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The Basic Kafka
Published together for the first time are selections from all Kafka's writings: The Metamorphosis, Josephine The Singer, plus his short stories, parables, and his personal diaries and letters.
295 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1979
67 people are currently reading
855 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,231 books38.7k 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 His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime.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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
July 15, 2007
The book that introduced me to Kafka in high school. Man, I was such a tool in college that there are actually photographs of me holding the door open for friends to enter Denny's with one hand, and a copy of this book in the other (whilst wearing a fucking leather jacket. and a do-rag. and a goatee.)
Like, I know you guys are going to bore the hell out of me, so I'm going to bring THE BASIC KAFKA into DENNY'S so I don't have to run out to my car, thus maximizing my poseur time.
Christ. I'm paying for it now, though, aren't I?
The cat in the empty house responds with a meow, and my microwave sweet and sour chicken needs either tossed or eaten...
Like, I know you guys are going to bore the hell out of me, so I'm going to bring THE BASIC KAFKA into DENNY'S so I don't have to run out to my car, thus maximizing my poseur time.
Christ. I'm paying for it now, though, aren't I?
The cat in the empty house responds with a meow, and my microwave sweet and sour chicken needs either tossed or eaten...
July 13, 2016
My favorite assembling of all his best short works. To think that this super-profound guy just shoved all his works into a drawer and died without ever realizing how much he affected the world. Emily Dickinson and Franz Kafka--I salute you. Would that there were more people like this on the planet.
Read
May 12, 2013I can't blame the book for my being unable to finish it. I blame myself for specifically reading a book to feel smart.
October 2, 2022
I was struck by the themes of these stories - isolation, judgement, otherness. They were written simply and artfully. They are kind that you keep coming back to, always discovering little gems that you didn't see before.
July 23, 2019
Accurately titled. Metamorphosis, Hunger Artists, the Judgment all included. Even the gatekeeper chapter from The Trial is included (though it's not accredited to The Trial, and you wouldn't know unless you've already read The Trial). The real gem of this collection is Letter to His Father in full, and it's worth buying just to read this. The only reason I don't give this collection five stars is because there is repetition within. Not only from the Trial, which isn't actually repeated because this doesn't include the Trial, but fragments from the Great Wall story are actually repeated and represented as other stories within this collection.
March 17, 2008
the gem in here is the short story "A HUNGER ARTIST",,,
December 18, 2024
At this point, I feel like I've read enough of this to rate it. I've read all of the stories in this book and what remains Kafka's correspondence. I'll probably read these at some point but I don't want to agonize over reading 80 pages of letters that are both boring and distressing.
The Burrow, pretty much all the stories written from the perspective of citizens of ancient China, Before the Law, and some of the 1 pagers were all incredible. I don't know what it is about Kafka that causes him to write such good stories from the perspective of a Chinese mason. It is oddly specific.
Many other stories were great, The Metamorphosis, Josephine the Singer, etc.
Almost everything in this book was interesting. There are lots of stories that didn't really resonate with me/fell flat/whatever but not for lack of intrigue. These were interesting oddities that just didn't really hold up to some of the lesser (but still good) stories such as The Judgement.
I think this is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 3. Even the stories that are like, "2 star" stories are super interesting and therefor worth reading, even if I don't think they were super great as stories. I appreciate the inclusion of the letters and am interested to read these at the pace in which I desire to read them.
The Burrow, pretty much all the stories written from the perspective of citizens of ancient China, Before the Law, and some of the 1 pagers were all incredible. I don't know what it is about Kafka that causes him to write such good stories from the perspective of a Chinese mason. It is oddly specific.
Many other stories were great, The Metamorphosis, Josephine the Singer, etc.
Almost everything in this book was interesting. There are lots of stories that didn't really resonate with me/fell flat/whatever but not for lack of intrigue. These were interesting oddities that just didn't really hold up to some of the lesser (but still good) stories such as The Judgement.
I think this is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 3. Even the stories that are like, "2 star" stories are super interesting and therefor worth reading, even if I don't think they were super great as stories. I appreciate the inclusion of the letters and am interested to read these at the pace in which I desire to read them.
May 28, 2019
Having read The Metamorphosis, I finally felt motivated to read his other notable works. The Burrow was interesting. So was the mouse tale. There are a number of short parables and miscellaneous correspondence included, too.
July 14, 2023
Hard to rate. The highs are so high. The lows are so low. Much of it was too biblical for me to understand.
May 3, 2022
whatever
April 14, 2024
Understand and love the idea of writing being "Kafkaesque". Also pains me to read his personal letters and see how these worlds are bred. What a sad life, sad disposition, and another difficult reminder that the best art comes from pain. I could really feel and relate to the anxiety portrayed in The Burrow. So relevant today in such a manufactured and material coveted world. I also thoroughly enjoyed his openness in his letters, seemed he fit better in words than reality.
February 6, 2017
This was a great collection of Kafka stories, entries from his journal, and letters. I'm in love with Kafka right now. I want to have his babies. His writing is just so mysterious and superb. All his stories are so Kafkaesque. Every story is like a meditation on life. You read, and you know there's something deep in it, and you just have to get to it. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Kafka.
June 19, 2019
Previously, the only Kafka I had read was The Metamorphosis; which I read sophomore year of high school. Kafka has such as interesting view of the world; its dismal and depressing yet humorous at times and poignant in its messages. This collection of Kafka stories and letters is a great introduction to the author and a great way to better understand his mindset and worldview. When Kafka gets it right he really gets it right and creates some of the best literature out there but unfortunately that isn't every story in this book. My favorite stories included in this book are as follows: The Metamorphosis, The Judgement, The Hunger Artist, and The Bucket Rider.
July 25, 2008
This book was my introduction to the work of Franz Kafka and remember carrying it around with me everywhere devouring each of Kafka's bizarre, dreamlike stories, as well as his collection of parables. A great book to introduce Kafka to the uninitiated.
January 12, 2024
My favorite thing about his style of writing is how absurd it is. There is never a clearly defined explanation for why things happen (i.e: the murder in fratricide or Gregor Samsa’s metamorphosis). Kafka leaves the inexplicable to be speculated. This signature of his challenges the notion of trying to understand the importance of WHY things happen. They just do. The ambiguity of his work allows for it to be read several times over with new interpretations discovered each time. No story has a defined ending. This forces us to accept the things that we cannot control. No one but Kafka (if that) will understand the meaning behind his work. We can choose to allow fear & anxiety to consume our lives (The Burrow), let our idealism destroy us (Josephine the Singer) or simply accept the fact that some things will always remain beyond our understanding (The Great Wall). I appreciate that Kafka is able to recognize Nihilism but does not let it flood his stories (again, The Great Wall). Instead, Kafka embraces existentialism and leaves it up to the individual to realize their own meaning. This provides hope in the intimate struggle with trying to find meaning in the intrinsically meaningless. I don’t think I will ever understand the paradox On Parables and for that reason it remains one of my favorite passages. Reading his stories is a great reminder that all we know is what we don’t know, and even the things we think we know, we don’t.
Unfortunately this collection does not include many of his other works like The Trial, Amerika, or The Castle
It’s clear from reading his selection of letters that he possessed a severe angst that led him to take a passive role in his life. This only further intensified the torment he suffered with his anxiety and repeats a never-ending positive feedback loop of self deprecation
The rawness in his letters to Felice are so parallel with my own life I fear they may live with me forever
Poor Kafka, you would have loved Prozac & Ativan.
Unfortunately this collection does not include many of his other works like The Trial, Amerika, or The Castle
It’s clear from reading his selection of letters that he possessed a severe angst that led him to take a passive role in his life. This only further intensified the torment he suffered with his anxiety and repeats a never-ending positive feedback loop of self deprecation
The rawness in his letters to Felice are so parallel with my own life I fear they may live with me forever
Poor Kafka, you would have loved Prozac & Ativan.
April 22, 2018
Another book I will not spend another minute reading, having put it down after the first 54 pages, force-marching my brain to the conclusion of "The Metamorphosis." The much quoted opening line ("As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect") was the high point of the story and the only sentence I rather liked. It went downhill from there. An absurd proposition should, in my opinion, be followed by satire, black comedy, or perhaps moralizing allegory. What I found was page after page of dull normality, in a sense, as Samsa tries to come to terms with his new body. Right. You awake into a nightmare but immediately accept it? Your family reacts with horror at seeing you thus transformed - lending credence to the supposition that this transformation is in some way real, not fantastic, yet they do not call the local scientific community, the police or even the neighbors, to say "Jesus Christ, our son has become a giant insect!" Instead they feed him-it. Okay, so is the story entirely surreal? If so, then I failed to see any point to it. It ends with Samsa's death, which seems to cause the family no trauma but instead brings relief. Okay, so is the story a lampooning of late 19th/early 20th century bourgeois morality? I couldn't make much of the story, feeling vaguely depressed and a bit irritated for having devoted two hours of my life to something that seemed to have little point. The remainder of the book, composed as it is largely of aphoristic writing (paragraphs, single pages), also makes little sense, as if one were reading a diary of an unknown person making reference to people, places, and events one doesn't know. In short, I found it quite dull and the prose rather turgid, and can't see why Kafka is considered such a fine writer.
September 25, 2021
3 stars is based on my enjoyment of reading this, but the Hunger Artist was fantastic and worth reading. Metamorphosis… after having read the Nose and Double didn’t blow me away but it was still enjoyable.
A few stories were honestly a bit painful to read which is a shame since the hidden meaning was excellent — it was just almost impossibly boring and excruciating to get to the point where you can understand the metaphor (Best know I mean The Burrow!!). Still it’s hard to judge him or these stories in general since he probably never revised it considering the last sentence wasn’t even completed.
I made the mistake of going into this thinking it was going to be a bunch of great stories, rather than a collection meant to give a holistic view. If you don’t love this man, I’d only recommend reading the main few
A few stories were honestly a bit painful to read which is a shame since the hidden meaning was excellent — it was just almost impossibly boring and excruciating to get to the point where you can understand the metaphor (Best know I mean The Burrow!!). Still it’s hard to judge him or these stories in general since he probably never revised it considering the last sentence wasn’t even completed.
I made the mistake of going into this thinking it was going to be a bunch of great stories, rather than a collection meant to give a holistic view. If you don’t love this man, I’d only recommend reading the main few
May 11, 2017
At best, I consider this okay.
The tough things about "classics" for me is that sometimes I really enjoy them, and other times, I really DO NOT like them.
This is one of those that was on the "don't really like it, or at least not much at all."
There was nothing in this collection that really spoke to me. I am not sure why. Can't be the time period....I have read other things from the same general time period, and I liked them.
Can't be that it was an author I had not read before. I am willing to try new authors (and do so) regularly.
We (the book and I) just didn't connect. And that is okay with me. If that makes me pedestrian, or uncultured, or something similar. Oh well. I know what I like.
The tough things about "classics" for me is that sometimes I really enjoy them, and other times, I really DO NOT like them.
This is one of those that was on the "don't really like it, or at least not much at all."
There was nothing in this collection that really spoke to me. I am not sure why. Can't be the time period....I have read other things from the same general time period, and I liked them.
Can't be that it was an author I had not read before. I am willing to try new authors (and do so) regularly.
We (the book and I) just didn't connect. And that is okay with me. If that makes me pedestrian, or uncultured, or something similar. Oh well. I know what I like.
June 4, 2018
I suppose if you’ve never read Kafka, this fits the bill as the best place to start. The Metamorphosis was still my favorite of the entire bunch. The collection of short stories showcases the surrealist and nightmarish qualities of his writing, which is quite out there. Of everything in this set, the letters I could mostly do without. A few gems in them, but overall it would take a Kafka obsessive to really love all the bits of personal psychoanalysis and insecurity throughout. The letter to his father was the only part of the entire collection that I just had to quit partway through. It was too personal and it’s almost shameful that it was published in the first place. That being said, dude is a classic author for a reason and it’s worth the read.
August 9, 2020
I really wanted to try this book and see if I would like Kafka because I lovelovelove Murakami and he is a pretty big fan of Kafka’s. I absolutely hated some of the short stories and rushed through them as quickly as possible. Some of the other short stories were okay, like The Metamorphosis and A Report To An Academy. What I really loved about this collection was the diary entries and the letters that were included. Super interesting and very relatable, especially those to Felice.
March 26, 2023
Franz kafka interests me.
He was a german I think a german jew.
He writes these short stories that thrill.
From metamorphosis locked in his room waiting to die.
The country doctor where the kids wounded.
The one about ape becoming man.
This edition shows how he had friends in the publishing industry.
Around 1911.
I write short stories as well. :)
He was a german I think a german jew.
He writes these short stories that thrill.
From metamorphosis locked in his room waiting to die.
The country doctor where the kids wounded.
The one about ape becoming man.
This edition shows how he had friends in the publishing industry.
Around 1911.
I write short stories as well. :)
Read
November 18, 2022This is a nice little addition with a wide variety of Kafka's writings including Letters (including a long one to his Father which was a major cloud in his life) and his Prose Poetry and Parables.
Also in contains 'the Metamorphosis' which is still my favourite of all Kafka's stories
Also in contains 'the Metamorphosis' which is still my favourite of all Kafka's stories
July 14, 2025
This book really captures Kafka’s vibe, most of the stories reflect his weird, deep style, a lot of the pieces are taken from his major works too like Metamorphosis, it feels like stepping into his bizarre world.
شجرة يقرأ-
شجرة يقرأ-
October 8, 2024
What a slog. Like just get to the point already.
April 24, 2010
Reading selections from this book for a course I am taking, "Psychoanalysis and the Modern Novel" and then the remainder of its contents I'll read on my own...
p.s This book seriously needs "In the Penal Colony". I do not understand why the editors/publishers chose to not include it.
Read so far:
Letter to his Father.
- Very interesting and insightful towards his psyche and life, though a bit whiny.
The Judgement.
- Seriously brilliant. I cannot really explain my amazement with this story unless I go into an analysis of the whole thing. But I love the idea of his mysterious friend in Russia representing Georg's secret desire for isolation. I love his simple act of laying his father in bed symbolizing Georg's unconscious desire to murder his father. I will indeed be reading all of his stories with an emphasis on Freudian theory and psychoanalysis because of the course I am in...but honestly, after reading the Letter to his Father, I can't imagine anyone accepting any other interpretation!
The Metamorphosis.
- I already read this a year ago. This time, however, I got so much more out of the story. Reading Kafka in an academic setting makes a tremendous difference, especially considering I believe I already gave The Metamorphosis five stars the first time I read it. The first time, I concluded that it is symbolic of grieving the loss of a loved one. And while I still see how this is a plausible interpretation, reading the story psychoanalytically gave it a much fuller and more logical, and better, meaning to me. (One with great contrast to The Judgement...like most of Kafka's stories it seems.)
The Hunger Artist.
- I loved this story. As my professor says, leave it to Kafka to devise the most negative view of art and artists! The science of creativity and psychology/philosophy of art is my greatest interest, so I of course found this small story about a hunger artist to be intriguing. Professor also said that 1/3 of this story got cut out right before he died, and it was a portion involving a cannibal (to provide the contrast the panther ended up bringing in the final product). So, that is weird because I wrote a metaphorical story about a cannibal a few years ago, and just recently rewrote in a kafkaesque style. SO I REALLY AM HIM REBORN.
*cough*
Anyway, you will only gain a whole lot out of this story if you thoroughly investigate at least a few of his others, or if you are really depressed... (five stars!)
Now onto what I have been reading on my own since ending the course..
The Burrow
- I decided this must be the next story I read of his recently. I went to Prague and, naturally, did every Kafka-related thing possible, one of which included going to the brand new Kafka Museum. I was not sure what to expect with this place, the first Kafka gallery I went to consisted of a small room and copies of old manuscripts. But it ended up blowing my mind. They captured the eerie feel of his stories in small galleries to represent novels, stories, and his personal life. By the end, I was practically running out of the place I was...actually frightened. Anyway, the best kind of fright possible. One of the last representations was of this story, The Burrow. It was simple. I was led to a small, narrow stairwell that was quite dark beside a faint red light. As you walk down the stairs, you are staring at yourself walking down them in a mirror which they placed vertically at the bottom of the staircase. You see yourself descending...into yourself. It was an ingenius representation of the psychological level of this story, which I found to have much to do with Kafka's unending escape from demons...the second he thinks he evades them on the outside, the monsters inside of him do just as worse, and occupy his time/mind until he goes mad. Of course, very generally this story can be about the neuroticism and almost pathetic greed and obsession with petty ideas/objects of the bourgeouisie, but I think it can be psychoanalytically applied to Kafka and his own life as well. Great story, but like many of his works, not for the squeemish.
The Great Wall of China
- A very political story, I have found. I enjoyed reading it, but am still unsure of his exact point...but it certainly has something to do with Power being a mere falsehood. Might write more later, but while I have it on my mind...there may be a very psychological level to this story too, or perhaps I have found the inspiration for his novel "The Castle"...in it the Chinese man refers to a parable about someone constantly seeking to see the Emporer...but no matter how far he goes or how many obstacles he conquers, there is always yet more and more to go and he will never succeed, just like the story of K. in The Castle. I don't know which was written first (this story or The Castle) but this may be interesting to look into.
p.s This book seriously needs "In the Penal Colony". I do not understand why the editors/publishers chose to not include it.
Read so far:
Letter to his Father.
- Very interesting and insightful towards his psyche and life, though a bit whiny.
The Judgement.
- Seriously brilliant. I cannot really explain my amazement with this story unless I go into an analysis of the whole thing. But I love the idea of his mysterious friend in Russia representing Georg's secret desire for isolation. I love his simple act of laying his father in bed symbolizing Georg's unconscious desire to murder his father. I will indeed be reading all of his stories with an emphasis on Freudian theory and psychoanalysis because of the course I am in...but honestly, after reading the Letter to his Father, I can't imagine anyone accepting any other interpretation!
The Metamorphosis.
- I already read this a year ago. This time, however, I got so much more out of the story. Reading Kafka in an academic setting makes a tremendous difference, especially considering I believe I already gave The Metamorphosis five stars the first time I read it. The first time, I concluded that it is symbolic of grieving the loss of a loved one. And while I still see how this is a plausible interpretation, reading the story psychoanalytically gave it a much fuller and more logical, and better, meaning to me. (One with great contrast to The Judgement...like most of Kafka's stories it seems.)
The Hunger Artist.
- I loved this story. As my professor says, leave it to Kafka to devise the most negative view of art and artists! The science of creativity and psychology/philosophy of art is my greatest interest, so I of course found this small story about a hunger artist to be intriguing. Professor also said that 1/3 of this story got cut out right before he died, and it was a portion involving a cannibal (to provide the contrast the panther ended up bringing in the final product). So, that is weird because I wrote a metaphorical story about a cannibal a few years ago, and just recently rewrote in a kafkaesque style. SO I REALLY AM HIM REBORN.
*cough*
Anyway, you will only gain a whole lot out of this story if you thoroughly investigate at least a few of his others, or if you are really depressed... (five stars!)
Now onto what I have been reading on my own since ending the course..
The Burrow
- I decided this must be the next story I read of his recently. I went to Prague and, naturally, did every Kafka-related thing possible, one of which included going to the brand new Kafka Museum. I was not sure what to expect with this place, the first Kafka gallery I went to consisted of a small room and copies of old manuscripts. But it ended up blowing my mind. They captured the eerie feel of his stories in small galleries to represent novels, stories, and his personal life. By the end, I was practically running out of the place I was...actually frightened. Anyway, the best kind of fright possible. One of the last representations was of this story, The Burrow. It was simple. I was led to a small, narrow stairwell that was quite dark beside a faint red light. As you walk down the stairs, you are staring at yourself walking down them in a mirror which they placed vertically at the bottom of the staircase. You see yourself descending...into yourself. It was an ingenius representation of the psychological level of this story, which I found to have much to do with Kafka's unending escape from demons...the second he thinks he evades them on the outside, the monsters inside of him do just as worse, and occupy his time/mind until he goes mad. Of course, very generally this story can be about the neuroticism and almost pathetic greed and obsession with petty ideas/objects of the bourgeouisie, but I think it can be psychoanalytically applied to Kafka and his own life as well. Great story, but like many of his works, not for the squeemish.
The Great Wall of China
- A very political story, I have found. I enjoyed reading it, but am still unsure of his exact point...but it certainly has something to do with Power being a mere falsehood. Might write more later, but while I have it on my mind...there may be a very psychological level to this story too, or perhaps I have found the inspiration for his novel "The Castle"...in it the Chinese man refers to a parable about someone constantly seeking to see the Emporer...but no matter how far he goes or how many obstacles he conquers, there is always yet more and more to go and he will never succeed, just like the story of K. in The Castle. I don't know which was written first (this story or The Castle) but this may be interesting to look into.
May 16, 2024
Pretty good introduction to Kafka, though I feel slightly annoyed that small sections of The Great Wall of China were copypasted into it instead of including other stories. Still, that's a small issue.
February 23, 2017
This book broke my brain when I first read it.
Obviously The Metamorphosis is the most famous, but The Hunger Artist is my favorite, I think.
Obviously The Metamorphosis is the most famous, but The Hunger Artist is my favorite, I think.
March 8, 2024
August 2016:
A fantastic collection with an invaluable selection of letters. If you have any interest in Kafka at all, and you're not well-versed, this is a great choice. There are some amazing pieces in here, as well as the collection of pathologies that constituted Kafka's unfortunate existence, and finally also some amazing... well what amounts to fragments.
2024 Reread:
Kafka is the incredibly sad, unfathomably bothered man. I got this book over a decade ago picked it up again after I found it in a box at my parents’ house (how fitting for Kafka).
The Burrow was tough reading. I wasn’t in the best place mentally when I was trying to read it and the story itself is just aggravating—an incredible achievement for the author to capture the neurotic mindset of a burrowing rodent so well, but painful.
Also I think translated German might always end up just a little on the wrong side of stodgy and pedantic. With Mann I had passages just slide off my eyes, and with Kafka in the past and now again. The letters are still really good.
A fantastic collection with an invaluable selection of letters. If you have any interest in Kafka at all, and you're not well-versed, this is a great choice. There are some amazing pieces in here, as well as the collection of pathologies that constituted Kafka's unfortunate existence, and finally also some amazing... well what amounts to fragments.
2024 Reread:
Kafka is the incredibly sad, unfathomably bothered man. I got this book over a decade ago picked it up again after I found it in a box at my parents’ house (how fitting for Kafka).
The Burrow was tough reading. I wasn’t in the best place mentally when I was trying to read it and the story itself is just aggravating—an incredible achievement for the author to capture the neurotic mindset of a burrowing rodent so well, but painful.
Also I think translated German might always end up just a little on the wrong side of stodgy and pedantic. With Mann I had passages just slide off my eyes, and with Kafka in the past and now again. The letters are still really good.
March 26, 2015
I read this book while I was studying Franz Kafka during my college years. I kept it, and I still read it because it has the best English translations of Franz Kafka. It started with a great interdiction, and it ends up with Kafka's diaries and love twisted letters to his wife and his editor.
The Book doesn't include all of Kafka's short stories like "Report to the Academy", but it has all the important ones even the book has super-short ones that is hard to find easily. Last but not least, If you enjoy Kafka's writing, you would love this book.
If you want to explore the dark psychedelic world of Kafka, for sure, I highly recommend this book to you, The Basic Kafka.
The Book doesn't include all of Kafka's short stories like "Report to the Academy", but it has all the important ones even the book has super-short ones that is hard to find easily. Last but not least, If you enjoy Kafka's writing, you would love this book.
If you want to explore the dark psychedelic world of Kafka, for sure, I highly recommend this book to you, The Basic Kafka.
February 11, 2008
I met this drunk guy at a bar once. He had obviously come from his first semester of Advanced lit. to celebrate his own developing genius.
He said, "If you're just open to it, anyone can just look at Kafka and, and just KNOW what its all about!"
I said, bored, "Dude, don't you know what people mean when they say the something is Kafkaesque?"
I recommend this book.
He said, "If you're just open to it, anyone can just look at Kafka and, and just KNOW what its all about!"
I said, bored, "Dude, don't you know what people mean when they say the something is Kafkaesque?"
I recommend this book.
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