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Franz Kafka and Prague
Versión abreviada del originalalemán
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
10 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Harald Salfellner
29 books3 followersHarald Salfellner
Austrian physician Dr Harald Salfellner, PhD has lived and worked in Prague since 1989 as an author, editor and publisher. In total, over a million copies of his books on Bohemian and Austrian cultural history have been sold, including the monograph Franz Kafka and Prague, which has been translated into eight languages. As a medical historian, he has spent many years working on the cultural history of medicine (e. g. With Pen and Scalpel; Once a Doctor, Always a Doctor) and researching the Spanish flu in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
Austrian physician Dr Harald Salfellner, PhD has lived and worked in Prague since 1989 as an author, editor and publisher. In total, over a million copies of his books on Bohemian and Austrian cultural history have been sold, including the monograph Franz Kafka and Prague, which has been translated into eight languages. As a medical historian, he has spent many years working on the cultural history of medicine (e. g. With Pen and Scalpel; Once a Doctor, Always a Doctor) and researching the Spanish flu in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 22, 2020
“Praga no te deja escapar… Esta madrecita tiene garras… Hay que someterse o… Deberíamos encenderla en dos lados, en el Vyšehrad y en el Hrdaschin, entonces sería posible liberarnos.” Franz Kafka a Oskar Pollak, 20 de diciembre de 1902.
¡Qué gratificante es leer un libro sobre la vida y la ciudad en la que vivió tu autor favorito y el haber tenido la dicha de caminar sus mismas calles!
Praga es a Franz Kafka lo que Dublín es a James Joyce. Es imposible separarlos. Están tan ligados que uno no imagina un Kafka sin Praga o un Dublín sin Joyce.
Si bien Kafka también vivió un tiempo en Viena y visitó otros países como Francia e Italia, es en Praga donde transcurre la mayor parte de su producción literaria en su corta vida (menos de 42 años).
En este libro-guía, Harald Salfellner nos lleva de la mano en un recorrido por todas sus calles, casas, plazas, cafés, salones literarios, restaurantes, castillos, barrios, parques y muchos lugares más.
Estupendamente detallado, con fotografías y mapas y con el agregado de insertar distintas citas del autor en distintas etapas de su vida donde describe habitaciones, recorridos o casas, el detalle urbano de Praga es más que completo.
En septiembre del año 2007 tuve la inmensa suerte de viajar a Europa en donde estuve casi un mes. Durante gran parte de ese tiempo estuve en Eslovaquia pero tuve la fortuna de caminar un día por Budapest en Hungría, dos en Viena, Austria y tres en Praga, antes de emprender el regreso a Argentina
Lamentablemente en esa época estaba dormida esa pasión por los libros que había descubierto en mi infancia, por lo que muy a pesar mío no pero también por estar corto de tiempos, no fui al cementerio judío donde está sepultado Kafka ni a su museo, algo que hoy lamento muchísimo, pero sin perder la fe de que algún día volveré.
El sólo hecho de pensar que cuando caminé por el puente de Carlos IV, paseé por la plaza de la ciudad vieja, posé bajo el Orloj o reloj astronómico, pude haber pisado las mismas piedras que Kafka me eriza la piel.
Mirar la catedral Týn, o la de San Vito, el Museo, observar a lo lejos el monte de San Lorenzo con la réplica de la torre Eiffel, la Torre del Pólvora y tantos lugares que visité en tan poco tiempo me llenan de orgullo.
Si hasta parece que estaba predestinado que yo debía conocer esa ciudad maravillosa...
Adjunto a esta pequeña reseña algunas fotos de ese inolvidable viaje y aunque ya han pasado más de diez años, cierro los ojos y me acuerdo absolutamente de todo guardando las esperanzas de volver a caminar las calles de la Praga de Kafka.
¡Qué gratificante es leer un libro sobre la vida y la ciudad en la que vivió tu autor favorito y el haber tenido la dicha de caminar sus mismas calles!
Praga es a Franz Kafka lo que Dublín es a James Joyce. Es imposible separarlos. Están tan ligados que uno no imagina un Kafka sin Praga o un Dublín sin Joyce.
Si bien Kafka también vivió un tiempo en Viena y visitó otros países como Francia e Italia, es en Praga donde transcurre la mayor parte de su producción literaria en su corta vida (menos de 42 años).
En este libro-guía, Harald Salfellner nos lleva de la mano en un recorrido por todas sus calles, casas, plazas, cafés, salones literarios, restaurantes, castillos, barrios, parques y muchos lugares más.
Estupendamente detallado, con fotografías y mapas y con el agregado de insertar distintas citas del autor en distintas etapas de su vida donde describe habitaciones, recorridos o casas, el detalle urbano de Praga es más que completo.
En septiembre del año 2007 tuve la inmensa suerte de viajar a Europa en donde estuve casi un mes. Durante gran parte de ese tiempo estuve en Eslovaquia pero tuve la fortuna de caminar un día por Budapest en Hungría, dos en Viena, Austria y tres en Praga, antes de emprender el regreso a Argentina
Lamentablemente en esa época estaba dormida esa pasión por los libros que había descubierto en mi infancia, por lo que muy a pesar mío no pero también por estar corto de tiempos, no fui al cementerio judío donde está sepultado Kafka ni a su museo, algo que hoy lamento muchísimo, pero sin perder la fe de que algún día volveré.
El sólo hecho de pensar que cuando caminé por el puente de Carlos IV, paseé por la plaza de la ciudad vieja, posé bajo el Orloj o reloj astronómico, pude haber pisado las mismas piedras que Kafka me eriza la piel.
Mirar la catedral Týn, o la de San Vito, el Museo, observar a lo lejos el monte de San Lorenzo con la réplica de la torre Eiffel, la Torre del Pólvora y tantos lugares que visité en tan poco tiempo me llenan de orgullo.
Si hasta parece que estaba predestinado que yo debía conocer esa ciudad maravillosa...
Adjunto a esta pequeña reseña algunas fotos de ese inolvidable viaje y aunque ya han pasado más de diez años, cierro los ojos y me acuerdo absolutamente de todo guardando las esperanzas de volver a caminar las calles de la Praga de Kafka.
November 11, 2019
kafka was Prague and Prague was Kafka. an amazing interesting small book i took with walking in the footsteps of one of the most great and intriguing writer
January 29, 2023
no puc parar de posar anotacions sobre tot el que vam veure
April 26, 2009
A tour of the various houses and areas of Prague that Kafka lived in during his short life (and there were many moves), which acts as a form of travel guide of this picturesque city.The tour is aided with turn-of-the-last-century daguerreotype photographs that enhance the image of our young, bright, sickly, hard -working writer trudging the streets of Prague.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jew, studied to be a lawyer, earned a PhD., a title which he applied very religiously in all his correspondance - he was Dr. Franz Kafka to the world - worked in the Insurance industry and, for a brief period during the First World War, was a co-partner in an asbestos factory funded by the Kafka family. He hated the world of business, despised his merchant father's brutal treatment of his employees,could never make-up his mind about marriage (he was engaged to the same woman twice and died a bachelor)or about his five novels-in-progress, all of which he handed to his friend Max Brod with instructions to destroy them after his death.
In his constant moving of location, Kafka seemed to be escaping from the sounds of life around him: elevators creaking, furniture moving, footsteps overhead, voices of chatty neighbours. He wanted to enroll for WWI but was declared too essential by his firm the first time, and too ill the second. He sympathized with the German minority in Bohemia at the time and hoped that the Austro-Hungarian empire would prevail after the war. He also dreamt of living one day in Palestine, as he was a keen follower of the emerging Zionist movement.
He must have been quite devastated being not only a minority Jew, but seeing his German fraternity discriminated against as the Czech majority rapidly took over his beloved city in the final years of the Hapsburg empire: changing German street names and landmarks over to Czech ones, voting German's out of political office and carving out the university along language lines. Although these events took place a hundred years ago - we still see this behaviour practised in parts of the world when long suppressed majorities are finally liberated and go heady and unsteady with power. Still, Kafka was spared the bitter pill of living through WWII, when the Germans he supported exterminated European Jews, including his three dear sisters.
Kafka died of consumption in 1924 - preventable today with immunization - at the tender age of 40. His health, like his novels, succumbed to the fact that he was a man ahead of his time. We are so lucky that Max Brod ignored Kafka's instructions about destroying his novels and published them posthumously.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jew, studied to be a lawyer, earned a PhD., a title which he applied very religiously in all his correspondance - he was Dr. Franz Kafka to the world - worked in the Insurance industry and, for a brief period during the First World War, was a co-partner in an asbestos factory funded by the Kafka family. He hated the world of business, despised his merchant father's brutal treatment of his employees,could never make-up his mind about marriage (he was engaged to the same woman twice and died a bachelor)or about his five novels-in-progress, all of which he handed to his friend Max Brod with instructions to destroy them after his death.
In his constant moving of location, Kafka seemed to be escaping from the sounds of life around him: elevators creaking, furniture moving, footsteps overhead, voices of chatty neighbours. He wanted to enroll for WWI but was declared too essential by his firm the first time, and too ill the second. He sympathized with the German minority in Bohemia at the time and hoped that the Austro-Hungarian empire would prevail after the war. He also dreamt of living one day in Palestine, as he was a keen follower of the emerging Zionist movement.
He must have been quite devastated being not only a minority Jew, but seeing his German fraternity discriminated against as the Czech majority rapidly took over his beloved city in the final years of the Hapsburg empire: changing German street names and landmarks over to Czech ones, voting German's out of political office and carving out the university along language lines. Although these events took place a hundred years ago - we still see this behaviour practised in parts of the world when long suppressed majorities are finally liberated and go heady and unsteady with power. Still, Kafka was spared the bitter pill of living through WWII, when the Germans he supported exterminated European Jews, including his three dear sisters.
Kafka died of consumption in 1924 - preventable today with immunization - at the tender age of 40. His health, like his novels, succumbed to the fact that he was a man ahead of his time. We are so lucky that Max Brod ignored Kafka's instructions about destroying his novels and published them posthumously.
February 9, 2020
A quirky biography of Kafka lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs of Prague. A lovely book.
It also include a German - Czech street name reference which is fascinating in itself.
It also include a German - Czech street name reference which is fascinating in itself.
September 9, 2019
As an introductory guide book and a brief biography this book did actually a pretty good job. But, it felt like a museum book more than anything too personal. I am glad to have read it after visiting Prague and not before, as my trip provided a bit of a rudimentary geographic context for me to understand the book a bit better. I found one of the sections containing obituaries written for Kafka to be fascinating. It was from Johannes Urzidil’s There Goes Kafka. He noted, ‘writing as a form of prayer’, that was Kafka’s definition of the writer, and: ‘Even if no redemption comes, I still want to be worthy of it every moment’, this was his belief.” Overall this was a solid read and I feel I understand Kafka a bit more because of it. Museums, when done well, are supposed to do that. I guess that’s probably their entire point.
July 30, 2020
There is little I can say about this book. It is an introductory collection of facts about Franz Kafka's life and Prague between 1883 and 1924. There is little in the way of opinion and Kafka's literary works are passed over briefly. The short passages from some of the novels, stories and letters provided at the end of the volume have an annoying number of errors. However, it does contain the chilling opening sentence of The Trial: “Somebody must have falsely accused Josef K, for he was arrested one morning, without having done anything wrong.” (That is the translation given in this book.) Anyway, I have always felt that, as an introduction to the modern world's politics of concrete and steel, it overshadows Pride and Prejudice's view of Regency England's relationships of syllabub and flummery.
In all, a not very interesting book – thankfully only 154 pages long.
In all, a not very interesting book – thankfully only 154 pages long.
August 9, 2020
Una Edición Magnifica!!
Contiene una gran compilación de datos sobre la vida de Kafka, un seguimiento de todos los lugares donde se formo, trabajó y vivió.
Sin duda una lectura muy buena para todo aquel seguidor de la vida y obra de este autor.
Un poco pesada la lectura por la cantidad de datos y lugares que se mencionan, pero se compensa la lectura con las imágenes y fotografías incluidas, así nos podemos hacer una mejor idea de lo que era la Praga de Kafka.
Contiene una gran compilación de datos sobre la vida de Kafka, un seguimiento de todos los lugares donde se formo, trabajó y vivió.
Sin duda una lectura muy buena para todo aquel seguidor de la vida y obra de este autor.
Un poco pesada la lectura por la cantidad de datos y lugares que se mencionan, pero se compensa la lectura con las imágenes y fotografías incluidas, así nos podemos hacer una mejor idea de lo que era la Praga de Kafka.
October 13, 2017
“Dentro de nosotros aún sobreviven los rincones sombríos, los pasadizos misteriosos, los ventanucos ciegos, los patios mugrientos, las tabernas ruidosas y las recoletas casas de huéspedes. Caminamos por los amplios bulevares de la ciudad recién construida; pero nuestros pasos, nuestras miradas, son inseguros”. Frank Kafka
August 22, 2017
Una guía muy completa y suscinta de la Praga de Kafka , muchos documentos y fotografía, una historia de los principales sitios y solo falto un mapa sugerido para saber cómo recorrer los sitios que describe
June 8, 2019
Nice primer on Kafka and Prague. Not a comprehensive bio, but doesn’t proclaim to be - recommended.
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May 27, 2025will retrace his favourite walks soon enough
April 28, 2017
Nel corso del mio recente viaggio a Praga sono passato anche per il famoso Vicolo d'Oro: al numero 22 si trovava l'abitazione di Ottla Kafka, sorella di Franz. Lo scrittore passava spesso a trovarla, fermandosi anche parecchie ore. Ora è una piccola libreria, ed è proprio al suo interno che ho comprato questo libro. Si tratta della riduzione di un'opera che di fatto costituisce una guida della Praga di Kafka, in cui vengono cioè descritti e raccontati i luoghi della sua vita: abitazioni, scuole, sedi di lavoro, locali, piazze, vie. Di ognuno di essi viene narrata l'origine e il legame con Kafka, riportando a volte descrizioni prese dagli scritti dello stesso autore. Oltre ad essere interessante nei contenuti, la guida contiene belle fotografie e illustrazioni di com'era Praga al tempo di Kafka, ed è curata davvero bene.
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August 19, 2016An excellent little book, not exactly a "full" biography of Kafka so much as snapshots of his life as perceived through the places he lived, worked, and socialised in. Liberally sprinkled with extracts from Kafka's diary and heavily illustrated with period photos of Prague. I found my copy second-hand for a couple of quid. Bargainous and recommended!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews