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The Stoker
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
First published January 1, 1913
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About the author
Franz Kafka
3,370 books39k followersFranz Kafka was a German-speaking writer from Prague whose work became one of the foundations of modern literature, even though he published only a small part of his writing during his lifetime. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka grew up amid German, Czech, and Jewish cultural influences that shaped his sense of displacement and linguistic precision. His difficult relationship with his authoritarian father left a lasting mark, fostering feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inadequacy that became central themes in his fiction and personal writings.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
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March 22, 2022
“¿Sabe usted moverse en el barco?”, preguntó Karl con desconfianza… “Pero si soy fogonero, dijo el hombre. “Es usted fogonero", exclamó Karl con alegría como si aquello satisficiese todas las expectativas.
“El Fogonero” fue el embrión que posteriormente Franz Kafka convertiría en la novela "El desaparecido” y no “América", como como comercialmente quiso titular Max Brod entre tantos de sus errores después de la muerte de Kafka.
Luego de publicarla en 1913, Kafka tenía la idea de publicar otro volumen que se iba a llamar “Los hijos” y que incluía esta historia, “La condena” y “La metamorfosis”, pero por alguna razón nunca llegó a cristalizar el proyecto.
Este capítulo introductorio, editado como libro aparte es interesante desde el punto de vista kafkiano, pero de modo inverso a su naturaleza, ya que la situación planteada en él, luego devenido en primer capítulo del libro resume una situación que es resuelta, en cierto modo, que tiene un final inesperado y que a la vez abre la historia que vendrá en los capítulos subsiguientes de la novela “El desaparecido ¡y esto es algo que rara vez sucede en los escritos de Kafka!
Una situación solucionada, a medias tal vez, pero que no se pierde en un laberinto propio de su estilo.
“El Fogonero” fue el embrión que posteriormente Franz Kafka convertiría en la novela "El desaparecido” y no “América", como como comercialmente quiso titular Max Brod entre tantos de sus errores después de la muerte de Kafka.
Luego de publicarla en 1913, Kafka tenía la idea de publicar otro volumen que se iba a llamar “Los hijos” y que incluía esta historia, “La condena” y “La metamorfosis”, pero por alguna razón nunca llegó a cristalizar el proyecto.
Este capítulo introductorio, editado como libro aparte es interesante desde el punto de vista kafkiano, pero de modo inverso a su naturaleza, ya que la situación planteada en él, luego devenido en primer capítulo del libro resume una situación que es resuelta, en cierto modo, que tiene un final inesperado y que a la vez abre la historia que vendrá en los capítulos subsiguientes de la novela “El desaparecido ¡y esto es algo que rara vez sucede en los escritos de Kafka!
Una situación solucionada, a medias tal vez, pero que no se pierde en un laberinto propio de su estilo.
March 22, 2025
"The Stoker" is an absurdist story about sixteen-year-old Karl Rossmann who is banished to America after he is seduced by an older kitchen maid who becomes pregnant. Karl is young and naive, and foolishly leaves his trunk when he searches for a lost umbrella when the ship docks in New York. Karl meets a stoker on the ship who tells him that he is going to be unfairly dismissed since his chief engineer wants an all-Romanian crew.
Both Karl and the stoker have little power in deciding their fate. Karl has been sent away by his parents even though he was not the seducer, and the stoker is being dismissed although he says he's a hard worker. Kafka often writes about people who are powerless or caught up in an unjust system. Even the Statue of Liberty in the harbor is carrying a sword (instead of a welcoming torch) in judgment or perhaps destruction.
We wonder what the fate of the stoker will be as the story ends. Karl seems to have an opportunity when he is met by a rich, influential relative in a utopian turn to the story. But Karl is so innocent and young, and he's facing a new language and a new world.
"The Stoker" is the first chapter of Kafka's unfinished novel, "Amerika" which is also called "The Man who Disappeared." "The Stoker" can also be read as a stand-alone short story.
Both Karl and the stoker have little power in deciding their fate. Karl has been sent away by his parents even though he was not the seducer, and the stoker is being dismissed although he says he's a hard worker. Kafka often writes about people who are powerless or caught up in an unjust system. Even the Statue of Liberty in the harbor is carrying a sword (instead of a welcoming torch) in judgment or perhaps destruction.
We wonder what the fate of the stoker will be as the story ends. Karl seems to have an opportunity when he is met by a rich, influential relative in a utopian turn to the story. But Karl is so innocent and young, and he's facing a new language and a new world.
"The Stoker" is the first chapter of Kafka's unfinished novel, "Amerika" which is also called "The Man who Disappeared." "The Stoker" can also be read as a stand-alone short story.
July 20, 2020
English: The Stoker
Also published as a stand-alone in a literary journal, "The Stoker" is the first chapter of "The Missing Person" (Der Verschollene), an unfinished novel later published as America (today, the correct title to reference this work is the original one chosen by Kafka himself). In the text, 16-year-old Karl Roßmann is sent to, you guessed it, the US to avoid scandal and alimony after a 35-year-old housemaid had his child. Upon leaving the ship, he realizes that he forgot his umbrella (hello, metaphor!) and goes back inside - but he gets lost in the many hallways and finally runs into the stoker of the vessel. After some chatting, he joins him on his way to the captain where he wants to complain about his superior and find justice (notice the connection between Karl's last name, Roßmann (horseman), and Michael Kohlhaas, the famous novella about a horse dealer seeking justice against the authorities). But in the captain's cabin, Karl coincidentally meets his influental emigré uncle...
The whole piece lives from the clash of Karl, who was abandoned and sent to another continent by his parents, and the lowly stoker on the one side and the captain and the uncle who is a senator on the other. When, in an unrealistic identity-reveal-twist of Shakespeare-like proportions, it becomes clear that the stoker's new buddy is the senator's nephew, power relations shift as Karl is now associated with the powerful. But as he himself wonders: Will the uncle ever be able to replace him the stoker?
The theme of power relations is also illuminated when the superior of the stoker enters the scene: From a logical point of view, he must be in the wrong, but he displays the same habitus as the captain and is thus trusted and taken more seriously.
Kafka initially intended to publish "The Missing Person", The Judgement and The Metamorphosis in one book, as a trilogy entitled "The Sons" - "The Missing Person" would have shown Karl Roßmann sinking lower and lower in the social hierarchy and then...well, you know what happened to Gregor Samsa (The Metamorphosis), Georg Bendemann (The Judgement) and Michael Kohlhaas. It's very sad that we will never read the finished book.
Also published as a stand-alone in a literary journal, "The Stoker" is the first chapter of "The Missing Person" (Der Verschollene), an unfinished novel later published as America (today, the correct title to reference this work is the original one chosen by Kafka himself). In the text, 16-year-old Karl Roßmann is sent to, you guessed it, the US to avoid scandal and alimony after a 35-year-old housemaid had his child. Upon leaving the ship, he realizes that he forgot his umbrella (hello, metaphor!) and goes back inside - but he gets lost in the many hallways and finally runs into the stoker of the vessel. After some chatting, he joins him on his way to the captain where he wants to complain about his superior and find justice (notice the connection between Karl's last name, Roßmann (horseman), and Michael Kohlhaas, the famous novella about a horse dealer seeking justice against the authorities). But in the captain's cabin, Karl coincidentally meets his influental emigré uncle...
The whole piece lives from the clash of Karl, who was abandoned and sent to another continent by his parents, and the lowly stoker on the one side and the captain and the uncle who is a senator on the other. When, in an unrealistic identity-reveal-twist of Shakespeare-like proportions, it becomes clear that the stoker's new buddy is the senator's nephew, power relations shift as Karl is now associated with the powerful. But as he himself wonders: Will the uncle ever be able to replace him the stoker?
The theme of power relations is also illuminated when the superior of the stoker enters the scene: From a logical point of view, he must be in the wrong, but he displays the same habitus as the captain and is thus trusted and taken more seriously.
Kafka initially intended to publish "The Missing Person", The Judgement and The Metamorphosis in one book, as a trilogy entitled "The Sons" - "The Missing Person" would have shown Karl Roßmann sinking lower and lower in the social hierarchy and then...well, you know what happened to Gregor Samsa (The Metamorphosis), Georg Bendemann (The Judgement) and Michael Kohlhaas. It's very sad that we will never read the finished book.
January 13, 2018
A sixteen year old gets seduced by a maid, and the parents send him away in disgrace. Kafka explains the situation in detail, a horrifying description of seduction by a 35 year old woman. My former step-son would be sixteen now, and the passage makes me sick to my stomach. The young man meets a stoker who falls under discriminatory injustice (in his own opinion), and the young man strives to help him in a zeal for justice.
His efforts fail when he finds the people responsible include his uncle, the senator, and now he has been elevated to a place of social importance. The senator takes the place of the stoker, and the young man becomes ripped apart with his interests. He once related to the stoker, and cared for him. Now that he has blood on the other side of social strata, he has an obligation to take that side, which stands against the stoker. He weeps.
The character shows deep feeling and zeal. At the end, a sailor in charge of providing witness in favor of opposition to the stoker, wears a woman's apron. He flings it off. As the kid leaves, he sees this woman, who puts her apron back on in a playful, outgoing way. It gave me a feeling of motherliness, as if this character struggles with mother issues, inevitably contradicted by the seduction of a woman old enough to be his mother, perhaps a deeper look into the conflicted and beautiful mind of Kafka.
His efforts fail when he finds the people responsible include his uncle, the senator, and now he has been elevated to a place of social importance. The senator takes the place of the stoker, and the young man becomes ripped apart with his interests. He once related to the stoker, and cared for him. Now that he has blood on the other side of social strata, he has an obligation to take that side, which stands against the stoker. He weeps.
The character shows deep feeling and zeal. At the end, a sailor in charge of providing witness in favor of opposition to the stoker, wears a woman's apron. He flings it off. As the kid leaves, he sees this woman, who puts her apron back on in a playful, outgoing way. It gave me a feeling of motherliness, as if this character struggles with mother issues, inevitably contradicted by the seduction of a woman old enough to be his mother, perhaps a deeper look into the conflicted and beautiful mind of Kafka.
April 23, 2024
Stellt sich heraus, dass Der Heizer das erste Kapitel von Amerika bzw. Der Verschollene ist, ein Roman, der ein Fragment blieb.
Und vielleicht liegt es daran, dass dieser Text mir nicht viel geben konnte. Die Sprache fühlt sich nicht so präzise und auf den Punkt gebracht an, wie in Kafkas fertiggestellten Geschichten, und das ist eben eine von Kafkas Stärken gewesen, die noch immer das Lesevergnügen bei ihm ausmachen. Dass es lediglich ein erstes Kapitel ist, erklärt auch, wie unrund sich alles anfühlt.
Ja, so subjektiv und vage muss es wohl bleiben. Es gab nicht genug, das an mir hängen blieb, um eine bessere Ausführung machen zu können.
Wahrscheinlich ist es was für richtige Fans. Allen anderen lege ich Die Verwandlung ans Herz. Bisher mit Abstand das stärkste von Kafka, was ich gelesen habe.
Und vielleicht liegt es daran, dass dieser Text mir nicht viel geben konnte. Die Sprache fühlt sich nicht so präzise und auf den Punkt gebracht an, wie in Kafkas fertiggestellten Geschichten, und das ist eben eine von Kafkas Stärken gewesen, die noch immer das Lesevergnügen bei ihm ausmachen. Dass es lediglich ein erstes Kapitel ist, erklärt auch, wie unrund sich alles anfühlt.
Ja, so subjektiv und vage muss es wohl bleiben. Es gab nicht genug, das an mir hängen blieb, um eine bessere Ausführung machen zu können.
Wahrscheinlich ist es was für richtige Fans. Allen anderen lege ich Die Verwandlung ans Herz. Bisher mit Abstand das stärkste von Kafka, was ich gelesen habe.
October 16, 2022
This is the first chapter of Kafka's novel that was originally called The Man Who Disappeared, but is usually titled Amerika (my review of that is older than this, so mirrors this here). The Stoker was published as a standalone short story and is also included in some copies of The Metamorphosis (see my review HERE).
It opens with a description of a city, country and continent Kafka never saw:
"New York looked at Karl with the hundred thousand windows of its skyscrapers."
The ship, too, has windows (of course), but there are more references to them than one might expect in such a few pages.
Karl is only 16 and has been sent, alone, to escape the shame of being seduced by an older maid who bore his son (sexually assertive women are common in Kafka's works - and there is a very flirty kitchen maid on the ship as well). He travelled steerage, where there is "a glimmer of murky light, long since stale from its use in the decks above", and is due to meet a slightly wealthier uncle in New York.
He disembarks, then remembers he has left something behind, so leaves his trunk on shore, in the care of an acquaintance, and becomes disoriented in the labyrinth of the ship. He is befriended by the ship's stoker who overs vague help, but really wants someone to listen to his grievances. During the voyage, Karl had protected his trunk obsessively, but now he seems not to care, and instead, goes to the captain, to petition for the stoker.
There is enough of a resolution that it works as a short story, and in some ways, it feels more like Kafka than the novel.
See my Kafka-related bookshelf for other works by and about Kafka: HERE.
It opens with a description of a city, country and continent Kafka never saw:
"New York looked at Karl with the hundred thousand windows of its skyscrapers."
The ship, too, has windows (of course), but there are more references to them than one might expect in such a few pages.
Karl is only 16 and has been sent, alone, to escape the shame of being seduced by an older maid who bore his son (sexually assertive women are common in Kafka's works - and there is a very flirty kitchen maid on the ship as well). He travelled steerage, where there is "a glimmer of murky light, long since stale from its use in the decks above", and is due to meet a slightly wealthier uncle in New York.
He disembarks, then remembers he has left something behind, so leaves his trunk on shore, in the care of an acquaintance, and becomes disoriented in the labyrinth of the ship. He is befriended by the ship's stoker who overs vague help, but really wants someone to listen to his grievances. During the voyage, Karl had protected his trunk obsessively, but now he seems not to care, and instead, goes to the captain, to petition for the stoker.
There is enough of a resolution that it works as a short story, and in some ways, it feels more like Kafka than the novel.
See my Kafka-related bookshelf for other works by and about Kafka: HERE.
January 10, 2019
Solo había leído Metamórfosis, que es un peso pesado en la literatura y era el único referente que tenía de Kafka, por lo tanto mis expectativas eran demasiado elevadas. Este relato, que luego pasó a formar parte de su obra inconclusa “El desaparecido” me dejó un poco decepcionada, aunque tiene cuerpo y refleja una buena crítica a las diferencias entre las clases sociales, las manipulaciones y las casualidades de la vida.
Lo bueno es que es cortito, se lee rápido y por lo menos me mostró otra cara del autor.
Lo bueno es que es cortito, se lee rápido y por lo menos me mostró otra cara del autor.
April 24, 2022
No puedo evitar sentir melancolía con los relatos de Kafka. Después de haber leído 3 seguidos, me provocaban nostalgia, tristeza, impotencia y en ocasiones, asco. Al principio, pensé que Karl era un coqueto desvergonzado, pero entonces, se da a conocer que en realidad fue violado por una mujer mayor y ni siquiera sabe el significado de eso. El fogonero es víctima de una injusticia según su punto de vista y no puede hacer nada; situación paralela a la suya, porque fue echado de su casa sin elección alguna. La cocinera hace alusión a la criada que abusó de él y de pronto, se halla en una clase social alta que no le permite acudir en la ayuda de, tal vez, su único amigo en aquella travesía tan turbulenta y solitaria, también injusta. Al final, me quedó una sensación de malestar.
December 29, 2025
Injustice, unfairness, and power are what this story is about.
A 16-year-old Karl was sent away to America so his parents could avoid having to support his baby from the maid who seduced him. The story follows his journey into a bigger world. He forgets his umbrella on the ship and decides to return on it, where he meets a stoker. He describes how unfairly the crew treats him and wants justice. But once inside the captain’s cabin, in the middle of the argument, he finds his uncle there, who the maid informs him has arrived, and from there on, the little power he had now becomes more bc his uncle is the senator. But the stoker can be a mirror to Karl’s possible future , a person without protection, someone crushed by the system.
The story reflects how lower-class individuals seem to have little toward the system of power. With truth or not they rule with power. And how someone feels judged or threatened and feels guilty even without a clear crime being named and no rules had been broken, power creates guilt just by existing. It’s one Vs institution, the system is bigger, louder, and more confident even when it’s wrong it often wins by default.
And how young, innocent and naïve people often falls under the powerful people.
A 16-year-old Karl was sent away to America so his parents could avoid having to support his baby from the maid who seduced him. The story follows his journey into a bigger world. He forgets his umbrella on the ship and decides to return on it, where he meets a stoker. He describes how unfairly the crew treats him and wants justice. But once inside the captain’s cabin, in the middle of the argument, he finds his uncle there, who the maid informs him has arrived, and from there on, the little power he had now becomes more bc his uncle is the senator. But the stoker can be a mirror to Karl’s possible future , a person without protection, someone crushed by the system.
The story reflects how lower-class individuals seem to have little toward the system of power. With truth or not they rule with power. And how someone feels judged or threatened and feels guilty even without a clear crime being named and no rules had been broken, power creates guilt just by existing. It’s one Vs institution, the system is bigger, louder, and more confident even when it’s wrong it often wins by default.
And how young, innocent and naïve people often falls under the powerful people.
November 18, 2018
Ha sido corto pero no por ello no ha contado una historia interesante. Nuestro protagonista ha tenido que irse de su casa en un barco alemán huyendo de unos problemas que le ha surgido ayudado por su familia. Yo he visto aquí la inocencia de una persona, como se puede manipular a la gente inexperta y las diferencias sociales quedan también marcadas.
November 17, 2022
Auf psychoanalytischer Ebene ein sehr spannendes Buch.
August 18, 2019
Karl Roßmann es un joven que emigra en barco a Nueva York, con la esperanza de tener la vida laboral que aún no ha conseguido arrancar en Europa. Al bajar de la embarcación, Karl vuelve a bordo porque se ha dejado el paraguas en el camarote. En su búsqueda, se pierde y da con un fogonero descontento con su relación laboral dentro del navío, al que Karl decide apoyar ante la primera plana del buque.
Esta historia breve, en principio un relato y después el primer capítulo de la inacabada novela América, narra apenas unas horas de Karl, pero permite conocer los motivos del persona de una forma un tanto profunda. La psicología de los personajes queda al descubierto, en especial el relieve hueco que dejan en sus debilidades pasadas e impotencias frente al mundo. La habilidad de Kafka sale al ruedo para llevarnos por sendas inesperadas. Sin embargo, no deja un gran sabor de boca, al menos en lo que se refiere a este fragmento por separado.
Esta historia breve, en principio un relato y después el primer capítulo de la inacabada novela América, narra apenas unas horas de Karl, pero permite conocer los motivos del persona de una forma un tanto profunda. La psicología de los personajes queda al descubierto, en especial el relieve hueco que dejan en sus debilidades pasadas e impotencias frente al mundo. La habilidad de Kafka sale al ruedo para llevarnos por sendas inesperadas. Sin embargo, no deja un gran sabor de boca, al menos en lo que se refiere a este fragmento por separado.
February 28, 2025
Didn't understand a thing to be honest! Sorry Franz.
October 19, 2012
Em vida, Franz Kafka publicou sete pequenos livros e alguns textos espalhados por revistas literárias. Contudo, a maioria da sua obra, a mais marcante e reconhecida, só foi dada a conhecer após a sua morte, pela mão do seu grande amigo Max Brod - exemplos são O Castelo, A Metamorfose, O Processo, América, entre outros.
De tempos a tempos, Kafka, preparava timidamente excertos de um qualquer outro projecto maior e dava-os a conhecer, fosse em revistas, após muita insistência de amigos e/ou editores, ou em cartas enviadas aos mesmos.
Excertos
Este O Fogueiro - Um Fragmento foi um dos textos assim lançados, publicado na primeira série da colecção Der Jüngste Tag (O Dia do Juízo). Colecção esta que viria a tornar-se importante para a história do impressionismo alemão. Kafka insistiu em sublinhar o caracter de "pequeno excerto", através do subtítulo "Um Fragmento".
O Fogueiro descreve a chegada do jovem Karl Rossmann ao grandioso porto de Nova Iorque, com vista sobre a Estátua da Liberdade. Karl aproxima-se das terras norte americanas, enviado pela famíla, como castigo de um deslize que teve com uma criada de quem teve um filho. Antes de desembarcar de vez, recorda-se de que o seu guarda-chuva ficou para trás, perdido algures, e resolve ir procurá-lo, perdendo-se, inevitavelmente, no infindável número de corredores do navio. Acaba por encontrar, por fim, numa pequena cabine, um fogueiro, que lhe fala ao coração e o leva a embarcar numa discussão que poderá mudar a sua vida.
Este pequeno livro é um excerto da obra América, mais concretamente o seu primeiro capítulo. Deve ser encarado da forma como foi lançado, parte integrante de uma revista, e funciona como um pequeno preview de uma história maior.
Contudo, não deixa de ser um excerto, um trabalho incompleto, e poderá desagradar ao leitor mais desprevenido, apanhado de surpresa.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
De tempos a tempos, Kafka, preparava timidamente excertos de um qualquer outro projecto maior e dava-os a conhecer, fosse em revistas, após muita insistência de amigos e/ou editores, ou em cartas enviadas aos mesmos.
Excertos
Este O Fogueiro - Um Fragmento foi um dos textos assim lançados, publicado na primeira série da colecção Der Jüngste Tag (O Dia do Juízo). Colecção esta que viria a tornar-se importante para a história do impressionismo alemão. Kafka insistiu em sublinhar o caracter de "pequeno excerto", através do subtítulo "Um Fragmento".
O Fogueiro descreve a chegada do jovem Karl Rossmann ao grandioso porto de Nova Iorque, com vista sobre a Estátua da Liberdade. Karl aproxima-se das terras norte americanas, enviado pela famíla, como castigo de um deslize que teve com uma criada de quem teve um filho. Antes de desembarcar de vez, recorda-se de que o seu guarda-chuva ficou para trás, perdido algures, e resolve ir procurá-lo, perdendo-se, inevitavelmente, no infindável número de corredores do navio. Acaba por encontrar, por fim, numa pequena cabine, um fogueiro, que lhe fala ao coração e o leva a embarcar numa discussão que poderá mudar a sua vida.
Este pequeno livro é um excerto da obra América, mais concretamente o seu primeiro capítulo. Deve ser encarado da forma como foi lançado, parte integrante de uma revista, e funciona como um pequeno preview de uma história maior.
Contudo, não deixa de ser um excerto, um trabalho incompleto, e poderá desagradar ao leitor mais desprevenido, apanhado de surpresa.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
March 26, 2025
Kafka is one of my three favorite authors, and most of his stories really move me. But this one fell flat. I recognized the helplessness of Karl and the stoker, the father-figure, and the humor. But it didn't feel as well formed as many of his other short stories.
The Stoker is the first chapter of Kafka's unfinished novel, Amerika, which is on my to-read list. So that should be fun and I expect my opinion to morph as I read more of Karl's journey.
From the wikipedia summary on Amerika:
The Stoker is the first chapter of Kafka's unfinished novel, Amerika, which is on my to-read list. So that should be fun and I expect my opinion to morph as I read more of Karl's journey.
From the wikipedia summary on Amerika:
The novel is more explicitly humorous but slightly more realistic (except in the last chapter) than most of Kafka's works, but it shares the same motifs of an oppressive and intangible system putting the protagonist repeatedly in bizarre situations.
October 30, 2019
Really loved the short story. The way in which the kid falls in love (whether you may call it a silly infatuation or reverenced pity for the stoker) with the stoker is heart touching. It is of no wonder that the kid would never really get as close to his uncle as he was with the Stoker for a brief moment in his life.
August 11, 2015
I read this standing up in the sloppy book section of a Kmart while I killed time waiting for a movie to start. Physically uncomfortable, slightly anxious (I hate killing time) and physically out of place...what more could you ask for when you're reading Kafka?
May 20, 2023
Although the plot seems alienated from purpose, this seems like a commentary on the elite sympathy over the exploited working class at the time. Like now, Elites can afford to provide only sympathy for the poor, nothing else.
December 12, 2023
The Judgment গল্পটি মাত্রই লিখে উঠেছেন কাফকা। সেই তৃপ্তির রেশ এখনো কাটেনি। এর পরপরই লিখতে শুরু করলেন এই গল্পটি। যার মাঝে সামান্য বিরতি নেবেন সাহিত্যের ইতিহাসে সর্বোৎকৃষ্ট গল্পটি লিখতে, যার নাম হবে- The Metamorphosis
আলোচ্য গল্পটি অবশ্য কিছুটা ডিকেন্সে প্রভাবিত যেহেতু তখন তিনি ডিকেন্স পড়ছিলেন। এবং একেবারে বাস্তববাদী লেখা। (যেমনটা তাঁর কাছে আমি আশা করি না।) ম্যাক্স ব্রড এর নাম দিয়েছিলেন আমেরিকা।
রায় পড়ে আমার বেশ ভালো লেগেছিল তবে এই গল্পটা ততটা লাগেনি। মানুষের মধ্যকার সামাজিক ব্যবধান নিয়ে এই গল্প। কাফকা যা লিখে জীবনের একমাত্র সাহিত্য পুরষ্কারটি পেয়েছিলেন।
The Stoker হচ্ছে Amerika উপন্যাসের প্রথম অধ্যায়। আমেরিকা কাফকার প্রথম লেখা উপন্যাস।
আলোচ্য গল্পটি অবশ্য কিছুটা ডিকেন্সে প্রভাবিত যেহেতু তখন তিনি ডিকেন্স পড়ছিলেন। এবং একেবারে বাস্তববাদী লেখা। (যেমনটা তাঁর কাছে আমি আশা করি না।) ম্যাক্স ব্রড এর নাম দিয়েছিলেন আমেরিকা।
রায় পড়ে আমার বেশ ভালো লেগেছিল তবে এই গল্পটা ততটা লাগেনি। মানুষের মধ্যকার সামাজিক ব্যবধান নিয়ে এই গল্প। কাফকা যা লিখে জীবনের একমাত্র সাহিত্য পুরষ্কারটি পেয়েছিলেন।
The Stoker হচ্ছে Amerika উপন্যাসের প্রথম অধ্যায়। আমেরিকা কাফকার প্রথম লেখা উপন্যাস।
August 2, 2019
Temática e psicologicamente, este conto funciona bem como complemento à Metamorfose (Kafka expressou o desejo de que os textos fossem publicados em conjunto). Lido isoladamente, trata-se de uma história razoável, que entretém sem comover, e cuja escrita (ao contrário do que se verifica noutras obras) não deslumbra.
February 8, 2020
Interesante librito, que trata sobre las diferencias de las clases sociales, tomando como narradores a un fogonero de un barco, un pasajero y la cúpula de los oficiales.
July 1, 2025
did end up finishing this!
woo me
ok it was terrible and the only thing i remember is that he lost his suitcase and then got molested by his uncles maid.
woo me
ok it was terrible and the only thing i remember is that he lost his suitcase and then got molested by his uncles maid.
December 25, 2024
Illustration how Status changes a person. I love Kafkas writing so much. I literally planned a two week Interrail trip around going to the Kafka museum in Prague
December 9, 2023
The page describing the way Karl was "seduced" by the woman is so... Heart wrenching, to me.
It depicts really well an off-putting scene which, although short, says a lot. I could only imagine how damaging such a thing could be to anyone.
I also felt deeply about Karl's attachment to the stoker, the unwillingness to leave him.
Ouch.
I just can't help but be infatuated with Kafka's capabilities to describe harrowing feelings, emotions and experiences, which he manages to make vivid, through words on paper.
It depicts really well an off-putting scene which, although short, says a lot. I could only imagine how damaging such a thing could be to anyone.
I also felt deeply about Karl's attachment to the stoker, the unwillingness to leave him.
Ouch.
I just can't help but be infatuated with Kafka's capabilities to describe harrowing feelings, emotions and experiences, which he manages to make vivid, through words on paper.
June 21, 2017
لا أظن هذا العمل من أفضل ما كتب كافكا، ولكنه ضمن البواكير، تحديدا في العام 1913. والأعمال الأولى هي غالبا ما تكون مدخل لدراسة الكاتب، أو تساعد في دراسته من ناحية كرونولوجية.
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هذه القصة القصيرة هي تشكل الفصل الأول من رواية ستنشر فيما بعد وهي أمريكا، إلا أنها ظلت مستقلة رغم ذلك.
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لم أشعر بإعجاب كبير لكافكا، منذ قراءة المسخ، وهي أول ما قرأت له. إلا أنني أجد عالمه دائما مغريا بالعودة إليه.
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هذي الترجمة الإنجليزية رغم صعوبتها من ناحية استخدام بعض التعبيرات، وقد يفرض النص الأصلي على المترجم هذه الصعوبة. إلا أنها أفضل من بعض الترجمات لكافكا بالعربية، مثلا منير البعلبكي، والميل إلى المستوى الأول في اللغة في ترجمة المسخ.
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حبكة القصة تبدو عادية حين قراءتها لأول مرة، وليس فيها حدثا غريبا كتحول سامسا إلى حشرة ضخمة، أو محاكمة جوزيف ك. لكن هذه الأحداث العادية قد لا تبدو كذلك، وقد تحتمل كثير من التأويلات، سواء إذا تم ربطها بسيرة الكاتب وأعماله الأخرى، أو إذا تم قراءة العمل لوحده، بمعزل عن أي شيء آخر.
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هذه القصة القصيرة هي تشكل الفصل الأول من رواية ستنشر فيما بعد وهي أمريكا، إلا أنها ظلت مستقلة رغم ذلك.
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لم أشعر بإعجاب كبير لكافكا، منذ قراءة المسخ، وهي أول ما قرأت له. إلا أنني أجد عالمه دائما مغريا بالعودة إليه.
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هذي الترجمة الإنجليزية رغم صعوبتها من ناحية استخدام بعض التعبيرات، وقد يفرض النص الأصلي على المترجم هذه الصعوبة. إلا أنها أفضل من بعض الترجمات لكافكا بالعربية، مثلا منير البعلبكي، والميل إلى المستوى الأول في اللغة في ترجمة المسخ.
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حبكة القصة تبدو عادية حين قراءتها لأول مرة، وليس فيها حدثا غريبا كتحول سامسا إلى حشرة ضخمة، أو محاكمة جوزيف ك. لكن هذه الأحداث العادية قد لا تبدو كذلك، وقد تحتمل كثير من التأويلات، سواء إذا تم ربطها بسيرة الكاتب وأعماله الأخرى، أو إذا تم قراءة العمل لوحده، بمعزل عن أي شيء آخر.
February 4, 2024
El personaje principal se encuentra con el fogonero, al cual intenta ayudar para luego verse envuelto en algo de lo cual no está tan seguro, ya que al comienzo el fogonero le demuestra mucha seguridad con las injusticia que impartía su superior, pero del cual frente a los demás no logra articular su historia y demuestra su debilidad. Karl intenta salir del asunto como puede, solo piensa en seguir adelante con ello. (Esta situación refleja parte del alma de kafka me imagino)
November 19, 2024
The reader is introduced to the main character, Karl Rossmann, a young man newly arrived in New York. He encounters a stoker unjustly dismissed from his job, and his attempt to defend him highlights themes of powerlessness and alienation.
This brief, yet striking story captures Kafka’s trademark sense of irony and offers a glimpse into the disorienting experience of the immigrant. Kafka sets the tone for the exploration of societal and personal displacement.
Ultimately, it is a compelling snapshot of Karl’s sense of isolation, blending realism with Kafka’s deeper themes of powerlessness and the absurdity of modern life. Though unfinished, it effectively conveys the alienation of being out of place in an indifferent world.
This brief, yet striking story captures Kafka’s trademark sense of irony and offers a glimpse into the disorienting experience of the immigrant. Kafka sets the tone for the exploration of societal and personal displacement.
Ultimately, it is a compelling snapshot of Karl’s sense of isolation, blending realism with Kafka’s deeper themes of powerlessness and the absurdity of modern life. Though unfinished, it effectively conveys the alienation of being out of place in an indifferent world.
February 28, 2018
Es una redacción muy buena. Me gusto.
December 7, 2022
Me ha encantado este relato, muy indignante y con una buena reflexión sobre la justicia, el amor ciego a la familia, la inocencia y las clases sociales.
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