciate Kafka--so much so, to be honest, that it's been years since I've even tried to read him.Second, Begley's book prompted me walk over to my bookshelf, take down The Trial, blow the dust off it, and begin anew.

What more could one ask from a book about Kafka? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the most moving and revealing works of Kafka
This is a letter never sent. It is written from Kafka the tormented son to his father Hermann. It tells of the relationship of father and son, as seen by the son. But a good part of the son's seeing is his understanding of his father, and his father's perception of and disappointment with him. It is an analysis of his father's life also , and in a way an attempt to make a kind of connection with the distant father the son has not really had in life.
For anyonewho has had a difficult father whose love and approval they so much longed for , and did not have - this work will be a soul- opening one. It is painful, deep, true and as with all Kafka somehow mysteriously deep and beautiful .
A great great work of a great great genius.

Do not miss it!!!! Look for it everywhere!!
This little book, actually, "letter" will get to your heart. Its one of the most human prose I have ever read, the intimate conflits in a father-son relationship. No not stop until you find it, you will not regret it.

Captures the universal relationship between father and son
Definitely read this book if you can ever find it and if you like Kafka.It's a deeply personal, open-minded, unapologetically contradictory analysis of the relationship between one over-bearing, opinionated father and his timid son.One of the best books I've read ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

kafka....
what else can one say about kafka....? Well lots i suppose. The book itself is handy and very good.

perhaps a little off in the translation...
seeing as how i do not know german and thus haven't read kafka in the original language of his literature, i found no glaring problems with this translation. however, a friend who speaks german natively commented when reading through several of the stories that the translation used in this book seems to be way off, and produces a nonsensical depiction of kafka's writing. i'm not sure if this is the most widely used translation, but it's worth it, perhaps, to also find an edition that has been translated by someone else if you're going to read this book, or even better if you have the german text and can compare the two versions.

secondly, the author (erich heller) of the introduction is completely obnoxious (i know that's quite a subjective judgment). in some areas of the intro he produces incredibly insightful textual interpretation, yet at other times he tries so hard to make his analysis esoteric and postmodern that he ceases to clearly communicate anything at all to the reader (me!). perhaps if i were inside his brain i would know what he is alluding to in these completely obtuse explications, however i'm not, and he doesn't do much work in an attempt to bring his reader to the point of his realization, throughout much of the intro.

but of course, aside from the translation and the i'm-trying-too-hard-to-be-pomo author of the introduction, kafka's writing is incredible.

oh, p.s. - it seems to be missing a few important pieces of kafka's work that should have been included into this book since i don't believe they're all that long: "investigations of a dog", and "in the penal colony" are not included, perhaps amongst other appropriate additions.

My Return To The Metamorphosis
As a freshman, I had read The Metamorphosis in a course of basic English composition. How I wish I could take the day back! I was wrong, so wrong to force my Jungian dream analysis perspective onto my poor professor. In the autumn of my childhood, I was a two-bit psych major looking for a cheap thrill by Tuesday morning. I targeted Kafka like a teenager parallel parking a HumVee at his driver's license test. I argued with brazen naiveté that the spilled apple represented a mandala! Ok, so I wasn't a prodigy.

This time around, however, I decided to take Kafka literally--pardon the pun. Also, other personal writings packaged inside this volume are immensely helpful in refining my Metamorphosis road map. For instance, in the section heading "Selections From Letters To Felice", Kafka talked about his difficulty getting to sleep, writing long into the morning. In parenthesis he noted his demand for dreamless sleep. Metamorphosis may be nightmarish, but there is no merit to the dream hypothesis. The more I know about Kafka,e.g. his loathing of bureaucracy, the better equipped are we to make clear observations and intelligent interpretations of this complicated story.

The problem with understanding Metamorphosis is that it isn't formulaic. That doesn't mean we can't predict the Samsa family will succeed in coming together again after the unfortunate Gregor's death. It took us a long time to get to that point, and most of what was in between were frustrating obstacles. We have to ask why Kafka would treat his protagonist thusly, is his a sick mind? What he's trying to show us isn't of his own devising; Kafka's calling is equally unfortunate, for he had been called to the ungrateful duty of revealing the ugly side of industrial based culture.

Nobody cares for anybody else in this story, if they have no material economic use. If you are sick, your supervisor will appear at your doorstep at 7:00 in the morning, before you can get out of bed. Your immediate family will try, buteventually their patience and resources will also expire. The key to this story, I believe, is Gregor's younger sister.

This story is really about Grete, who was enthralled by her big brother Gregor, as baby sisters are known to be. Sniffle. Gregor's resemblance to an older brother fades, and little sister must learn now to take care of herself, which she does. I'm reminded of the Pink Floyd song See Saw, "she grows up for another boy, and he's down". Grete didn't exactly meet another boy, but she did grow up, and her big brother finally "bugged" her enough that she had to leave him.

Metamorphosis is the story of Grete growing up, and more interestingly, her growing into replacement part status in the cogs of industrialized Europe. She, too, dispatches Gregor with decisive haste, cutting her losses as cruelly as the three lodgers beg to sue Mr. Samsa, the senior, over Gregor's outrageous appearance. The irony of Metamorphosis occurs in the phenomenon of the "family tie". The magic and power of the family tie is diminished between Gregor and the other Samsas, until Gregor is free to die in order to prevent further devastation to his family. But the family tie was also the Samsa's salvation, prevailing in the end to give the Samsa's some ground on which to rebuild their lives together.

Finally, I see in Kafka's short prose writing, whether they are his stories or letters, elements used by Kurt Vonnegut, as exemplified in his Welcome to the Monkey House. This could be in the brevity of his stories, his common vernacular, absurd, imaginary elements. I wanted to say sci-fi, but I don't think it's so much science as it is Kafka or Vonnegut saying, "look, give me this one posit of nonsense, and I promise the rest of it will make sense".

a great little reader for Kafkaphiles...
I picked this up solely for the diverse spectrum of Kafka's writings that it covers, and it's really a pretty darn good sampling of the authors works.Most of the other reviewers have covered the book well, but there are a few important points I would like to stress with this:

The translation is not the outdated, biased, Willa & Edwin Muir translation.They were the original translators of Kafka into English, and were somewhat inclined to pigeonhole his works into their interpretation.I haven't had any qualms with the works as they are in here.

But I would recommend skipping Erich Heller's introduction if you haven't already read a lot of work on or by Kafka.Don't let this spoil the beauty of being able to feel out your own interpretation of the author as you read him.In fact, avoid all criticism and interpretation until you're looking specifically for something like that.

I would highly recommend, though, if you're looking for some perspective on what to consider when reading and interpreting this, the book (several different titles for several different publishers) Kafka/Introducing Kafka/R. Crumb's Kafka, a graphic-novel sort of history of Kafka and his work by Robert Crumb(!!) and David Zane Mairowitz.It's excellent and gives a fair perspective on the Kafka and his social/historical/psychological context.

A sampling of Kafka which gives a true feeling of his work
This is not as advertised the most comprehensive selection of Kafka's writings ever published. But it is a very good selection , and includes some of the most important of the shorter work, the stories, the parables, the diary entries. The uncanny power of Kafka's writing is present line- by - line. And with this power is that tremendous suggestibility which seems to lend his work open to so many different kinds of interpretation.
One travels with Kafka very often into a strange world which resembles our own and may even provide at times a much deeper perspective of our own than we ordinarily have, but almost always too leaves us with a feeling of irresolution, of enigma, of what is often a terrifying beauty and strangeness .
Reading these samples one comes into contact with one of mankind's great literary geniuses. One can be grateful for this while at the same time understanding, that this particular genius, does not make our lives or our understanding of the world, any easier.
... Read more

Product Description
Introduction by Gabriel Josipovici, Translation by Willa and Edwin Muir ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

review about the book binding/translation (not the content)
The sole purpose of this review is to inform about binding and translation, for everything else read other reviews!

There seems to be few collections of Franz Kafka, the one published by Schocken Books Inc in 1995 being the most notable. I initially was thinking about buying that book until i saw heavy complaint on poor binding...after a bit of reading few reviews i decided to go with this one instead and i'm glad i did. This book has no poor binding issue whatsoever. The binding and cover style is same as of some other collections by this publisher (Everyman's Library), say "The Plague, The Fall...", a collection on Albert Camus.

I noticed one of the reviewer here rated this book low for he believed it has poor translation, however i think different. I have read a few stories in the book and i'll say they were pretty readable...and English isn't my first language. Notice i'm not saying this is the best translation there is...quite frankly i don't know whether it is or not as i haven't read any other translation than this one.

Horrible Translation
Comparing these translations to other versions, these translations are horrible.With Kafka, even just one word can change the entire meaning of his work.I would recommend Malcolm Pasley's translations of Kafka instead.

the Muir's in tux and bow tie
Check Your Review of
Collected Stories (Everyman's Library)
by Franz Kafka, et al

Here is your review the way it will appear:

= ÊÊ the Muir's in tux and bow tie
Reviewer: Michael Sympson from Florida
It has become customary for a current translator to preface his production with a little critique of his predecessors, especially the Muirs Ð after all we are not supposed to put our light under a bushel, but just between you and me: a great translator is just as rare as a great author, there might be billions and quadrillions of stars in the Universe, but the nights are still dark and the zodiac shows the same old signs since the countdown began at 11.00 am on Sunday, April 27th, 3877 BC. (central European time). Perhaps if the pay would be better there would be more stars in the firmament over Grub street.

So, since this is not the best of all worlds, only the best of all possible worlds, if not the only possible world, we better brace ourselves for surprises when a latter day translator of some repute allows to compare the "Country Doctor," perhaps Kafka's finest achievement, in his new version, with the established rendition of the Muirs. The very first sentence draws the line. Neugroshel (ÒThe Metamorphosis, in the Penal Colony, and Other StoriesÓ) thinks he knows better than the author and trims the sentence to bite-size:

"I was in a great predicament: an urgent trip lay ahead of me; a dangerously ill patient awaited me in a village ten leagues away; a heavy blizzard filled the vast space between me and him; I did have a wagon, lightweight, with large wheels, just the right kind of wagon for our country roads. Bundled up in my fur coat, holding my instrument bag, I stood in the courtyard, ready to travel; but the horse was lacking, the horse." But Kafka didnÕt write for the ÒToronto StarÓ and felt no obligation to chop his sentences to anemic tidbits for the weak digestion. The Muirs thought so too:

"I was in great perplexity, I had to start an urgent journey; a seriously ill patient was waiting for me in a village ten miles off; a thick blizzard of snow filled all the wide spaces between him and me; I had a gig, a light gig with big wheels, exactly right for our country roads; muffled in furs, my bag of instruments in my hand, I was in the courtyard all ready for the journey; but there was no horse to be had, no horse." Perhaps not the choice of words, but syntax and rhythm are incomparably closer to the original; in fact, this sentence alone deserves to be copyrighted for eternity and should oblige every succeeding translator to quote the Muirs. And why stop with the first sentence? The entire story is coming across splendidly. And by the way, the doctor used a gig, not a wagon, Mr. Neugroschel.

ÒEvery author creates his own pedigreeÓ says Jorge Luis Borges; and we know from KafkaÕs own testimony whom he had chosen as his models. Charles DickensÕ white hot fusion of language and imagery left its mark on ÒAmerica;Ó Flaubert taught Kafka the discipline to say extraordinary things in ordinary language and seek for the one befitting word; and late in his life, Heinrich von KleistÕs marvellous economy of structure and style left an indelible impression on Kafka. To some extent, Kafka even appreciated Friedrich Nietzsche. Just recall the rants and paragraphs of endless to-and-fro soliloquies in Ôlegalese,Õ KafkaÕs variety of the interior monologue.

Such were, what Kafka himself had recognized as formative influences. His friend Max Brod however, preferred to add Kierkegaard to this list and to belittle Nietzsche. BrodÕs view prevailed with the critics of his generation. KafkaÕs work drifted into the murky neighborhood of existentialism and of nebulous metaphysics for the secular seeker. For most critics and many readers, Kafka had turned from an artist to a saint. Regrettably the Muirs picked up on this trend and this sometimes slanted their choices in the phrasing - notice ÒI had to start an urgent journey ... :Ó Neugroschel was right to play it down in his rendition. Against all appearances, Kafka is not a latter day John Bunyan.

According to Stephen King (you are right, how could I sink so low) the two most important ingredients of fiction are empathy (the readerÕs) and the ability to hypnotize (on the authorÕs part). The man is right, and Kafka does possess hypnotic powers if the reader is willing to yield to his magic. KafkaÕs stories are dreams, not more real than fairy tales, and full of symbols as confusing as in a nightmare. The Muirs had enough artistic instinct to actually perceive that, and all things considered, produced a translation, which will remain the standard for still a very long time to come.

My absolute favorite.
This is my absolute favorite book by my favorite writer, Kafka. As a 17 year old student at a boarding high school, my writing teacher lent me her copy of "The Metamorphosis" (the Muir translation), which Iinstantly fell in love with. I immediately bought the Everyman's Libraryedition of Kafka's Collected Stories, which I believe to be the bestcollection of Kafka's stories out there. There is a controversial topicover which translator best captures Kafka's intent, this book uses the Muirtranslation in the first half which I believe, though it may not be asaccurate as the Corngold translation, flows better languistically and iseasier to read. The book, while visually pleasing, arranges the stories inthe most sensible way: instead of placing the stories in alphabeticalorder, like the other books, it arranges them chronologically in the bookthey were originally in (e.g. stories that were published in"Meditations" are in the Meditations section and not scatteredabout). Choice stories include "In the Penal Colony,""Report to an Academy," "The Metamorphosis," and, themost heart-wrenching and simply beautiful, "Josephine the Singer orthe Mouse Folk," which was arguably the last story Kafka wrote beforehis death in 1924. The book also contains a number of unpublished stories(make that 'unfinished,' as unfortunately many break off mid-text, containa note of 'two pages missing...' and then continue on, leaving the reader alittle baffled), which will content those who have read absolutelyeverything that Kafka published. While it does not contain "TheTrial," "The Castle," or "Amerika" (although ithas the first chapter, "The Stoker"), it contains, I'm prettysure, everything else. The book also has a lengthy introduction, but Iwould advise the reader to first read the book and then the introduction,because the intro alludes to stories in the book and is confusing unlessyou have read the story that they're talking about. A short literarychronology is also included. This book is well worth the money and I highlyrecommend it. This is possibly the most beautiful collection of stories Ihave ever read.

WOW. Amazing.
Kafka's insight into human nature is amazing. Truly amazing!His stories connect to us, how we're feeling, and what we're feeling.They incapsulatethe sometimes futile nature of life, and the underlying guilt of it all.Adefinite must read! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Let us start with the end.
What is the story? K. is "arrested", "sentenced" and put to "death". I'm not spoiling anything because this novel is not really a story but a dreamlike description of an ordeal. What happens in the end is more or less irrelevant except for one thing. The last scene of the novel where K. is stabbed dead by two members of the "law enforcement", contains a very important clue to understand the novel. K.'s last words are 'Like a dog!' That's right, like a dog and not like a human being. At the very last moment K. finally understands that during his whole life he was only interested in what he could GET from other people and he never was concerned with what he could GIVE to other people. He lived like an animal so to speak, like a dog.

And that's the reason why he's "arrested". Let's not forget that the word "arrest" also means that someone has ceased to grow up and to develop his character. In a certain way K. is still a child. This second meaning of the word arrest is the reason why no one can tell him why he's arrested, every time that K. asks that question. K. himself is the only person who can answer that question: I'm too selfish and I have to change my ways. There is a chapter that illustrates what I mean.

When K. and his uncle arrive at the house of K.'s lawyer, the door is opened by the lovely maid Leni. K. is obviously very keen on her. There is also a senior clerk of the Court. He has taken a special interest in the trial of K.. They all meet in the bedroom of the lawyer who has a weak heart and has to stay in bed. When the important discussion is about to begin, a noise is heard from the kitchen. K. says that he will go to the kitchen to see what's wrong. With a sigh of relief he closes the door behind him. He sees pretty Leni and forgets all about the important meeting. K. likes to flirt with Leni. At a given moment she says:"All you have to do is to confess that you are guilty". With feminine insight she knows what is wrong with K.. He's guilty of childish egoism. Meanwhile the three others are still waiting in the bedroom of the lawyer.

Another important moment in the novel is when a priest hails K. in the church where he was supposed to meet someone. The priest is a symbol for K's conscience. At a certain moment during their conversation K. asks: "Are you angry with me?" and the priest answers: "I'm not angry with you, but can't you see what lies ahead of you?" At this point K. is very close to his redemption, his problems could be solved at this very moment, if only he had the nerve or the courage to continue this conversation. But no, he says "it's time for me to go back to my work. I'm already late.
Now K. is inexorably doomed. ... Read more

Product Description
Die Klassiker der deutschen und weltweiten Literatur in einer einzigartigen Reihe. Lesen Sie die besten Werke großer Schriftsteller und Autoren auf Ihrem Kindle Reader. Digital überarbeitet und in allerbester Qualität.

Das Schloss ist neben Der Verschollene (auch bekannt unter Amerika) und Der Prozess einer der drei unvollendeten Romane von Franz Kafka. Das 1922 entstandene Werk wurde 1926 von Max Brod postum veröffentlicht. Es schildert den vergeblichen Kampf des Landvermessers K. um Anerkennung seiner beruflichen und privaten Existenz durch ein geheimnisvolles Schloss und dessen Vertreter. (aus wikipedia.de) ... Read more

Product Description
The works of Kafka in one collection with an active table of contents.

Stories
In the Penal Colony
The Trial
Metamorphosis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Complete??"
NOT the "complete" works of Franz Kafka; SOME works of Franz Kafka.Where's "Amerika?""The Castle?"etc. ... Read more

Product Description
Al despertar Gregorio Samsa una mañana, tras un sueño intranquilo, encontrose en su cama convertido en un monstruoso insecto.Al despertar Gregorio Samsa una mañana, tras un sueño intranquilo, encontrose en su cama convertido en un monstruoso insecto. Hallábase echado sobre el duro caparazón de su espalda, y, al alzar un poco la cabeza, vio la figura convexa de su vientre oscuro, surcado por curvadas callosidades, cuya prominencia apenas si podía aguantar la colcha, que estaba visiblemente a punto de escurrirse hasta el suelo. Innumerables patas, lamentablemente escuálidas en comparación con el grosor ordinario de sus piernas, ofrecían a sus ojos el espectáculo de una agitación sin consistencia.¿Qué me ha sucedido? ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

"I will tear you apart like a fish"
This is a small but insightful overview of the life and work of Kafka. Robertson provides new insight into aspects of Kafka's life and legend. He presents the interesting idea that Kafka himself had the idea of this legend and consciously worked to cultivate it. In this Kafka is compared to Byron who too in his own way helped create an image of himself which dominated an Age.
Robertson analyses the critical relationship of Kafka to his father Hermann. The overwhelming power and physical presence of his father contributed to Kafka's own sense of inadequacy, fear, frustration. " I will tear you apart like a fish" his father said in one notable childhood incident.
Robertson who has written on Heine, on Mann and is an expert in German Literature has a deep, intimate knowledge of the Kafka world . The work gives in a short space a clear conception of the writer whose anxieties and ambiguities , whose sense of fear and foreboding , were transformed into a Literature of incredible intensity ,horrifying beauty.

Okay overview of a fascinating guy
Almost all of the Very Short Introductions from Oxford University press do at least a decent job of introducing their subject, and most of them are accessible enough that newcomers can gain an appreciation of the topic without too much work.

This volume on the iconoclast writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) is no different.Robertson gives an overview of Kafka's life, and goes on to explore specific themes important in Kafka's writing - with special emphasis given to "bodies" (as in physical bodies) and "institutions".A special exploration of Kafka's religious thought is also quite interesting.

Cosntant reference is made to the plots of Kafka's novels and many of his short stories, and excerpts from journals and letters also appear throughout.

However, there is a certen lack of coherent vision or high-level organization in this book; Robertson covers a great deal, but it seems as if the book could have used a bit more editing and re-organization - a bit more fluidity in the narrative and clarity in the layout - to make it great instead of merely good.

Despite this, I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

Small size, huge resource
Who on earth can adequately introduce a writer of Kafka's stature in the few short (and very tiny) pages the "Very Short Introduction" series allows?Only someone like Ritchie Robertson, a man who has thought and written extensively on Kafka, Mann and other German authors.Ritchie is succinct, respectful, loving and clear and (miracle of miracles) manages to combine autobiography, analysis and a helping hand to all those either curious or flummoxed over the enigmatic Kafka.

He discusses F.K.'s modernist and uneasy relationship with the body, his representation of modernist thought and philosophy, and much more.He even tackles the Aphorisms, something not many writers, academic or otherwise, are willing to attempt.It's hard to believe that so small a book could cover so many bases so well.There are more thorough bios and analyses out there, but for its size (and cost), this tiny one was a delightful surprise. It's a trustworthy place to start. ... Read more

Product Description
Rodger Kamenetz, acclaimed author of The Jew in the Lotus, has long been fascinated by the mystical tales of the Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. And for many years he has taught a course in Prague on Franz Kafka. The more he thought about their lives and writings, the more aware he became of unexpected connections between them. Kafka was a secular artist fascinated by Jewish mysticism, and Rabbi Nachman was a religious mystic who used storytelling to reach out to secular Jews. Both men died close to age forty of tuberculosis. Both invented new forms of storytelling that explore the search for meaning in an illogical, unjust world. Both gained prominence with the posthumous publication of their writing. And both left strict instructions at the end of their lives that their unpublished books be burnt.
 
Kamenetz takes his ideas on the road, traveling to Kafka’s birthplace in Prague and participating in the pilgrimage to Uman, the burial site of Rabbi Nachman visited by thousands of Jews every Jewish new year. He discusses the hallucinatory intensity of their visions and offers a rich analysis of Nachman’s and Kafka’s major works, revealing uncanny similarities in the inner lives of these two troubled and beloved figures, whose creative and religious struggles have much to teach us about the significant role played by the imagination in the Jewish spiritual experience. ... Read more

Product Description
The best works of Franz Kafka in one collection with an active table of contents. Works include:

The Trial
Metamorphosis ... Read more

Product Description
«El castillo» relata la historia de un agrimensor que acude a la llamada de un pueblo adscrito a un castillo para que realice trabajos profesionales y que para ello abandona su patria, su trabajo y su familia. Pero cuando llega alli le hacen saber que no hace ninguna falta, se siente marginado de la comunidad desde el primer momento y comienza su lucha a ciegas por conseguir una entrevista con la administracion, que habita en el castillo. Pero su lucha fracasara, puesto que a su alrededor se cierran todas las puertas. ... Read more

Product Description
Franz Kafka (1883-1924), whose writings attracted relatively little attention in his own lifetime, has long been recognized as one of the most famous, distinctive, and influential voices in modern world literature. His Erzählungen (stories), which are famously enigmatic, have prompted and continue to prompt a wide variety of critical debates from any number of literary schools and have stimulated interpretative adaptations of many different kinds by actors, painters, photographers, and film makers.Kafka s fictions typically present an unusual, sometimes surreal story, in a deliberately flat prose, so that there is a wrenching gap between the weirdness, tension, humour, or horror of the events described and the apparently calm surface of the language. It is a style which at once pressures the reader to discover some allegorical structure at work in the tale, while at the same time frustrating all attempts to impose such an interpretative scheme. Hence, Kafka s stories, which for this reason some have called parables, tend to remain in the reader s imagination as vivid puzzling challenges and are very difficult to forget. The strange world Kafka depicts in his stories has given rise to the adjective Kafkaesque, which Merriam Webster defines as "having a nighmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality."This new collection of stories translated by Ian Johnston includes a selection of Kafka s best known and most popular stories, Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, A Hunger Artist, A Report for An Academy, The Great Wall of China, Jackals and Arabs, Before the Law, Up in the Gallery, A Country Doctor, The Hunter Gracchus, and An Imperial Message. ... Read more

Product Description
The essential philosophical writings of one of the twentieth century’s most influential writers are now gathered into a single volume with an introduction and afterword by the celebrated writer and publisher Roberto Calasso.

Illness set him free to write a series of philosophical fragments: some narratives, some single images, some parables. These “aphorisms” appeared, sometimes with a few words changed, in other writings—some of them as posthumous fragments published only after Kafka’s death in 1924. While working on K., his major book on Kafka, in the Bodleian Library, Roberto Calasso realized that the Zürau aphorisms, each written on a separate slip of very thin paper, numbered but unbound, represented something unique in Kafka’s opus—a work whose form he had created simultaneously with its content.

The notebooks, freshly translated and laid out as Kafka had intended, are a distillation of Kafka at his most powerful and enigmatic. This lost jewel provides the reader with a fresh perspective on the collective work of a genius. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Book for Life!
The Zürau Aphorisms
is a well-shaped, succinct, and all-round book! It's a means to have a look at life,
provides insight and sometimes deep and makes one think...

The Impossibility of Crows
For those familiar, primarily, with Kafka's fictions, these aphorisms come as a pleasant surprise.Everything is here in a compressed way.One of my favorites: "The crows like to insist a single crow is enough to destroy heaven. This is incontestably true, but it says nothing about heaven, because heaven is just another way of saying: the impossibility of crows."

Heroism
Writing about Kafka is just as difficult and always more useless (in the Kafka-esque sense) than reading Kafka.Really the only people who ought to be allowed to write about Kafka are those who live in caves or at the bottom of wells or in high mountain towers and have studied Kafka's work for fifty years.He evades interpretation, as Harold Bloom pointed out, which is another way of saying he is hard to understand.

I think the best way to take these aphorisms is with something like the steely commitment of a scholar-monk in the dark ages piecing together out of rare manuscripts the arcane glories of a past world.The extreme heroism of the writer must summon forth a similar heroism in the reader.One must live with Kafka rather than devour him.

Only a fool would seek to interpret Kafka in an amazon review.I am, of course, a fool so I would suggest that the phrase "The impossibility of spirit" would be not too much more deceptive, partial, or misleading a statement than any other when considering Kafka's work.Certainly for Kafka the spiritual and the political are both present (or absent; one sees what I mean!); great writers like Theodor Adorno are simply wrong to read Kafka as only or primarily a political writer.Both possibilities must be kept in mind.

These days, in literature, Kafka is often made the signatory of many more minor literary projects engaged in by lesser though esteemable writers.It is helpful to return to the reluctant master himself to be aware of life's inextinguishable distances.Kafka wasn't trying to create the "Kafka-esque" or be strange in a way that would appeal to hoardes of white middle class semi-intellectuals.He was trying to set down in clear and readable prose what he thought and what he felt whether he had anything in common with it or not.

Amazon will not permit me to give Mr. Franz Kafka as many stars as I would like.My choices are limited to only five.

The icy sea within
In April 1917 Kafka went for an eight- month visit at the home of his sister Ottla and her husband in the Bohemian town of Zurau. Shortly after arriving he began to spit blood, the sign that tuberculosis truly had come. According to Calasso's introduction this did not dishearten Kafka but rather liberated him. Calasso says that the eight months in Zurau were the happiest of Kafka's life as they enabled him to be away from the family, the office, the questions of marriage , the areas in life which disturbed him. He could be totally within himself in the realm Calasso says Kafka most at home in.
As a student Calasso came across these aphorisms in original manuscript. He noticed that they were written in an unusual way. Usually Kafka crowded his writing line after line into his notebooks. Here each aphorism was presented on its own on a single page. And this is the way this edition of them presents them, one at a time surrounded by much empty space. As Calasso points out most of Kafka's aphorisms were not what we ordinarily think of as that, though some were close. His aphorisms might be parables, or small narratives. The key is that the few lines they consist in must be seen in isolation surrounded by empty space, so that they can be read in themselves with maximum concentration.
If I recall rightly most of these aphorisms were published in a work of Kafka edited by his friend, Max Brod.
In any case the paradoxical beauty, the tremendous depth of Kafka's thought is found here in these isolated entries. I would take exception to the 'puff of the publisher' that they represent Kafka's 'philosophy'. Kafka was not a philosopher and did not have a philosophy but rather his own way of seeing and thinking about the world, an uncanny remarkable original and hauntingly painful and beautiful way.

Kafka's Philosophy of Life in 109 Aphorism
This book is a fascinating set of aphorisms that Kafka wrote while retreated from the world and recuperating from tuberculosis.Italian Kafka scholar Roberto Calasso frames the context with an insightful introduction and afterword.The aphorisms have been published much as it is assumed Kafka wanted, each on a separate page.Here is Kafka's philosophy in the raw, and it is fascinating.This is not a book to be devoured, but to be periodically sipped from so that the reader can savor and reflect on each aphorism. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Indispensible & Riveting

Much better than "The Complete Geological Surveys of Andrei Tarkovsky 1952-58," and almost as good as "The Land Surveys of Henry David Thoreau 1851-62 (Unabridged Version, 2400 pp): Schocken Classics Series." But when will they finally release his surviving laundry lists?!

Artemy Lebedev doesn't want you to read this book!
Yes, the very same Artemy Lebedev who doesn't want you to save energy by turning off the light when you leave the room. Here he wants to keep you in the dark about this great compendium of Kafka's office minutiae, this literary feast of all things mundane, this intricate web of clerical nonsense, that only Kafka could come up with. No, wait, him and half a billion of other accountants and subrogation service specialists that ever lived. The Office Writings by Kafka easily beats US Tax Code on entertainment value alone, and (unlike the Code) it answers the important question that pops up every single time somebody gets their claim adjustment document - Who wrote this drivel? Kafka did, that's who. At least the ones in this book. Some say this book helps to gain insights into the origins of Kafka's other writings - The Trial for example. That's true - it is about as helpful as reading Stephen King's car service records is to understanding the magic behind From a Buick 8. Seriously, read this book as if it were the last thing you read. It probably will be. ... Read more

Product Description
A sterling collection of Kafka's greatest stories, including The Metamorphosis, A Country Doctor, A Hunger Artist, A Report for an Academy, In the Penal Colony, Before the Law, The Hunter Gracchus, Up in the Gallery, An Imperial Message, Jackals and Arabs, and The Great Wall of China. Newly translated by Ian Johnston; newly designed and typeset for modern readers by Waking Lion Press. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One Caution
This is a terrific collection of Kafka's stories followed by fine critical essays on a number of them.One caveat:Contrary to the implication in the previous reviewer's comments, this edition does NOT contain the famous long story "Metamorphosis."Had there been a "Search Inside!" option, we would have known that Norton did not "select" this great work to be among the "selected stories."

To read and reread
A 'Critical Edition' of this kind provides layers of interpretative richness to add and enhance those the reader makes on their own. Camus said of Kafka that he demands to be read and reread, that in short the essence cannot be given in a single reading or interpretation but that the text is an invitation to open and endless reinterpretation. This characteristic it might be said belongs to all greatart both through the generations, and in the heart and mind of the individual at various stages of their lives.
Kafka however with his ambiguous indefinite narratives which at once seem so abstract and so realistic- which tend always toward parable and symbol seems especially suited for the rereading.
The great stories of Kafka, " The Metamorphosis" " The Judgment"
"To a Penal Colony" "The Hunger Artist" "The Country Doctor" all seem to take us on a trip to a place we vaguely fear going to and which we come to understand as not where we want to be yet where we almost preternaturally had to get to.
The depth of this the irony of it holds us in thrall with its terrible beauty. ... Read more

Product Description

Translated by PEN translation award-winner Joachim Neugroschel, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories has garnered critical acclaim and is widely recognized as the preeminent English-language anthology of Kafka's stories. These translations illuminate one of this century's most controversial writers and have made Kafka's work accessible to a whole new generation. This classic collection of forty-one great short works -- including such timeless pieces of modern fiction as "The Judgment" and "The Stoker" -- now includes two new stories, "First Sorrow" and "The Hunger Artist." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not as good as I had been led to believe
The stories in this collection did not appear to me to be of the level of the talents I had been led to believe Kafka had. Some of the stories were distinctly un-Kafkaesque. Still, it is good literature and should be recommended on that basis alone. I will continue to read more of his works.

Horror for the Masses
A positively fascinating collection of short stories by good ol' Franz Kafka. The fascination and the horror of these stories is positively captivating. The Metamorphosis, In The Penal Colony and The Hunger Artist become something than just curious entities that were written before our time. They become metaphors and interesting takes on society and the so-called humanity of human nature. The stories are just as current as they are when they were written.

It is nothing short of inspirational for horror writers and for the mind that is open to reading between the lines of some positively phenomenal writing. Fantastic!

When an Unlocked Door Remains Closed
The most poignant moment of Franz Kafka's 1915 novella The Metamorphosis occurs when the narrator remarks that nobody thought to open Gregor's bedroom door to see him, though the door was now unlocked. In time, Gregor no longer wishes to emerge from his room, to be seen. All connection with his family and his former self is lost.

Gregor the travelling salesman had gotten into the habit of keeping his door locked, even at home. He became private to the point of being paranoid. Gregor the absentee member of the Samsa household--albeit the breadwinner--is unknown to his sister Grete and to his parents. The loss doesn't quite register with them.

This is the story of the man who wakes up as a bug. He literally embodies his emotional and psychological perception of himself: that he is vermin. He has become his own self-loathing. As this reality settles into his mind, he hopes his family will in some way respond to his need, to feed the unnameable hunger that gnaws at him throughout this ordeal.

Instead, they turn away. He is the dirty secret, the problem child, the social stigma they could do without, thank you very much. The father beats him back into his room every time he emerges. His mother lacks the emotional fortitude to face the situation and faints instead. Grete, his sister, feeds him and cleans his room until he reaches out for her in his buggy way--by creeping toward her while she is playing the violin for lodgers.

Gregor's financial control of the family plays a role in the neurosis that afflicts each member. Not until he is free of their control can they realize their potential. That control cannot buy Gregor the food he requires--some form of emotional and spiritual nourishment in the form of genuine relationships--though he does somewhat sadistically enjoy being the center of their fleeting attention for a little while. The door had been locked for a little too long. Family connection lost its relevance. Here is the tragedy of modern life: we're all so busy getting and doing that we lose track of what it means simply to be.

The verb "to be," I learned as a young girl in English class, is not a very strong one. It's boring and should be replaced with verbs that sugget activity and emotion.

I've come to realize that being isn't so bad; it's being alone that can kill you. This is the kind of starvation that killed Gregor. The Metamorphosis (Bantam Classics)

Still important 100 years later.
This collection of short stories was my first introduction to Kafka and I highly recommend picking this up for anyone thinking about reading his works.The short stories range in length from many pages to single paragraphs.Most of the stories shorter than 2 pages seemed pointless to me but the lengthier entries were excellent in their content and writing style.

Kafka's writing style is unique and really needs to be read to be understood.The word Kafkaesque now means something to me. I look forward to reading some of his novels to see if they match the power of and imagery of The Metamorphosis.

Bottom Line:Kafka is hip again and this is a good sampling of his short stories.

The definition of a Kafka story
Kafka is one of the unique geniuses of world - literature.
His stories are parables that have an uncanny quality about them, and so defy our simple understanding.
As Camus pointed out Kafka's stories demand rereading and reinterpreting again and again, without one ever having conviction that one has truly grasped the true meaning.
The beauty of this uncanniness, the strange power of thesestories is the genius of Kafka. ... Read more