Das Schloss

by David Zane Mairowitz, Jaromír 99, Anja Kootz (Translator)

Der Landvermesser „K“ kommt mitten im Winter in ein tiefverschneites Bergdorf mit einem bedrohlichen, in Nebel eingehüllten Schloss darüber. Der Versuch, Kontakt zu den Bewohnern des Schlosses aufzunehmen und zu den Beamten, die die Bürokratie über das Dorf leiten, führt zu immer neuen Missverständnissen und K. übertritt eine Vielzahl von verwirrenden und widersprüchlichen Vorschriften, die den Dorfbewohner ihr tägliches Leben diktieren. Diese schneidend scharfe Studie über die Sinnlosigkeit ist Franz Kafkas letztes Meisterwerk – wie sein Leben selbst endete sie mitten im Satz. Die besondere Art der Illustration verbildlicht die düstere Welt der absurd-grotesken Bürokratie auf beeindruckende Weise.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Czech Literature, Graphic Novels Comics, Classics, German Literature

144 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2013

About the author

Mairowitz is a writer who studied English Literature and Philosophy at Hunter College, New York, and Drama at the University of California, Berkeley.

He is the author of the plays "The Law Circus" (1969 and "Flash Gordon and the Angels" (1971). Other works include "BAMN: Outlaw Manifestos and Ephemera 1965-70," "The Radical Soap Opera: Roots of Failure in the American Left," "Kafka for Beginners" and "Introducing Camus."

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 3 out of 5]

An absurd nightmare filled with stark rimmel-black & bleak, flawed, tattered whites. I had a really colorful Prague bookmark aptly between slowly simmering pages (the vivid colors of the astronomical clock fighting against the forces of evil--I know this because I was THERE this summer you guys!). This unfinished novel by the father of the opaque is very literally portrayed, but this is one of those unfilmable, un-photographable projects, really. So it comes with a lot of head scratches and a plethora of So-whats(?).

Kafka's "Castle" is basically like anything written by Beckett.

[Olaf Gütte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mein erstes Graphic Novel-Buch, von Comics natürlich mal abgesehen.
Kafkas letzter Roman über die Sinnlosigkeit der Bürokratie, wo Kafka draufsteht,
ist auch Kafka drin. :D

[Auntie Terror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the art installation in the Kafka Museum in Prague I once visited and all oft Kafka's writing I've read so far, this leaves me somewhat shaken, and unsure about reality. The graphic rendition is raw, and beautiful.

[Soňa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tento typ maľby mi veľa nedáva a otvorene sa priznávam, že lúštit, ktorá postava je ktorá, bolo dosť náročné. Text k obrázkom je občas tak voľne v priestore, že si ostávam domýšľať.... Čo ma najviac asi prekvapilo, bola akási rozkúskovanosť, tuto časť príbehu, potom príbeh tej postavy (z prosta do prosta) a potom sme zase niekde v príbehu (tom hlavnom), preskok k inému príbehu ďalšej postavy....
Malo to byť krátke prečítanie, ale ťažko sa lúskalo sivočiernymi stránkami, kde príbeh bol takmer ako v Kocúrkove, a nič sa poriadne neudialo. Teda ak nerátam fakt, že K. prišiel a všetky ženy naňho letia ako muchy na med.....
Komiksy milujem, len tento mi dal zabrať viac ako som tušila a vôbec nie s pozitívnym výsledkom.

Prvá veta:
Bylo už pozdě večer, když K. dorazil.
Posledná veta:
Mluvila s obtížemi: bylo těžké ji rozumět, ale to, co říkala...

Goodreads Challenge 2019: 31. kniha

[Steven R. Kraaijeveld · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The trouble with a book like this is that you can read it in under an hour whereas Kafka's source material is much more detailed than the sparse prose and artwork here could possibly represent. For that reason I didn't find this particularly satisfying. It's also hard to imagine how someone coming to the book without having read "The Castle" could formulate even the barest of storylines from it. On this occasion, I think the density of the source material undermines the book. However the artwork is excellent in itself and the key scenes are well represented, but it makes Kafka's "The Castle" appear a shallow work when in fact it is an undisputed (by me) classic.

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really connect with the art-style or with what I assume is a very truncated version. It did make enough of an impact to make me curious to read the whole novel, well...the whole incomplete novel. And now I wonder why I'm doing this to myself. I will come back and re-rate after I read the novelization if I feel a change is warranted. This may just be that this particular graphic adaptation is for those who have already read this work...

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Castle is an adaption of Kafka's unfinished story of the same name. I really liked the art style, which added to the gloomy and mysterious atmosphere of the storyline. As the story was coming to an end it became more and more confusing and obviously ended very abruptly. I would have been interesting to see how the tale ended but I guess we will never know.

[Ariadne Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the art in this one. Very gloomy with a woodcut kind of feel.
The story did get more incoherent towards the end and just breaks off in an awkward place. This might be due to the source material (haven't read it), but it was still unsatisfying.

[Veronika Pizano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skoda tych ilustracii. Aj ked dotvaraju atmosferu, crty postav su len hrube a velmi tazko sa rozpoznavaju, cize zneprehladnuju pribeh, ktory svojou podstatou v komiksovej podobe potrebuje prave viac jasnosti. Ale aspon som trochu pochopila, o com Zamok je, lebo literarna predloha je tazke susto.

[Matylda]

1,5/5⭐
Nic nie ogarniałam. Totalnie nic

[MAK · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually liked the art, it was gloomy and beautiful at the same time. But i didn't understand the story at all, maybe i should read it another time in future but for now i didn't enjoy the story.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Adaptações literárias em quadrinhos são um grande problema. Geralmente as editoras produzem ou adaptam publicações em outras línguas para aproveitar as benecesses de programas culturais de compra de livros do governo, como o PNBE. Então surgem coisas que até o diabo desconfia, de tão ruins que são. É o caso desta adaptação de O Castelo, de Franz Kafka, talvez a mais kafkaniana das obras do autor. Mas por ser kafkaniana não quer dizer que tenha de ser inteligível. Esse quadrinho é assim. Tem problemas em vários sentidos. Desde a conversão do texto original para um texto de diálogos de quadrinhos, na narrativa visual dos quadrinhos feita pelo artista que não parece conectar a linearidade dos acontecimentos e, por fim, na diagramação das letras nos balões feita pela L&PM aqui no Brasil. Chega a ter balão que não se enxerga o que está escrito porque o texto correu. Isso deixa a obra mais feia, menos agradável de ler. Parece ter sido editada às pressas, sem cuidado. Bem triste ver como o catálogo de quadrinhos da L&PM tem ficado e como tem tratado graficamente suas HQs, uma editora que já foi sinônimo de ótimo catálogo e ótimo tratamento de seu material, principalmente quarinhos, agora parece ser apenas movida pela venda.

[Jarmik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text románu Zámek (i když ho mám rád, zvlášť úvodní scénu) je pro mě často dost složitý: postupem četby románu vždy silně klesá moje schopnost se v knize dr. Kafky orientovat. Grafická adaptace je tak pro mě výtečnou pomůckou, jak si příště lépe prožít četbu plného textu Zámku, protože mi poskytlo jednoduchou strukturu několika příběhových linií, kterých se budu držet. Článek na blogu: https://goo.gl/x8mDj7

[Zuzulivres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predlohu si vobec netrufam citat, lebo Kafka bol pre mna vzdy neuchopitelny, no predsa len si myslim, ze som aspon trochu nazrela do podstaty Zamku cez tento komiks. No myslim si, ze by to islo aj lepsie...2.5*

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre noir artwork. Storyline goes nowhere. Nothing gets resolved.

[Daniela (Only If For A Page) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphic novel version of The Castle. Good. As creepy as the original book, but the absurdity was slightly funny in this format.

[Eliška · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I usually quite like comics, this one just wasn't good enough to bring the atmosphere of Kafka's novel.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kafka's disjointed plotting, confusing dialogue and general indefinable weirdness don't seem to lend themselves to the sequential art format. The woodcut-style art is a little boring in places too.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The woodcut-esque style is initially striking but ultimately becomes an impedement. Then again, I feel that way about Kafka's writing in general, so maybe this is a good adaptation.

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this style of illustration but the book doesn't adapt well to a graphic format. I'd be surprised if anyone who read this was keen to go on to the novel.

[Livia Vozaryova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Celé zle.

[Paweł P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nic nie zrozumiałem i nie bardzo wiem, dlaczego to był komiks. Sięgnę po pierwowzór i zobaczę co będę sądził wtedy.

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done and I'm still unsure what the story is actually about... :)

[Farnood · Rating 1 out of 5]

There we go! My first one star, i just didn’t enjoy it at all. Also the translated version that i read was just AWFUL 😑

[Emma Cash · Rating 3 out of 5]

confusing but the art was cool

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Castle by Franz Kafka

Stupendous



This is my second reading of The Castle.

What I listened to this morning is an adaptation, in an abridged format for the National Radio.

The Kafkaesque feeling was somewhat amplified, but not for a better effect, by the use of some modern sound effects.

Joseph K. is trapped in a surreal world, where he is called to make measurements, only to find that they are not required.

The Castle works like a mythological beast, with no regard for human dignity and with disregard for its own proclamations.

The bureaucracy is so infernal that it is next to impossible to find the proper individual at the right time.

It all works on rumors and hearsay, although some of the humans involved in this machinery may know how it works,

At times it does feel like some individuals have understood the workings of the wheels and they take advantage,

If a family does not listen to the bureaucrats in charge, then it is crushed by the barbaric system which looks like a totalitarian regime.

It can also be pure ineptitude.

From my own experience I have learned how a Kafkaesque system works.

Or better said it doesn’t, unless you are one of the ruthless, sadistic even drivers that get this Leviathan to roll all over you.

Speaking about Leviathan, the Russian movie with the same name is a superb description of another Castle.

This Kafkaesque situation takes place in deep Russia, where common people are destroyed by …Leviathan aka Kafkaesque tyranny.

In my own case, I will tell you about Kafka in real life-

I live in the first sector of Bucharest, in the EU.

Not far from my place, there is field where trucks come and throw thousands of tons of garbage.

I took the matter to the town hall, where they said they can do nothing, since the land is in private hands.

It turns out they were lying, because a huge mountain of earth is rising there, with photos posted by me on facebook, in a group called colegiul 1.

The earth comes from works for the subway and it could not be deposited in such industrial, huge quantities on someone’s land.

Trees have been cut down in their hundreds, when to take one down is illegal.

Sheep are roaming around the garbage, with cheese sold afterwards in Bucharest.

- The result?

- A possible epidemic

And we are talking about a capital in the European Union, but with a Kafkaesque administration, where nobody seems to care.

I explained the situation to the editor in chief of one of the TV channels that focus on news 24 hours a day-it even has 24 in its name.

The editor said

– Wow, I will send a crew…will be able to show them around?

- I will try

But they never came and his behavior continues to be taken out of Kafka, at the pool where I see him and wonder about his issues (the editor I mean).

I live in The Castle or nearby, in conclusion.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

With it being one of Kafka's unfinished works it does finish fairly abruptly, but even before then I found it to be very hard going - the art is solid, monochrome and brutalist, but the story, what there is of one, is contradictory, sometimes fairly surreal, but even within the same panel the dialogue flip-flops very confusingly and all in I found it an extremely frustrating read. Obviously, that could be the point, highlighting the frustrations of bureaucracy, aristocracy and stratified society, but it didn't have an internal logic that I found satisfying in any way.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drop dead gorgeous black & white artistry overflows in this graphic novel.
Of the graphic novels I have read, so far I very much prefer those with black
& white artwork.
Side Note: While I'm sure the artist here was trying & suceeded in evoking
the likeness of Franz Kafka in picturing the character K in The Castle, the
images reminds me more of George Orwell.

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schöne Gestaltung, die aber im Verlauf mehr Abwechslung bieten könnte. Dennoch ein gelungener Stil bei angenehmem Format in groß.