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Los hijos
Franz Kafka quería reunir las narraciones La condena, El fogonero y La transformación en un único volumen, pero su editor no aceptó pese a que la cohesión temática aportaba otra perspectiva de lectura. Existe en estos textos, decía Kafka, «una relación manifiesta y aún más una secreta, a cuya expresión, mediante su reunión en un libro titulado, por ejemplo, Los hijos, no querría renunciar». El volumen nunca se publicaría en vida del autor, y no fue hasta 1989 que salió a la luz en alemán.
La unidad de estos sobrecogedores relatos expone el rechazo que sentía Kafka hacia las figuras autoritarias y dominantes, la angustia ante un futuro incierto y el papel sufriente del hijo con tormentosas consecuencias, tales como la expulsión del hogar o la metamorfosis de uno mismo en la pesadilla de la casa. Así, la presente edición cumple por fin en español la aspiración del gran escritor de Praga.
La unidad de estos sobrecogedores relatos expone el rechazo que sentía Kafka hacia las figuras autoritarias y dominantes, la angustia ante un futuro incierto y el papel sufriente del hijo con tormentosas consecuencias, tales como la expulsión del hogar o la metamorfosis de uno mismo en la pesadilla de la casa. Así, la presente edición cumple por fin en español la aspiración del gran escritor de Praga.
152 pages, Paperback
Published April 8, 2024
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About the author
Franz Kafka
3,235 books38.8k 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 16, 2025
Desazón es la palabra. Mientras que Esperando a Godot produce desconcierto, Los hijos produce desazón pesada y angustiosa. El futuro incierto, la presión paternal, pero sobre todo la culpa, la vergüenza y la desilusión gobiernan las tres obras; tanto así, que uno se queda frío leyendo. Especialmente significativa para mí ha sido La metamorfosis, que incide sobre todos estos temas, desarrollándolos y dando una perspectiva penetrante a la psique del autor entre impresiones de pena y asco. Ahora bien, siento que no he comprendido bien La condena, tan cerrada y personal como es. Será que el lector a veces lo necesita todo machacadito. Pobrecito mi Kafka.
January 3, 2025
Que alguien me explique la condena como si fuera un niño pequeño, lo necesito
March 27, 2025
Lo cierto es que para poder entender bien toda la analogía que utiliza Kafka hay que reflexionar mucho al respecto y tener también cierto conocimiento sobre su historia de vida.
Una vez con todo esto en mente, sí considero que los tres relatos expresan de manera muy real y cruda parte de su mundo interno, parte de toda esa emoción y desesperación que sentía debido a las circunstancias que le había tocado vivir y al poco apoyo y afecto que encontró en su vida - especialmente por parte de miembros de su propia familia.
Es mi primera obra de Kafka y no estaba muy familiarizada con su estilo narrativo, pero es absolutamente absorbente e interesante.
Muy recomendable.
Una vez con todo esto en mente, sí considero que los tres relatos expresan de manera muy real y cruda parte de su mundo interno, parte de toda esa emoción y desesperación que sentía debido a las circunstancias que le había tocado vivir y al poco apoyo y afecto que encontró en su vida - especialmente por parte de miembros de su propia familia.
Es mi primera obra de Kafka y no estaba muy familiarizada con su estilo narrativo, pero es absolutamente absorbente e interesante.
Muy recomendable.
January 14, 2025
Empecé el año con una relectura kafkiana. Al adquirir Los hijos, pensé que estaba obteniendo nuevo material del autor. Sin embargo, al adentrarme en el primer relato, descubrí poco a poco que ya conocía La condena de mi edición de Cuentos, leída hace un par de años. El fogonero me llevó de vuelta a los días de taller literario, cuando leíamos fragmentos de nuestras propias historias: cuentos que eran capítulos abiertos.
En La transformación me reencontré con un pequeño detalle de traducción que sacudió mis recuerdos infantiles frente a la vieja biblioteca de mi padre. No es lo mismo ser impactado por un título que se llama de una forma que por otro que se llama La metamorfosis.
Sin profundizar demasiado en el contenido de los relatos, esta relectura me permitió pasear por atmósferas personales y disfrutar del exquisito retrato del paisaje oscuro de la existencia kafkiana.
Revisitar la agonía de Gregor Samsa me transportó tanto a su caparazón como a la mirada de Grete, su hermana, y a la delgada línea de su desenlace. Estos relatos son recordatorios de las direcciones narrativas y emocionales de los funerales literarios, las historias por contar, la oscuridad por relatar y los despertares por animar.
En La transformación me reencontré con un pequeño detalle de traducción que sacudió mis recuerdos infantiles frente a la vieja biblioteca de mi padre. No es lo mismo ser impactado por un título que se llama de una forma que por otro que se llama La metamorfosis.
Sin profundizar demasiado en el contenido de los relatos, esta relectura me permitió pasear por atmósferas personales y disfrutar del exquisito retrato del paisaje oscuro de la existencia kafkiana.
Revisitar la agonía de Gregor Samsa me transportó tanto a su caparazón como a la mirada de Grete, su hermana, y a la delgada línea de su desenlace. Estos relatos son recordatorios de las direcciones narrativas y emocionales de los funerales literarios, las historias por contar, la oscuridad por relatar y los despertares por animar.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews