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Ο Νηστευτής & άλλα διηγήματα
Ένας άνδρας γίνεται επαγγελματίας της νηστείας. Δυο αδέλφια χτυπάν την πύλη μιας απομακρυσμένης έπαυλης. Ένας πίθηκος μαθαίνει να μιλάει και ελευθερώνεται. Εφτά σκυλιά παίζουν μια απαγορευμένη μουσική. Κάποιος ποθεί να μεταμορφωθεί σε Ινδιάνο, ένας άλλος ανάβει ένα κερί στο δρόμο για την Κάλντα. Κάτω από τις σκάλες του σπιτιού σου, κρύβεται το μυστηριώδες Οντραντέκ. Και κάπου στα βάθη του δάσους, απλώνεται αφανής μια παράξενη κατασκευή…
Δώδεκα διηγήματα γραμμένα με τον μοναδικό τρόπο του Φραντς Κάφκα, δώδεκα «χτυπήματα» στην πύλη του ασυνειδήτου που αφυπνίζουν τον αναγνώστη, την ίδια στιγμή που τον παρασύρουν βαθύτερα στο παράδοξο.
Ο Κάφκα έναν αιώνα σχεδόν μετά τη γέννησή του εξακολουθεί να μιλάει σε εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους (...) Μοιάζει να είναι ο τελευταίος ιερός συγγραφέας και ο μεγαλύτερος μυθογράφος όσον αφορά τη δύσκολη υπαρξιακή κατάσταση του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου.
—John Updike
Η διάκριση που κάνει ο Κάφκα ανάμεσα στον κόσμο των ηρώων του και στον κόσμο, δεν σημαίνει ότι υπάρχουν δυο κόσμοι, άλλα ότι η συνηθισμένη αντίληψή μας της πραγματικότητας δεν είναι η αληθινή πραγματικότητα.
—W. H. Auden
Δώδεκα διηγήματα γραμμένα με τον μοναδικό τρόπο του Φραντς Κάφκα, δώδεκα «χτυπήματα» στην πύλη του ασυνειδήτου που αφυπνίζουν τον αναγνώστη, την ίδια στιγμή που τον παρασύρουν βαθύτερα στο παράδοξο.
Ο Κάφκα έναν αιώνα σχεδόν μετά τη γέννησή του εξακολουθεί να μιλάει σε εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους (...) Μοιάζει να είναι ο τελευταίος ιερός συγγραφέας και ο μεγαλύτερος μυθογράφος όσον αφορά τη δύσκολη υπαρξιακή κατάσταση του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου.
—John Updike
Η διάκριση που κάνει ο Κάφκα ανάμεσα στον κόσμο των ηρώων του και στον κόσμο, δεν σημαίνει ότι υπάρχουν δυο κόσμοι, άλλα ότι η συνηθισμένη αντίληψή μας της πραγματικότητας δεν είναι η αληθινή πραγματικότητα.
—W. H. Auden
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1922
108 people are currently reading
663 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,169 books38.3k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
August 24, 2024
We are all performers attempting to entertain an invisible audience. Sometimes we succeed, frequently we don't. All the while, we are either pleasing or vexing our fellow cast members.
I read:
The introduction and
A Hunger Artist: Four Stories
The above is my reaction to these four Franz Kafka stories.
I read:
The introduction and
A Hunger Artist: Four Stories
The above is my reaction to these four Franz Kafka stories.
November 12, 2025
3,5*
E apesar de tudo o artista da fome continuava a jejuar como em tempos sonhara, e fazia-o sem esforço como então havia afirmado, embora ninguém lhe contasse os dias, e assim ninguém, nem mesmo o próprio artista da fome, sabia a que ponto chegara a sua proeza, e o seu coração pesava cada vez mais.
Nesta pequena colectânea o ponto alto é, sem dúvida, o conto que lhe dá título. A angústia de um artista da fome incompreendido e subvalorizado, a alienação total.
Primeiro Sofrimento - 4*
Uma Mulher Pequena - 4*
Um Artista da Fome - 5*
Josefina a Cantora - 2*
Conversa com o Devoto - 3*
Conversa com o Bêbedo - 3*
Grande Barulho - 3*
E apesar de tudo o artista da fome continuava a jejuar como em tempos sonhara, e fazia-o sem esforço como então havia afirmado, embora ninguém lhe contasse os dias, e assim ninguém, nem mesmo o próprio artista da fome, sabia a que ponto chegara a sua proeza, e o seu coração pesava cada vez mais.
Nesta pequena colectânea o ponto alto é, sem dúvida, o conto que lhe dá título. A angústia de um artista da fome incompreendido e subvalorizado, a alienação total.
Primeiro Sofrimento - 4*
Uma Mulher Pequena - 4*
Um Artista da Fome - 5*
Josefina a Cantora - 2*
Conversa com o Devoto - 3*
Conversa com o Bêbedo - 3*
Grande Barulho - 3*
October 28, 2017
Μικρές ιστορίες που υπογραμμίζουν τη γνήσια καφκική ατμόσφαιρα όπως τη γνωρίσαμε από τα μεγάλα του έργα. Η Αποικία των Καταδίκων είναι ένα μεγάλο κεφάλαιο από μόνη της και καλό θα ήταν να διαβάζεται ως τέτοιο και όχι ως μέρος συλλογής πολύ μικρότερων και όχι τόσο σημαντικών ιστοριών. Γι αυτό και δεν συμβάλλει στη βαθμολογία που βάζω στο βιβλίο. Άλλες δυνατές στιγμές είναι το ομώνυμο, το Μπροστά στο Νόμο (παρμένο από τη Δίκη) και Η Κρίση.
September 20, 2017
Το βιβλίο αυτό υπήρξε ο σύντροφος μου εδώ και μερικές ημέρες στα μεσημεριανά μου διαλείμματα. Μια παρέα φίλων - διηγημάτων για 'κεινες τις ώρες που αδειάζουν τα γραφεία κι η ησυχία των άλλων είναι καλόδεχτη, λίγος χρόνος η σκέψη να πάρει το χρόνο της και να λειτουργήσει μέσα στις νόρμες που επιθυμώ.
Ο ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΕΙΝΑΣ
Είμαστε τόσο γελοιοπρεπείς, σαν θέλουμε να ξεγελάσουμε την πλήξη μας, να αποδείξουμε πως διαφέρουμε από όλους εκείνους τους πικραμένους που ζουν την κάθε μέρα σε μια γνωστή διαδρομή. Φοβόμουν, ή καλύτερα έτρεμα να γκουγκλάρω τον τίτλο από φόβο πως πράγματι υπήρξε κάτι τέτοιο. Κι όμως υπήρξε. Υπήρξαν εκατομμύρια μόνο που ήταν θεάματα χωρίς να το θελήσουν. Κι αυτό έδινε στα θεάματα ακόμη μεγαλύτεροι αξία. Οι ισχυροί δε βαριούνται τα αποδεικτικά της δύναμης τους κι αν βαρεθούν, αν μετανιώσουν με το πέρας της ζωής, άλλοι θα πάρουν τη θέση τους. Μα αν οι καλλιτέχνες τους κλέβανε την πηγή της ισχύος τους, τη χαρά τη θριαμβευτική, αν ήταν εκείνοι οι θριαμβευτές, οι κλέφτες της αρρωστημένης απόλαυσης;
Ξέρω πως έχει γράψει για Πύργους, Κατσαρίδες και Δίκες, έργα που χαίρουν επευφημιών. Δεν τα έχω διαβάσει. Δε μ’ ενδιαφέρει, το λέω και τώρα, έτσι μετά από 10 σελίδες. Ο Στρίντμπεργκ είχε απόλυτο δίκιο, σκάει σα βόμβα, η τεραστιότητα αυτού του συγγραφέα. Οι ζυμώσεις απ’ το διήγημα, οι αλληλουχίες, τα παράλληλα ενδεχόμενα ελλοχεύουν, συνεχίζουν να γ..νε το μυαλό.
Πόλεμοι έγιναν για την πείνα, πόλεμοι έγιναν από κάποια πείνα. Είχε τόσους λόγους και τόσα παραδείγματα να γράψει κάτι τέτοιο και πήγε ακόμη παραπέρα, ήξερε τη φύση μας. Ήξερε πως θα ‘ρθει ο καιρός που θα θαυμάζουμε μεγάλους καλλιτέχνες, παιδιά που λιμοκτονούν, πασχίζοντας για κάποια προσοχή, για μια αρρωστημένη εκδοχή της, να καμαρώσουν, να εκπροσωπούνται από προαγωγούς – ιμπρεσάριους, να επιβραβεύονται απ’ όλους μας και μόλις η λάμψη χαθεί με το πάτημα του κουμπιού ξεχνιούνται, αλλά η θλίψη – ο κατακερματισμός, το αίσθημα μέσα τους – μέσα μας παραμένει πως μια ψυχή μόνο δε φτάνει, θέλει και κάτι παραπάνω, δυο πόδια ίσως πιο λεπτά από μπράτσο και κάποιοι οικονομούν εκατομμύρια κι ίσως πολλές ευκαιρίες για πόδια ανοιχτά. Για να μπορούν χάρη σε όλα αυτά κάποιοι να κάνουν σχολιασμούς και body control στις παραλίες, για να μπορούμε τα βασιλόπουλα να ξεχνάμε την ψυχή ανάμεσα και να μένουμε σε ένα σώμα λιανό ως δείγμα ωραιότητας.
ΑΓΡΟΤΙΚΟΣ ΓΙΑΤΡΟΣ
Πόσο συνηθισμένος μοιάζω, ίδιος με άλλους. Που είν’ οι προοπτικές μου; Δεν έχω. Αχ και να ‘χα μια τόση δα αρρώστια, μια πληγή. Για να υποφέρω, για να ξεχωρίζω, για να δίνω ενότητα στην οικογένεια μου, να αντλώ ορατά την αγάπη τους. Μα να! Κάτι βλέπω. Ω η δικιά μου πολυαγαπημένη πληγή, κακοφορμίζει, ο πόνος που θα με εξυμνήσει, θα κάνει μπορετή την επιπεδότητα μου. Κοίτα το γιατρό πως κλαίει καθώς τον γδύνουν, θα θυσιαστεί πάνω μου, να με γιάνει με τις σάρκες του, πόσο λυπημένος είναι: θυσίασε κάτι για να ‘ναι εδώ, ‘’μια ψυχοκόρη’’, μα σαν από μηχανής θεός η φούρια των αλόγων, τον γλίτωσε απ’ την απόφαση υπέρ ή κατά του ιερού καθήκοντος του.
ΓΑΛΑΡΙΑ
Κλάμα από ψυχής γι’ αυτό που τρέχει με τα μάτια της παραισθησίας μιας εξιδανικευμένης φαντασίας παράλληλα με τον αληθινό κόσμο και συχνά μας παρασέρνει σε περίεργες ατραπούς που ο αληθινός κόσμος δε φτάνει ποτέ.
ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ ΣΤΟ ΝΟΜΟ
Είναι τόσο εύκολο να μας φοβίσουν οι μπαμπούλες που μόνοι δημιουργούμε και μόνο εμείς βλέπουμε και να αναλώνουμε τη ζωή μας σε ανοιχτές μόνο για μας πόρτες, αφού βρίσκονται στο δικό μας δρόμο, που αντί να δρασκελίζουμε, μένουμε στα θυρωρεία ώσπου είναι πολύ αργά.
ΕΝΤΕΚΑ ΓΙΟΙ
Η εξαπάτηση για άλλους φαινότυπος και γι’ άλλους εσώψυχα, ενυπάρχει σε όλους μας όπως τα μειονεκτήματα και τα προτερήματα, δικά του, του καθενός. Κι η εξιδανίκευση υπάρχει μόνο μακροσκοπικά, μικροσκοπικά υπάρχει το εγώ και το εσύ που δεν είναι τέλεια, αλλά είναι κοντά, ανθρώπινα κοντά, αρκεί να τ’ αγγίξουμε κι όχι μόνο να τα κοιτάμε και να τα κρίνουμε.
ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ
‘’Όχι δε γύρευα ελευθερία. Μόνο μια διέξοδο κι ας ήταν απογοήτευση. Να προχωρήσω λοιπόν, να προχωρήσω, μόνο μη μένω ακίνητος΄΄… κι ας σημαίνει αυτό μίμηση και συγχώνευση. Εξημέρωση, μιμητισμός, προσαρμογή, μα όχι ελευθερία. Κι ας πίνω όπως κάθε άλλος, μα έξω απ’ το κλουβί, χωρίς να μου καίνε τη γούνα, ή να μου δίνουν κώνειο να πιω.
ΣΤΗΝ ΑΠΟΙΚΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤΑΔΙΚΩΝ
Ένοχος μέχρι αποδείξεως της … ενοχής. Ένα εφιαλτικό μηχάνημα. Το τατουάζ του θανάτου. Θα μπορούσε να έχει βγει απ’ το μυαλό κάποιου ναζιστή, ή και οποιουδήποτε από ‘μας ξεκινάει με τη σκέψη να μην επιτρέψει μια απολογία γιατί ξέρει ποιες ‘’δικαιολογίες’’ θ’ ακούσει. Μια ιστορία που δε χρειάζεται καμιά ανάλυση, καμία σύσταση και αποδεικνύει πως ο τρόπος που γενικά είδα να γράφει ο Κάφκα, κάνοντας διαρκείς ελλειπτικούς αγώνες με τον υπαινιγμό και τη σαφήνεια στις πρώτες θέσεις, είναι συνειδητός και έχει στόχο ακριβώς να προβληματίσει και να ερεθίσει το μηχανισμό της σκέψης και αν θέλει μπορεί να γίνει πολύ επεξηγηματικός, τόσο που να παγώσει το αίμα.
Η ΚΡΙΣΗ
Πρόκειται για μια πάρα πολύ ιδιαίτερη ιστορία. Σε ένα πρώτο επίπεδο υπάρχει ένας φίλος σε ένα άλλο μέρος για τον οποίο μαθαίνουμε μόνο όσες πληροφορίες θέλει να μας δώσει ο κεντρικός χαρακτήρας. Ένας φίλος που οι ομοιότητες στη ζωή του με τη δική μου με έτσουξε. Σε ένα άλλο επίπεδο υπάρχει ένας πατέρας που παραγκωνίστηκε με το θάνατο της μητέρας σε ένα ρόλο δευτερεύοντα στη δουλειά και σε κάποιο παράσπιτο. Θυμίζει πολλούς γονιούς που τελικά καταλήγουν παρατημένοι στα γηροκομεία, στο έλεος του οποιουδήποτε κι υπάρχει και μια άλλη ιστορία που τρέχει από κάτω, μια κρίση ταυτότητας του ίδιου του κεντρικού χαρακτήρα με τη ζωή που έχει την άλλη που θα ήθελε να είχε ως ξεριζωμένος, με τον τρόπο που πολλοί απ’ την απέξω νομίζουν πως μπορούν να ονειρεύονται μια αποστειρωμένη ζωή με χίλιες θεωρητικές δυσκολίες και ελάχιστες χαρές μες στην αποξένωση κάπου αλλού που δεν είναι το σπίτι τους και παράλληλα να δρέπουν την ικανοποίηση του πόσο καλή είναι πραγματικά η ζωή τους, μιας άλλης ταυτότητας που είναι ένας φανταστικός φίλος, όπως μεταχειριζόμαστε κάποιες φορές τους εύπλαστους φίλους που δεν είναι ακριβώς φίλοι παρά κάποιο σημείο αναφοράς για την αυτοπροβολή μας. Μια κρίση, που θα μπορούσε να μιλήσει στον καθένα μας για όλους εκείνους τους εαυτούς που ξεδιπλώνει ή ξεγυμνώνει κάθε φορά που θέλει να βγει έξω απ’ το γενικά γνωστό εγώ του, εκείνο που γενικά υποφέρει και που κάποιες στιγμές δεν υποφέρει καθόλου. Ενδεχομένως, να έχω ερμηνεύσει τελείως λάθος τις συνδέσεις και πάλι όμως είναι μια σπουδαία ιστορία που μου μίλησε και ίσως περιμένει ένα δυνατότερο μυαλό να πει την ιστορία της ιστορίας ολοκληρωμένα, στον εαυτό του, ή σε άλλους.
Μια συλλογή διηγημάτων που δεν υπάρχουν λόγια ικανά να υπακούσουν το μυαλό μου και να την περιγράψουν, για τη φθορά μέσα μας, για τις επιλογές μας, για τον κόσμο που είναι παράσταση μας και τον κόσμο που ξεφεύγει απ’ τα ακροδάχτυλα μας ως μέρος του κόσμου που αποτελεί ιδέα κάποιου άλλου και για το όραμα του να ζούμε μαζί σε μια κοινή συνιστώσα που πατούν άνθρωποι κι όχι θεοί που ξέρουν ποιοι είναι και κάθε θυσία και σύμβαση που έχουν κάνει, μα δεν αγνοούν ποτέ τις χειρότερες αρρώστιες που ενυπάρχουν μέσα μας και φορές φορές βγαίνουν έξω κι ίσως είναι προτιμότερο ελεγχόμενα κάποιες να βγαίνουν ώστε ο κόσμος να μη χάνει τα κίνητρα του να γυρίζει κι οι άνθρωποι να έρχονται κοντά, ακόμη κι αν ανάμεσα, ή ειδικά κι αν ανάμεσα στους καλούς βρίσκονται κι οι άλλοι – οι άλλοι – άλλοι κι εμείς – οι άλλοι.
Δεν κρύβω πως το ύφος του μου άσκησε τη γοητεία που μου έχουν ασκήσει με διαφορετικό τρόπο ο καθένας, ο Λάβκραφτ, ο Στεντάλ,ο Κόνραντ και ο Πόε. Ελλειπτικός, ποτέ μα ποτέ υπερβολικός σε αυτά που γράφονται, αλλά όχι και σ’ εκείνα που εννοούνται, στις διαπιστώσεις που δε λέμε ποτέ δυνατά, στις διαψεύσεις που φανταζόμαστε και που υπάρχουν ακόμη κι αν δεν τις έχουμε δει εκείνη τη φορά. Έχουν δύναμη αυτά τα διηγήματα. Τη διαύγεια της γνώσης που μπορεί να δώσει το βίωμα, η αυτοπαρατήρηση, η αυτάρκεια κι η ανθρωποπαρατήρηση. Κλινική γραφή, αποστειρωμένη, καθόλου συναισθηματική στις προτάσεις που γράφονται και τρικυμιώδης από κάτω, παραμονεύει ο κίνδυνος, η αποκάλυψη, το πλήγωμα. Με λίγα λόγια κι όσο αδόκιμο κι αν είναι: wow!
Ο ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΕΙΝΑΣ
Είμαστε τόσο γελοιοπρεπείς, σαν θέλουμε να ξεγελάσουμε την πλήξη μας, να αποδείξουμε πως διαφέρουμε από όλους εκείνους τους πικραμένους που ζουν την κάθε μέρα σε μια γνωστή διαδρομή. Φοβόμουν, ή καλύτερα έτρεμα να γκουγκλάρω τον τίτλο από φόβο πως πράγματι υπήρξε κάτι τέτοιο. Κι όμως υπήρξε. Υπήρξαν εκατομμύρια μόνο που ήταν θεάματα χωρίς να το θελήσουν. Κι αυτό έδινε στα θεάματα ακόμη μεγαλύτεροι αξία. Οι ισχυροί δε βαριούνται τα αποδεικτικά της δύναμης τους κι αν βαρεθούν, αν μετανιώσουν με το πέρας της ζωής, άλλοι θα πάρουν τη θέση τους. Μα αν οι καλλιτέχνες τους κλέβανε την πηγή της ισχύος τους, τη χαρά τη θριαμβευτική, αν ήταν εκείνοι οι θριαμβευτές, οι κλέφτες της αρρωστημένης απόλαυσης;
Ξέρω πως έχει γράψει για Πύργους, Κατσαρίδες και Δίκες, έργα που χαίρουν επευφημιών. Δεν τα έχω διαβάσει. Δε μ’ ενδιαφέρει, το λέω και τώρα, έτσι μετά από 10 σελίδες. Ο Στρίντμπεργκ είχε απόλυτο δίκιο, σκάει σα βόμβα, η τεραστιότητα αυτού του συγγραφέα. Οι ζυμώσεις απ’ το διήγημα, οι αλληλουχίες, τα παράλληλα ενδεχόμενα ελλοχεύουν, συνεχίζουν να γ..νε το μυαλό.
Πόλεμοι έγιναν για την πείνα, πόλεμοι έγιναν από κάποια πείνα. Είχε τόσους λόγους και τόσα παραδείγματα να γράψει κάτι τέτοιο και πήγε ακόμη παραπέρα, ήξερε τη φύση μας. Ήξερε πως θα ‘ρθει ο καιρός που θα θαυμάζουμε μεγάλους καλλιτέχνες, παιδιά που λιμοκτονούν, πασχίζοντας για κάποια προσοχή, για μια αρρωστημένη εκδοχή της, να καμαρώσουν, να εκπροσωπούνται από προαγωγούς – ιμπρεσάριους, να επιβραβεύονται απ’ όλους μας και μόλις η λάμψη χαθεί με το πάτημα του κουμπιού ξεχνιούνται, αλλά η θλίψη – ο κατακερματισμός, το αίσθημα μέσα τους – μέσα μας παραμένει πως μια ψυχή μόνο δε φτάνει, θέλει και κάτι παραπάνω, δυο πόδια ίσως πιο λεπτά από μπράτσο και κάποιοι οικονομούν εκατομμύρια κι ίσως πολλές ευκαιρίες για πόδια ανοιχτά. Για να μπορούν χάρη σε όλα αυτά κάποιοι να κάνουν σχολιασμούς και body control στις παραλίες, για να μπορούμε τα βασιλόπουλα να ξεχνάμε την ψυχή ανάμεσα και να μένουμε σε ένα σώμα λιανό ως δείγμα ωραιότητας.
ΑΓΡΟΤΙΚΟΣ ΓΙΑΤΡΟΣ
Πόσο συνηθισμένος μοιάζω, ίδιος με άλλους. Που είν’ οι προοπτικές μου; Δεν έχω. Αχ και να ‘χα μια τόση δα αρρώστια, μια πληγή. Για να υποφέρω, για να ξεχωρίζω, για να δίνω ενότητα στην οικογένεια μου, να αντλώ ορατά την αγάπη τους. Μα να! Κάτι βλέπω. Ω η δικιά μου πολυαγαπημένη πληγή, κακοφορμίζει, ο πόνος που θα με εξυμνήσει, θα κάνει μπορετή την επιπεδότητα μου. Κοίτα το γιατρό πως κλαίει καθώς τον γδύνουν, θα θυσιαστεί πάνω μου, να με γιάνει με τις σάρκες του, πόσο λυπημένος είναι: θυσίασε κάτι για να ‘ναι εδώ, ‘’μια ψυχοκόρη’’, μα σαν από μηχανής θεός η φούρια των αλόγων, τον γλίτωσε απ’ την απόφαση υπέρ ή κατά του ιερού καθήκοντος του.
ΓΑΛΑΡΙΑ
Κλάμα από ψυχής γι’ αυτό που τρέχει με τα μάτια της παραισθησίας μιας εξιδανικευμένης φαντασίας παράλληλα με τον αληθινό κόσμο και συχνά μας παρασέρνει σε περίεργες ατραπούς που ο αληθινός κόσμος δε φτάνει ποτέ.
ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ ΣΤΟ ΝΟΜΟ
Είναι τόσο εύκολο να μας φοβίσουν οι μπαμπούλες που μόνοι δημιουργούμε και μόνο εμείς βλέπουμε και να αναλώνουμε τη ζωή μας σε ανοιχτές μόνο για μας πόρτες, αφού βρίσκονται στο δικό μας δρόμο, που αντί να δρασκελίζουμε, μένουμε στα θυρωρεία ώσπου είναι πολύ αργά.
ΕΝΤΕΚΑ ΓΙΟΙ
Η εξαπάτηση για άλλους φαινότυπος και γι’ άλλους εσώψυχα, ενυπάρχει σε όλους μας όπως τα μειονεκτήματα και τα προτερήματα, δικά του, του καθενός. Κι η εξιδανίκευση υπάρχει μόνο μακροσκοπικά, μικροσκοπικά υπάρχει το εγώ και το εσύ που δεν είναι τέλεια, αλλά είναι κοντά, ανθρώπινα κοντά, αρκεί να τ’ αγγίξουμε κι όχι μόνο να τα κοιτάμε και να τα κρίνουμε.
ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ
‘’Όχι δε γύρευα ελευθερία. Μόνο μια διέξοδο κι ας ήταν απογοήτευση. Να προχωρήσω λοιπόν, να προχωρήσω, μόνο μη μένω ακίνητος΄΄… κι ας σημαίνει αυτό μίμηση και συγχώνευση. Εξημέρωση, μιμητισμός, προσαρμογή, μα όχι ελευθερία. Κι ας πίνω όπως κάθε άλλος, μα έξω απ’ το κλουβί, χωρίς να μου καίνε τη γούνα, ή να μου δίνουν κώνειο να πιω.
ΣΤΗΝ ΑΠΟΙΚΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤΑΔΙΚΩΝ
Ένοχος μέχρι αποδείξεως της … ενοχής. Ένα εφιαλτικό μηχάνημα. Το τατουάζ του θανάτου. Θα μπορούσε να έχει βγει απ’ το μυαλό κάποιου ναζιστή, ή και οποιουδήποτε από ‘μας ξεκινάει με τη σκέψη να μην επιτρέψει μια απολογία γιατί ξέρει ποιες ‘’δικαιολογίες’’ θ’ ακούσει. Μια ιστορία που δε χρειάζεται καμιά ανάλυση, καμία σύσταση και αποδεικνύει πως ο τρόπος που γενικά είδα να γράφει ο Κάφκα, κάνοντας διαρκείς ελλειπτικούς αγώνες με τον υπαινιγμό και τη σαφήνεια στις πρώτες θέσεις, είναι συνειδητός και έχει στόχο ακριβώς να προβληματίσει και να ερεθίσει το μηχανισμό της σκέψης και αν θέλει μπορεί να γίνει πολύ επεξηγηματικός, τόσο που να παγώσει το αίμα.
Η ΚΡΙΣΗ
Πρόκειται για μια πάρα πολύ ιδιαίτερη ιστορία. Σε ένα πρώτο επίπεδο υπάρχει ένας φίλος σε ένα άλλο μέρος για τον οποίο μαθαίνουμε μόνο όσες πληροφορίες θέλει να μας δώσει ο κεντρικός χαρακτήρας. Ένας φίλος που οι ομοιότητες στη ζωή του με τη δική μου με έτσουξε. Σε ένα άλλο επίπεδο υπάρχει ένας πατέρας που παραγκωνίστηκε με το θάνατο της μητέρας σε ένα ρόλο δευτερεύοντα στη δουλειά και σε κάποιο παράσπιτο. Θυμίζει πολλούς γονιούς που τελικά καταλήγουν παρατημένοι στα γηροκομεία, στο έλεος του οποιουδήποτε κι υπάρχει και μια άλλη ιστορία που τρέχει από κάτω, μια κρίση ταυτότητας του ίδιου του κεντρικού χαρακτήρα με τη ζωή που έχει την άλλη που θα ήθελε να είχε ως ξεριζωμένος, με τον τρόπο που πολλοί απ’ την απέξω νομίζουν πως μπορούν να ονειρεύονται μια αποστειρωμένη ζωή με χίλιες θεωρητικές δυσκολίες και ελάχιστες χαρές μες στην αποξένωση κάπου αλλού που δεν είναι το σπίτι τους και παράλληλα να δρέπουν την ικανοποίηση του πόσο καλή είναι πραγματικά η ζωή τους, μιας άλλης ταυτότητας που είναι ένας φανταστικός φίλος, όπως μεταχειριζόμαστε κάποιες φορές τους εύπλαστους φίλους που δεν είναι ακριβώς φίλοι παρά κάποιο σημείο αναφοράς για την αυτοπροβολή μας. Μια κρίση, που θα μπορούσε να μιλήσει στον καθένα μας για όλους εκείνους τους εαυτούς που ξεδιπλώνει ή ξεγυμνώνει κάθε φορά που θέλει να βγει έξω απ’ το γενικά γνωστό εγώ του, εκείνο που γενικά υποφέρει και που κάποιες στιγμές δεν υποφέρει καθόλου. Ενδεχομένως, να έχω ερμηνεύσει τελείως λάθος τις συνδέσεις και πάλι όμως είναι μια σπουδαία ιστορία που μου μίλησε και ίσως περιμένει ένα δυνατότερο μυαλό να πει την ιστορία της ιστορίας ολοκληρωμένα, στον εαυτό του, ή σε άλλους.
Μια συλλογή διηγημάτων που δεν υπάρχουν λόγια ικανά να υπακούσουν το μυαλό μου και να την περιγράψουν, για τη φθορά μέσα μας, για τις επιλογές μας, για τον κόσμο που είναι παράσταση μας και τον κόσμο που ξεφεύγει απ’ τα ακροδάχτυλα μας ως μέρος του κόσμου που αποτελεί ιδέα κάποιου άλλου και για το όραμα του να ζούμε μαζί σε μια κοινή συνιστώσα που πατούν άνθρωποι κι όχι θεοί που ξέρουν ποιοι είναι και κάθε θυσία και σύμβαση που έχουν κάνει, μα δεν αγνοούν ποτέ τις χειρότερες αρρώστιες που ενυπάρχουν μέσα μας και φορές φορές βγαίνουν έξω κι ίσως είναι προτιμότερο ελεγχόμενα κάποιες να βγαίνουν ώστε ο κόσμος να μη χάνει τα κίνητρα του να γυρίζει κι οι άνθρωποι να έρχονται κοντά, ακόμη κι αν ανάμεσα, ή ειδικά κι αν ανάμεσα στους καλούς βρίσκονται κι οι άλλοι – οι άλλοι – άλλοι κι εμείς – οι άλλοι.
Δεν κρύβω πως το ύφος του μου άσκησε τη γοητεία που μου έχουν ασκήσει με διαφορετικό τρόπο ο καθένας, ο Λάβκραφτ, ο Στεντάλ,ο Κόνραντ και ο Πόε. Ελλειπτικός, ποτέ μα ποτέ υπερβολικός σε αυτά που γράφονται, αλλά όχι και σ’ εκείνα που εννοούνται, στις διαπιστώσεις που δε λέμε ποτέ δυνατά, στις διαψεύσεις που φανταζόμαστε και που υπάρχουν ακόμη κι αν δεν τις έχουμε δει εκείνη τη φορά. Έχουν δύναμη αυτά τα διηγήματα. Τη διαύγεια της γνώσης που μπορεί να δώσει το βίωμα, η αυτοπαρατήρηση, η αυτάρκεια κι η ανθρωποπαρατήρηση. Κλινική γραφή, αποστειρωμένη, καθόλου συναισθηματική στις προτάσεις που γράφονται και τρικυμιώδης από κάτω, παραμονεύει ο κίνδυνος, η αποκάλυψη, το πλήγωμα. Με λίγα λόγια κι όσο αδόκιμο κι αν είναι: wow!
October 21, 2019
Un artista del hambre es un buen relato, lo malo es que dura diez páginas y el libro tiene más de noventa, todo lo demás es innecesario, se me ha hecho largo.
October 13, 2024
...για άλλη μια φορα, ακόμα και αν πρόκειται για μικρές ιστορίες, όλα γύρω σκοτεινιάζουν όταν διαβάζεις Κάφκα.
November 25, 2020
Yπεροχη συλλογή διηγημάτων του Κάφκα! Νομίζω χαίρομαι σίγουρα περισσότερο απο τότε που διάβασα το πυργο και τη περιγραφή ενος αγωνα. Νομίζω οτι μετα τη Μεταμόρφωση και τη Δικη με τεραστια διαφορά ακολουθούν αυτά!! Το πιο εντυπωσιακό για μενα ηταν ο καλλιτέχνης της πείνας, ακολουθεί η Σωφρονιστική Αποικια που εδω φερει το τίτλο Στην αποικία των καταδίκων καθως και επονται τα υπόλοιπα, μιας και περιεχονται 8 διηγήματα του καφκα σ αυτό το βιβλίο. Αξίζει να το βρει και να το διαβάσει κάποιος
November 21, 2016
4 αστεράκια θα έβαζα μόνο στη σωφρονιστική αποικία και στον καλλιτέχνη της πείνας.
πρώτο μείον, η επιλογή των διηγημάτων. Ετερόκλητα μεταξύ τους. Όχι μόνο δε βοηθάει την ανάγνωση αλλά λειτουργούν και αποδυναμωτικά το ένα για το άλλο.
δεύτερο μείον, η μετάφραση.
Η σωφρονιστική αποικία (εδώ αναφέρεται ως αποικία των καταδίκων) αξίζει να διαβαστεί μόνη της! Χωρίς τίποτα να προηγηθεί ή να ακολουθήσει. Σπουδαίο δείγμα καφκικού τρόμου. Ο αναγνώστης γίνεται κοινωνός των πιο ζοφερών σκέψεων του συγγραφέα.
πρώτο μείον, η επιλογή των διηγημάτων. Ετερόκλητα μεταξύ τους. Όχι μόνο δε βοηθάει την ανάγνωση αλλά λειτουργούν και αποδυναμωτικά το ένα για το άλλο.
δεύτερο μείον, η μετάφραση.
Η σωφρονιστική αποικία (εδώ αναφέρεται ως αποικία των καταδίκων) αξίζει να διαβαστεί μόνη της! Χωρίς τίποτα να προηγηθεί ή να ακολουθήσει. Σπουδαίο δείγμα καφκικού τρόμου. Ο αναγνώστης γίνεται κοινωνός των πιο ζοφερών σκέψεων του συγγραφέα.
May 6, 2022
3.5
A little bit of everything from Kafka: short stories, aphorisms, flash fiction, the mini travelogues he loves so much. The first part of this collection (Four Stories) was considerably better than the latter parts, with two of them (A Hunger Artist and Josefine the Singer) being two of the most poignant, albeit opposite, takes on artistry I have ever read. In the latter parts I liked A Country Doctor and A Report to an Academy.
A little bit of everything from Kafka: short stories, aphorisms, flash fiction, the mini travelogues he loves so much. The first part of this collection (Four Stories) was considerably better than the latter parts, with two of them (A Hunger Artist and Josefine the Singer) being two of the most poignant, albeit opposite, takes on artistry I have ever read. In the latter parts I liked A Country Doctor and A Report to an Academy.
March 26, 2015
I've written before about the difficulties of rating short story collections, and it is especially hard to rate those that aren't put together by the author themselves. This one doesn't make me think otherwise. As a matter of fact, it would even be hard trying to rate each of the stories by itself, even without interference from all the rest.
The texts come from different time periods of Kafka's writing, are in various stages of being finished, and span a variety of themes, but they often return to the idea of the Artist, especially in stories such as A Hunger Artist and Josefine, the Singer of the Mouse-People. Kafka works with the relationship between Artist and Audience, between creator, consumer, and bystander. It’s interesting, but not as engaging as it could’ve been. There is also a great deal of thought about the nature of living creatures, and about going against it, or succumbing to it. As a matter of fact, a share of the protagonists in these stories are animals; dogs, mice, apes, horses. The surreal is entwined with the mundane, where animals are given human roles and experiences, and inanimate objects seem to have goals, reasons, and a will of their own. Still, the stories are firmly planted in our everyday world.
Kafka's writing style is sometimes a blessing, sometimes a downfall. Reflective of his day job, it's often stiff and bleak, and this fits him well. He has this way of being both simple and complex at the same time, wordy, but without being purple. At his best this is absolutely amazing, amplifying the atmosphere in his stories in the way that a blanket of grey haze amplifies the impression and ambience of a rainy day. Oppressive, but in a good way, the prose is definitely present in the text, active, contributing to it just as much as the story does. At his less shining moments, however, the mist turns into a fog and becomes too thick and unyielding, obscuring the text itself, making it very hard to get through.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of fog in this collection. Many of the stories drag on far more than they'd need to, and I sometimes get the feeling that Kafka gets a bit lost in his own thoughts and loses track of where the text is going. At their worst, the stories lack focus. And no wonder: many of them are fragments of a narrative fused together after Kafka's death, some are writing exercises. A great many were never supposed to be published, but then again, going from that we would've never had many of his best works. But this collection does feel a bit forced in places, a sort of Frankenstein's monster of unfinished short stories and loose scraps. It is definitely geared more towards those reading Kafka for academic reasons, rather than for... well, fun, even though that might not be the first word that comes to mind when reading Kafka. Going through this collection just for the sake of reading left me a bit unsatisfied (even though the brilliant introduction and notes by Ritchie Robertson caught my interest, and worked very well as a companion to the book). While the cover says 'stories' this is, in many ways, a book of fragments. Many of them are very well written as well as interesting, but they seem to be hidden in the fog, and it takes some patience to leaf through the rougher parts to look for those that stand out.
Still, giving A Hunger Artist and Other Stories a lower rating wouldn’t be fair. There are some amazing stories in there, and when Kafka is at his best, he’s a five star writer. I found myself spending a lot of time writing down sentences, and sometimes entire paragraphs that I just couldn’t get out of my head. The Burrow is fantastic, and so is At the Building of the Great Wall of China, and Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor. And it is no surprise that when Kafka gets to play around with the themes of authority, paranoia, and repetition, he shines. I just wish that some of these stories would've been allowed to hold their own, and not be drowned out by all the other ones.
The texts come from different time periods of Kafka's writing, are in various stages of being finished, and span a variety of themes, but they often return to the idea of the Artist, especially in stories such as A Hunger Artist and Josefine, the Singer of the Mouse-People. Kafka works with the relationship between Artist and Audience, between creator, consumer, and bystander. It’s interesting, but not as engaging as it could’ve been. There is also a great deal of thought about the nature of living creatures, and about going against it, or succumbing to it. As a matter of fact, a share of the protagonists in these stories are animals; dogs, mice, apes, horses. The surreal is entwined with the mundane, where animals are given human roles and experiences, and inanimate objects seem to have goals, reasons, and a will of their own. Still, the stories are firmly planted in our everyday world.
Kafka's writing style is sometimes a blessing, sometimes a downfall. Reflective of his day job, it's often stiff and bleak, and this fits him well. He has this way of being both simple and complex at the same time, wordy, but without being purple. At his best this is absolutely amazing, amplifying the atmosphere in his stories in the way that a blanket of grey haze amplifies the impression and ambience of a rainy day. Oppressive, but in a good way, the prose is definitely present in the text, active, contributing to it just as much as the story does. At his less shining moments, however, the mist turns into a fog and becomes too thick and unyielding, obscuring the text itself, making it very hard to get through.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of fog in this collection. Many of the stories drag on far more than they'd need to, and I sometimes get the feeling that Kafka gets a bit lost in his own thoughts and loses track of where the text is going. At their worst, the stories lack focus. And no wonder: many of them are fragments of a narrative fused together after Kafka's death, some are writing exercises. A great many were never supposed to be published, but then again, going from that we would've never had many of his best works. But this collection does feel a bit forced in places, a sort of Frankenstein's monster of unfinished short stories and loose scraps. It is definitely geared more towards those reading Kafka for academic reasons, rather than for... well, fun, even though that might not be the first word that comes to mind when reading Kafka. Going through this collection just for the sake of reading left me a bit unsatisfied (even though the brilliant introduction and notes by Ritchie Robertson caught my interest, and worked very well as a companion to the book). While the cover says 'stories' this is, in many ways, a book of fragments. Many of them are very well written as well as interesting, but they seem to be hidden in the fog, and it takes some patience to leaf through the rougher parts to look for those that stand out.
Still, giving A Hunger Artist and Other Stories a lower rating wouldn’t be fair. There are some amazing stories in there, and when Kafka is at his best, he’s a five star writer. I found myself spending a lot of time writing down sentences, and sometimes entire paragraphs that I just couldn’t get out of my head. The Burrow is fantastic, and so is At the Building of the Great Wall of China, and Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor. And it is no surprise that when Kafka gets to play around with the themes of authority, paranoia, and repetition, he shines. I just wish that some of these stories would've been allowed to hold their own, and not be drowned out by all the other ones.
November 8, 2023
Collection of stories, written in different periods. Especially "the metamorphosis" and "in the penal colony" are captivating.
June 3, 2024
3 Ιουνίου 1924 - 3 Ιουνίου 2024: ένας αιώνας ακριβώς συμπληρώνεται σήμερα από τον τόσο πρόωρο θάνατο του πιο αγαπημένου μου συγγραφέα και τον τίμησα διαβάζοντας αυτή τη μικρή μα σημαντικότατη έκδοση με τα τρία τελευταία του διηγήματα που ολοκλήρωσε στο σανατόριο, ετοιμοθάνατος. Εξαιρετικά, πυκνά, σκοτεινά και προφητικά διηγήματα, υπέροχη η πολυτονική έκδοση Gutenberg και απίστευτη η μετάφραση του νεαρού Τσομίδη!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGwig...
Αξεπέραστε Φραντς, τι θα μας είχες χαρίσει αν είχες ζήσει άλλα 30 χρόνια...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGwig...
Αξεπέραστε Φραντς, τι θα μας είχες χαρίσει αν είχες ζήσει άλλα 30 χρόνια...
July 30, 2013
Tenía razón Borges, el mejor Kafka está en sus cuentos.
July 13, 2018
"Artist..."
A deep story that raises questions like
1. What are our most secret desires camouflaged in what we show to people?
2. What is our pleasure seeing the image that people form of us?
3. To what extent do we want to be recognized even by our sufferings?
4. How proud are we of our suffering?
5. What is the measure of public sadism? Does marketing act as a springboard for it?
6. To what extent does suffering become a commonplace? Is there a time measure for this?
7. The suffering that many see, in reality to the one who suffers it, can mean something else: a challenge, a goal, a discovery?
8. Does art have any limits? The limit could be the death, perhaps?
9. Is the artist and the art always misunderstood?
Among so many questions, Kafka introduces a narrative that if the sadism covered by art or the media spectacle is in the foreground, the other levels of understanding lie in its own lack: in the bias of how each individual judges the world and the rest ; of how appearance often masks the essence; and how communication is faulty.
There are two sides that go through this whole story: that of a character (an artist) who fasts inside a cage; and that of the public and the entrepreneur who live outside it.
Neither side is fully understood. Each judges and classifies the other with its own truths. And of the same form, one feeds on the other - for more sadistic and masochistic this may seem. "And the joy of living flowed from her throat with such intensity that it was not easy for spectators to bear. But they dominated, crowded around the cage and did not want to get out of there at all. "
___
"In the Penal Colony"
Kafka's ability to use metaphors as a means of reflection on ourselves, the culture that surrounds us and the central themes of humanity is shocking in this history by mixing with the extremes of violence.
Behind the narrative, there are as in others of his works the notion of the absurdity of life and how this same absurdity becomes truth, or truths either for an individual or for an entire society, or at least for a part of it.
With a core of ruthless action and characters who move quickly from compassion to vengeance, from despair to derision, we note that Kafka reflects that there are also individuals who can defend and cling to traditions, rules, myths, religiosities, and political systems even though these seem illogical to most.
And people who are even willing to sacrifice with their own lives as proof of their loyalties in situations that even extremely painful ones find in their consciences the serenity - fruit of a superior truth that surrounds them and that they believe. Would that be a portrait of obsession? Illusion? Religious or political extremism?
Kafka also points out that however incoherent some systems may seem to be unsupported by the majority and that society believes it has surpassed, there can always be hidden followers ready for redemption.
The story points to two issues that appear in two other great narratives of Kafka: justice, as in The Process; and hallucination, as in The Metamorphosis.
Here, in relation to justice, the condemned person does not know what his accusation, had no right of defense and does not know what his condemnation will be. The judge, on the other hand, has a book of laws that no one can understand nor what is written. The executioner is more concerned with the gear and the machine that performs justice than with the defendant.
The hallucination occurs from the perspective of the characters. In a few lines, Kafka shows us how empathy can arise and disappear in different situations and hierarchies quickly. How compassion can turn into revenge quickly. That the pendulum of human emotions can swing extremely fast between what we feel in our own skin, what we know or not in theory, in the social, in the individual, and again in our own idea of justice and revenge.
This is a deep and sadistic story about humanity.
_____
"Um Artista da Fome"
Uma historia profunda que provoca questões como
1. Quais são os nossos desejos mais secretos camuflados no que mostramos às pessoas?
2. Qual o nosso prazer vendo a imagem que as pessoas formam de nós?
3. Em que medida queremos ser reconhecidos até por nossos sofrimentos?
4. Qual o orgulho que temos do sofrimento?
5. Qual a medida do sadismo do público? O marketing atua como trampolim para isso?
6. Até que ponto o sofrimento torna-se banal? Há medida temporal para isso?
7. O sofrimento que muitos vêem, na realidade para aquele que o sofre, pode significar outra coisa: desafio, objetivo, descoberta.
8. A arte tem algum limite? Seu limite pode ser a morte talvez?
9. O artista ou a arte é incompreendida?
Entre tantos questionamentos, Kafka introduz uma narrativa que se em primeiro plano está o sadismo, encoberto pela arte ou pelo espetáculo midiático, os outros níveis de compreensão encontram-se na própria falta dela: na parcialidade de como cada indivíduo julga o mundo e os demais; de como a aparência muitas vezes encobre a essência; e de como a comunicação é falha.
Há dois lados que se passam por toda essa história: a de um personagem (um artista) que jejua no interior de uma jaula; e a do público e a do empresário que vivem fora dela.
Nenhum dos dois lados compreendem-se totalmente. Cada um julga e classifica o outro com suas próprias verdades. E da mesma forma, um se alimenta do outro, por mais sádico e masoquista que isso possa parecer. “ E a alegria de viver brotava da sua garganta com tamanha intensidade que para os espectadores não era fácil suportá-la. Mas eles se dominavam, apinhavam-se em torno da jaula e não queriam de modo algum sair dali”.
_______
Na Colônia Penal
A habilidade de Kafka usar metáforas como meios de reflexão sobre nós mesmos, a cultura que nos cerca e os temas centrais da humanidade é impactante nessa história por misturar-se aos extremos da violência.
Por trás da narrativa, há como em outros de seus trabalhos a noção do absurdo da vida e de como esse mesmo absurdo torna-se verdade, ou verdades seja para um indivíduo ou para uma sociedade inteira, ou pelo menos para uma parte dela.
Com um núcleo de ação cruel e personagens que passam rapidamente da compaixão à vingança, do desespero ao escárnio, notamos que Kafka reflete que existem também indivíduos que podem defender e apegar-se à tradições, regras, mitos, religiosidades e sistemas políticos mesmo que esses pareçam ilógicos para a maioria.
E pessoas que estão inclusive dispostas a sacrificarem-se com suas próprias vidas como prova de suas lealdades em situações que mesmo extremamente doloridas encontram em suas consciências a serenidade - fruto de uma verdade superior que as envolve e que elas crêem. Isso seria um retrato de obsessão? Ilusão? Extremismo religioso ou político?
Kafka também indica que por mais incoerentes possam parecer determinados sistemas não aceitos pela maioria e que a sociedade acredite ter superado, pode haver sempre seguidores escondidos, prontos para uma redenção.
A história aponta para dois pontos que aparecem em outras duas grandes narrativas de Kafka: a justiça, como em O Processo; e a alucinação, como em A Metamorfose.
Aqui, em relação à justiça, o condenado não sabe qual sua acusação, não teve direito de defesa e não sabe qual será sua condenação. O juiz, por outro lado, possui um livro de leis que ninguém consegue compreender nem o que está escrito. O executor mostra-se mais preocupado com a engrenagem e a máquina que executa a justiça do que com o réu.
A alucinação se dá pela perspectiva dos personagens. Em poucas linhas, Kafka nos mostra como a empatia pode surgir e desaparecer em diferentes situações e hierarquias rapidamente. Como a compaixão pode transformar-se em vingança rapidamente. Que o pêndulo das emoções humanas pode ser oscilar extremamente rápido entre o que sentimos na própria pele, o que sabemos ou não na teoria, no social, no individual e mais uma vez na própria idéia que temos sobre justiça e vingança.
Essa é uma história profunda e sádica sobre a humanidade.
_____
A deep story that raises questions like
1. What are our most secret desires camouflaged in what we show to people?
2. What is our pleasure seeing the image that people form of us?
3. To what extent do we want to be recognized even by our sufferings?
4. How proud are we of our suffering?
5. What is the measure of public sadism? Does marketing act as a springboard for it?
6. To what extent does suffering become a commonplace? Is there a time measure for this?
7. The suffering that many see, in reality to the one who suffers it, can mean something else: a challenge, a goal, a discovery?
8. Does art have any limits? The limit could be the death, perhaps?
9. Is the artist and the art always misunderstood?
Among so many questions, Kafka introduces a narrative that if the sadism covered by art or the media spectacle is in the foreground, the other levels of understanding lie in its own lack: in the bias of how each individual judges the world and the rest ; of how appearance often masks the essence; and how communication is faulty.
There are two sides that go through this whole story: that of a character (an artist) who fasts inside a cage; and that of the public and the entrepreneur who live outside it.
Neither side is fully understood. Each judges and classifies the other with its own truths. And of the same form, one feeds on the other - for more sadistic and masochistic this may seem. "And the joy of living flowed from her throat with such intensity that it was not easy for spectators to bear. But they dominated, crowded around the cage and did not want to get out of there at all. "
___
"In the Penal Colony"
Kafka's ability to use metaphors as a means of reflection on ourselves, the culture that surrounds us and the central themes of humanity is shocking in this history by mixing with the extremes of violence.
Behind the narrative, there are as in others of his works the notion of the absurdity of life and how this same absurdity becomes truth, or truths either for an individual or for an entire society, or at least for a part of it.
With a core of ruthless action and characters who move quickly from compassion to vengeance, from despair to derision, we note that Kafka reflects that there are also individuals who can defend and cling to traditions, rules, myths, religiosities, and political systems even though these seem illogical to most.
And people who are even willing to sacrifice with their own lives as proof of their loyalties in situations that even extremely painful ones find in their consciences the serenity - fruit of a superior truth that surrounds them and that they believe. Would that be a portrait of obsession? Illusion? Religious or political extremism?
Kafka also points out that however incoherent some systems may seem to be unsupported by the majority and that society believes it has surpassed, there can always be hidden followers ready for redemption.
The story points to two issues that appear in two other great narratives of Kafka: justice, as in The Process; and hallucination, as in The Metamorphosis.
Here, in relation to justice, the condemned person does not know what his accusation, had no right of defense and does not know what his condemnation will be. The judge, on the other hand, has a book of laws that no one can understand nor what is written. The executioner is more concerned with the gear and the machine that performs justice than with the defendant.
The hallucination occurs from the perspective of the characters. In a few lines, Kafka shows us how empathy can arise and disappear in different situations and hierarchies quickly. How compassion can turn into revenge quickly. That the pendulum of human emotions can swing extremely fast between what we feel in our own skin, what we know or not in theory, in the social, in the individual, and again in our own idea of justice and revenge.
This is a deep and sadistic story about humanity.
_____
"Um Artista da Fome"
Uma historia profunda que provoca questões como
1. Quais são os nossos desejos mais secretos camuflados no que mostramos às pessoas?
2. Qual o nosso prazer vendo a imagem que as pessoas formam de nós?
3. Em que medida queremos ser reconhecidos até por nossos sofrimentos?
4. Qual o orgulho que temos do sofrimento?
5. Qual a medida do sadismo do público? O marketing atua como trampolim para isso?
6. Até que ponto o sofrimento torna-se banal? Há medida temporal para isso?
7. O sofrimento que muitos vêem, na realidade para aquele que o sofre, pode significar outra coisa: desafio, objetivo, descoberta.
8. A arte tem algum limite? Seu limite pode ser a morte talvez?
9. O artista ou a arte é incompreendida?
Entre tantos questionamentos, Kafka introduz uma narrativa que se em primeiro plano está o sadismo, encoberto pela arte ou pelo espetáculo midiático, os outros níveis de compreensão encontram-se na própria falta dela: na parcialidade de como cada indivíduo julga o mundo e os demais; de como a aparência muitas vezes encobre a essência; e de como a comunicação é falha.
Há dois lados que se passam por toda essa história: a de um personagem (um artista) que jejua no interior de uma jaula; e a do público e a do empresário que vivem fora dela.
Nenhum dos dois lados compreendem-se totalmente. Cada um julga e classifica o outro com suas próprias verdades. E da mesma forma, um se alimenta do outro, por mais sádico e masoquista que isso possa parecer. “ E a alegria de viver brotava da sua garganta com tamanha intensidade que para os espectadores não era fácil suportá-la. Mas eles se dominavam, apinhavam-se em torno da jaula e não queriam de modo algum sair dali”.
_______
Na Colônia Penal
A habilidade de Kafka usar metáforas como meios de reflexão sobre nós mesmos, a cultura que nos cerca e os temas centrais da humanidade é impactante nessa história por misturar-se aos extremos da violência.
Por trás da narrativa, há como em outros de seus trabalhos a noção do absurdo da vida e de como esse mesmo absurdo torna-se verdade, ou verdades seja para um indivíduo ou para uma sociedade inteira, ou pelo menos para uma parte dela.
Com um núcleo de ação cruel e personagens que passam rapidamente da compaixão à vingança, do desespero ao escárnio, notamos que Kafka reflete que existem também indivíduos que podem defender e apegar-se à tradições, regras, mitos, religiosidades e sistemas políticos mesmo que esses pareçam ilógicos para a maioria.
E pessoas que estão inclusive dispostas a sacrificarem-se com suas próprias vidas como prova de suas lealdades em situações que mesmo extremamente doloridas encontram em suas consciências a serenidade - fruto de uma verdade superior que as envolve e que elas crêem. Isso seria um retrato de obsessão? Ilusão? Extremismo religioso ou político?
Kafka também indica que por mais incoerentes possam parecer determinados sistemas não aceitos pela maioria e que a sociedade acredite ter superado, pode haver sempre seguidores escondidos, prontos para uma redenção.
A história aponta para dois pontos que aparecem em outras duas grandes narrativas de Kafka: a justiça, como em O Processo; e a alucinação, como em A Metamorfose.
Aqui, em relação à justiça, o condenado não sabe qual sua acusação, não teve direito de defesa e não sabe qual será sua condenação. O juiz, por outro lado, possui um livro de leis que ninguém consegue compreender nem o que está escrito. O executor mostra-se mais preocupado com a engrenagem e a máquina que executa a justiça do que com o réu.
A alucinação se dá pela perspectiva dos personagens. Em poucas linhas, Kafka nos mostra como a empatia pode surgir e desaparecer em diferentes situações e hierarquias rapidamente. Como a compaixão pode transformar-se em vingança rapidamente. Que o pêndulo das emoções humanas pode ser oscilar extremamente rápido entre o que sentimos na própria pele, o que sabemos ou não na teoria, no social, no individual e mais uma vez na própria idéia que temos sobre justiça e vingança.
Essa é uma história profunda e sádica sobre a humanidade.
_____
January 10, 2019
Kafka beschreibt in den letzten Aufsätzen vor seinem Tod in vier Geschichten seine unermüdlichen, aber vergeblichen Versuche, in und mit der Gesellschaft /Frauen zu leben; er wird als Schriftsteller/Künstler anerkannt , fühlt sich aber nicht wirklich erkannt. Die Kunst, dies in Form von Metaphern (Trapezkünstler, eine kleine Frau, Hungerkünstler, Sängerin) beschreiben zu können, erleichtert ihm - obgleich zunehmend einsam - diesen Zustand. Für den Leser reich an allgemeinen Erkenntnissen über das Verhältnis von Künstler und Gesellschaft, lässt aber auch verschiedene Interpretationen in Bezug auf Aussagen zu seiner Motivation und Person zu.
March 4, 2022
----Um artista da fome---- Geral: 4,5*
Primeiro Sofrimento 4*
Uma Mulher Pequena 4*
Um Artista da Fome 5*
Josefina a Cantora 3*
----Textos publicados em jornais e revistas---- Geral 3,5*
Conversa com o Devoto - 3*
Conversa com o Bêbedo - 3*
Grande Barulho - 3*
Cavalo e a cesta de carvão - 3*
December 3, 2024
Just didn’t connect with Kafka’s work in the way I anticipated😢
January 15, 2025
really enjoyed some, really disliked others. all things considered though, I think this Kafka guy might be one to watch.
July 13, 2018
"A Hunger Artist"
A deep story that raises questions like
1. What are our most secret desires camouflaged in what we show to people?
2. What is our pleasure seeing the image that people form of us?
3. To what extent do we want to be recognized even by our sufferings?
4. How proud are we of our suffering?
5. What is the measure of public sadism? Does marketing act as a springboard for it?
6. To what extent does suffering become a commonplace? Is there a time measure for this?
7. The suffering that many see, in reality to the one who suffers it, can mean something else: a challenge, a goal, a discovery?
8. Does art have any limits? The limit could be the death, perhaps?
9. Is the artist and the art always misunderstood?
Among so many questions, Kafka introduces a narrative that if the sadism covered by art or the media spectacle is in the foreground, the other levels of understanding lie in its own lack: in the bias of how each individual judges the world and the rest ; of how appearance often masks the essence; and how communication is faulty.
There are two sides that go through this whole story: that of a character (an artist) who fasts inside a cage; and that of the public and the entrepreneur who live outside it.
Neither side is fully understood. Each judges and classifies the other with its own truths. And of the same form, one feeds on the other - for more sadistic and masochistic this may seem. "And the joy of living flowed from her throat with such intensity that it was not easy for spectators to bear. But they dominated, crowded around the cage and did not want to get out of there at all. "
___
Uma historia profunda que provoca questões como
1. Quais são os nossos desejos mais secretos camuflados no que mostramos às pessoas?
2. Qual o nosso prazer vendo a imagem que as pessoas formam de nós?
3. Em que medida queremos ser reconhecidos até por nossos sofrimentos?
4. Qual o orgulho que temos do sofrimento?
5. Qual a medida do sadismo do público? O marketing atua como trampolim para isso?
6. Até que ponto o sofrimento torna-se banal? Há medida temporal para isso?
7. O sofrimento que muitos vêem, na realidade para aquele que o sofre, pode significar outra coisa: desafio, objetivo, descoberta.
8. A arte tem algum limite? Seu limite pode ser a morte talvez?
9. O artista ou a arte é incompreendida?
Entre tantos questionamentos, Kafka introduz uma narrativa que se em primeiro plano está o sadismo, encoberto pela arte ou pelo espetáculo midiático, os outros níveis de compreensão encontram-se na própria falta dela: na parcialidade de como cada indivíduo julga o mundo e os demais; de como a aparência muitas vezes encobre a essência; e de como a comunicação é falha.
Há dois lados que se passam por toda essa história: a de um personagem (um artista) que jejua no interior de uma jaula; e a do público e a do empresário que vivem fora dela.
Nenhum dos dois lados compreendem-se totalmente. Cada um julga e classifica o outro com suas próprias verdades. E da mesma forma, um se alimenta do outro, por mais sádico e masoquista que isso possa parecer. “ E a alegria de viver brotava da sua garganta com tamanha intensidade que para os espectadores não era fácil suportá-la. Mas eles se dominavam, apinhavam-se em torno da jaula e não queriam de modo algum sair dali”.
A deep story that raises questions like
1. What are our most secret desires camouflaged in what we show to people?
2. What is our pleasure seeing the image that people form of us?
3. To what extent do we want to be recognized even by our sufferings?
4. How proud are we of our suffering?
5. What is the measure of public sadism? Does marketing act as a springboard for it?
6. To what extent does suffering become a commonplace? Is there a time measure for this?
7. The suffering that many see, in reality to the one who suffers it, can mean something else: a challenge, a goal, a discovery?
8. Does art have any limits? The limit could be the death, perhaps?
9. Is the artist and the art always misunderstood?
Among so many questions, Kafka introduces a narrative that if the sadism covered by art or the media spectacle is in the foreground, the other levels of understanding lie in its own lack: in the bias of how each individual judges the world and the rest ; of how appearance often masks the essence; and how communication is faulty.
There are two sides that go through this whole story: that of a character (an artist) who fasts inside a cage; and that of the public and the entrepreneur who live outside it.
Neither side is fully understood. Each judges and classifies the other with its own truths. And of the same form, one feeds on the other - for more sadistic and masochistic this may seem. "And the joy of living flowed from her throat with such intensity that it was not easy for spectators to bear. But they dominated, crowded around the cage and did not want to get out of there at all. "
___
Uma historia profunda que provoca questões como
1. Quais são os nossos desejos mais secretos camuflados no que mostramos às pessoas?
2. Qual o nosso prazer vendo a imagem que as pessoas formam de nós?
3. Em que medida queremos ser reconhecidos até por nossos sofrimentos?
4. Qual o orgulho que temos do sofrimento?
5. Qual a medida do sadismo do público? O marketing atua como trampolim para isso?
6. Até que ponto o sofrimento torna-se banal? Há medida temporal para isso?
7. O sofrimento que muitos vêem, na realidade para aquele que o sofre, pode significar outra coisa: desafio, objetivo, descoberta.
8. A arte tem algum limite? Seu limite pode ser a morte talvez?
9. O artista ou a arte é incompreendida?
Entre tantos questionamentos, Kafka introduz uma narrativa que se em primeiro plano está o sadismo, encoberto pela arte ou pelo espetáculo midiático, os outros níveis de compreensão encontram-se na própria falta dela: na parcialidade de como cada indivíduo julga o mundo e os demais; de como a aparência muitas vezes encobre a essência; e de como a comunicação é falha.
Há dois lados que se passam por toda essa história: a de um personagem (um artista) que jejua no interior de uma jaula; e a do público e a do empresário que vivem fora dela.
Nenhum dos dois lados compreendem-se totalmente. Cada um julga e classifica o outro com suas próprias verdades. E da mesma forma, um se alimenta do outro, por mais sádico e masoquista que isso possa parecer. “ E a alegria de viver brotava da sua garganta com tamanha intensidade que para os espectadores não era fácil suportá-la. Mas eles se dominavam, apinhavam-se em torno da jaula e não queriam de modo algum sair dali”.
May 1, 2023
Δεν μπορώ να πω ότι με συγκίνησε.
April 25, 2021
(Spoiler alert)
Kafka is easily becoming one of the most interesting authors I have ever read. I read The Trial (1925) back in my uni days, and I recall really enjoying it, despite being a strange book. A couple of weeks ago I read The Metamorphosis (1915) and it instantly became one of my favourite books and the reason I began my "Reading Kafka" journey. The book that followed was A Hunger Artist (1924).
A Hunger Artist is a collection of the best Kafka’s short stories, some of which he published while still living. The most famous one is, of course, A Hunger Artist. In this particular story, an artist refuses to eat food, becoming extremely thin and weak. He ends up working for a kind of horror freak show, and when the local authorities inspect the animal cages and find him inside one of them, they ask him why is he starving himself to death. He answers it is his destiny to starve because he has never found any food he really enjoys eating.
You will find this kind of conclusion in every story in the collection. All of them has got a sort of philosophical context whose intention, I think, it is to makes us, readers, think about our individual and collective roles in the world. We should also keep in mind that Kafka lived in the Interwar Period, a time characterized by the Great Depression and huge social tensions that ended up developing into authoritarian regimes.
I really liked this little book. And although it is not a mandatory read, it is a great way to be familiarized with Franz Kafka’s works. Next on my list: The Castle (1926).
Kafka is easily becoming one of the most interesting authors I have ever read. I read The Trial (1925) back in my uni days, and I recall really enjoying it, despite being a strange book. A couple of weeks ago I read The Metamorphosis (1915) and it instantly became one of my favourite books and the reason I began my "Reading Kafka" journey. The book that followed was A Hunger Artist (1924).
A Hunger Artist is a collection of the best Kafka’s short stories, some of which he published while still living. The most famous one is, of course, A Hunger Artist. In this particular story, an artist refuses to eat food, becoming extremely thin and weak. He ends up working for a kind of horror freak show, and when the local authorities inspect the animal cages and find him inside one of them, they ask him why is he starving himself to death. He answers it is his destiny to starve because he has never found any food he really enjoys eating.
You will find this kind of conclusion in every story in the collection. All of them has got a sort of philosophical context whose intention, I think, it is to makes us, readers, think about our individual and collective roles in the world. We should also keep in mind that Kafka lived in the Interwar Period, a time characterized by the Great Depression and huge social tensions that ended up developing into authoritarian regimes.
I really liked this little book. And although it is not a mandatory read, it is a great way to be familiarized with Franz Kafka’s works. Next on my list: The Castle (1926).
September 20, 2017
Kafka's stories are all masterpieces, so a note about this edition: I found mistakes! Real mistakes, like at least one misplaced quotation mark, one semantic error (is that what it is?), etc. The translation is generally good but not great, as far as I can tell. But then again, unless we want to read the Muir translation (which I heard has lots of errors), then what other choices do we have? The Hofmann translation I would have to evaluate again.
Энэ орчуулга (Joyce Crick) нь жаахан тиймэрхүү, гэхдээ яахав. Нөгөө орчуулгууд нь ч бас жаахан ноотой юм шиг санагдсан.
Энд хэд хэдэн өгүүллэгүүдийн түүврүүд багтсан байгаа. Өгүүлбэр болгоныг нь анхааралтай унших ёстой юм шиг санагдсан. A Country Doctor гэдэг түүвэрт нь Mонголчууд хятадыг эзэлж байгаа тухай нэг өгүүллэг (An Ancient Manuscript) байна, аймаар инээдтэй, тэрийг нь ядаж заавал уншаарай.
Энэ орчуулга (Joyce Crick) нь жаахан тиймэрхүү, гэхдээ яахав. Нөгөө орчуулгууд нь ч бас жаахан ноотой юм шиг санагдсан.
Энд хэд хэдэн өгүүллэгүүдийн түүврүүд багтсан байгаа. Өгүүлбэр болгоныг нь анхааралтай унших ёстой юм шиг санагдсан. A Country Doctor гэдэг түүвэрт нь Mонголчууд хятадыг эзэлж байгаа тухай нэг өгүүллэг (An Ancient Manuscript) байна, аймаар инээдтэй, тэрийг нь ядаж заавал уншаарай.
January 22, 2021
Nunca a estranheza, a confusão e o imaginário foram tão profundos e sinceros... Kafka transforma o que não tem sentido em algo genial, e belo! Reconheceria uma história sua em qualquer lugar do mundo... singular, inconfundível... estou rendida! Um génio muito à frente do seu tempo (e do nosso também!)
May 26, 2015
Need to read again because the only word I can come up with at the moment is- Kafkaesque.
April 27, 2021
Este es el último de cinco volúmenes dedicados a Kafka en los Oxford World's Classics, y, como tal, reúne más o menos todo aquello que no fue publicado aún y que (más o menos) valdría la pena publicar, por lo que incluye tanto parte de los primeros relatos de Kafka como parte de los últimos, lo que deja aquí y allá la sensación de ser eso que José Emilio Pacheco describía como las “sobras completas” de un autor, por decirlo jocosamente.
En todo caso, es Kafka, así que, la frontera entre eso que el autor de verdad habría querido (o quiso) publicar y lo que no, es… problemática. Es decir, si de verdad hubiera querido destruir todo eso que sus amigos al final decidieron no quemar, lo habría hecho y ya, así que todo lo que dejó en cierto modo es “aprovechable”.
Y en su mayor parte es bastante más que meramente aprovechable.
Las dos colecciones de relatos, Un médico rural y Un artista del hambre, ambos publicados “con autorización” del autor, son una variada compilación de cuadros de lo que hoy día solemos llamar precisamente “kafkiano”: personajes o simples voces atrapadas en una atmósfera irreal, quizá imposible, y que exige del lector el no preguntarse el por qué o el cómo es que tal cosa es así sino tan sólo escuchar y ya, aceptar la imposibilidad de lo narrado y seguir a ese que habla, o escribe, o sólo imagina, interpretando sus (muchas) ambigüedades y su largo divagar como mejor se pueda, si es que se puede.
Así como en poesía, a veces es más fácil dejar de intentar analizar lo que está pasando y tan sólo “sentir” el texto, que de esa forma consigue transmitir la angustia, la incertidumbre, la paranoia y en ocasiones también el pasmo de quien narra; se puede hacer el intento, claro, de encontrar “el significado oculto” tras cada palabra que Kafka, y seguro que muchos lo han hecho y siguen haciendo, sin llegar probablemente a nada en particular o extrayendo las más variadas conclusiones, todas igual de válidas (o inválidas).
De entre los demás relatos recopilados (es decir, los “no autorizados” por Kafka para publicarse), unos muy cortos, otros extensos, los hay verdaderamente interesantes y que, como tantos otros, se pueden interpretar de muy diversos modos, como “El puente” o “La construcción de la Gran muralla china”, o bien “La madriguera” y “Las investigaciones de un perro”, largos textos estos dos últimos que recuerdan más bien una meditación o angustioso divagar, que por su naturaleza bien podría decirse que no importa si realmente no tienen un final, como es de suponerse al quedar el texto suspenso. Algunos otros, en cambio, pues están ahí y ya, sin duda alguna habrá quien halle en ellos maravillas o hasta la iluminación definitiva, aunque en general parecieran nada más que la expresión escrita de alguna vaga idea que Kafka tuvo tras haber visto o escuchado algo, y que bien podrían no significar nada en absoluto. No sé.
Y luego están los aforismos.
Los aforismos que, no todos pero sí en buena parte, resultan sencillamente incomprensibles, quizá porque, como las representaciones textuales de imágenes que al parecer son, pueden significar casi cualquier cosa que se te ocurra al leerlos, y ése es tal vez el punto, supongo, pues intentar “descifrarlos” podría resultar tan infructuoso, o absurdo, como querer saber qué es lo que Kafka tenía en la cabeza al escribirlos y que sólo él (evidentemente) podía saber. A este respecto dice mucho el comentario de la traductora sobre lo complicado que le fue traducirlos dado que “ni siquiera sabía muy bien que era lo que estaba traduciendo”.
Para alguien no familiarizado con la obra de Kafka este libro podría resultar demasiado, no precisamente el mejor punto de partida, y, tal como los editores al publicarlo, sería tal vez mejor dejarlo para el final, una vez leídas sus obras más conocidas y (justificadamente) memorables.
En todo caso, es Kafka, así que, la frontera entre eso que el autor de verdad habría querido (o quiso) publicar y lo que no, es… problemática. Es decir, si de verdad hubiera querido destruir todo eso que sus amigos al final decidieron no quemar, lo habría hecho y ya, así que todo lo que dejó en cierto modo es “aprovechable”.
Y en su mayor parte es bastante más que meramente aprovechable.
Las dos colecciones de relatos, Un médico rural y Un artista del hambre, ambos publicados “con autorización” del autor, son una variada compilación de cuadros de lo que hoy día solemos llamar precisamente “kafkiano”: personajes o simples voces atrapadas en una atmósfera irreal, quizá imposible, y que exige del lector el no preguntarse el por qué o el cómo es que tal cosa es así sino tan sólo escuchar y ya, aceptar la imposibilidad de lo narrado y seguir a ese que habla, o escribe, o sólo imagina, interpretando sus (muchas) ambigüedades y su largo divagar como mejor se pueda, si es que se puede.
Así como en poesía, a veces es más fácil dejar de intentar analizar lo que está pasando y tan sólo “sentir” el texto, que de esa forma consigue transmitir la angustia, la incertidumbre, la paranoia y en ocasiones también el pasmo de quien narra; se puede hacer el intento, claro, de encontrar “el significado oculto” tras cada palabra que Kafka, y seguro que muchos lo han hecho y siguen haciendo, sin llegar probablemente a nada en particular o extrayendo las más variadas conclusiones, todas igual de válidas (o inválidas).
De entre los demás relatos recopilados (es decir, los “no autorizados” por Kafka para publicarse), unos muy cortos, otros extensos, los hay verdaderamente interesantes y que, como tantos otros, se pueden interpretar de muy diversos modos, como “El puente” o “La construcción de la Gran muralla china”, o bien “La madriguera” y “Las investigaciones de un perro”, largos textos estos dos últimos que recuerdan más bien una meditación o angustioso divagar, que por su naturaleza bien podría decirse que no importa si realmente no tienen un final, como es de suponerse al quedar el texto suspenso. Algunos otros, en cambio, pues están ahí y ya, sin duda alguna habrá quien halle en ellos maravillas o hasta la iluminación definitiva, aunque en general parecieran nada más que la expresión escrita de alguna vaga idea que Kafka tuvo tras haber visto o escuchado algo, y que bien podrían no significar nada en absoluto. No sé.
Y luego están los aforismos.
Los aforismos que, no todos pero sí en buena parte, resultan sencillamente incomprensibles, quizá porque, como las representaciones textuales de imágenes que al parecer son, pueden significar casi cualquier cosa que se te ocurra al leerlos, y ése es tal vez el punto, supongo, pues intentar “descifrarlos” podría resultar tan infructuoso, o absurdo, como querer saber qué es lo que Kafka tenía en la cabeza al escribirlos y que sólo él (evidentemente) podía saber. A este respecto dice mucho el comentario de la traductora sobre lo complicado que le fue traducirlos dado que “ni siquiera sabía muy bien que era lo que estaba traduciendo”.
Para alguien no familiarizado con la obra de Kafka este libro podría resultar demasiado, no precisamente el mejor punto de partida, y, tal como los editores al publicarlo, sería tal vez mejor dejarlo para el final, una vez leídas sus obras más conocidas y (justificadamente) memorables.
Read
November 21, 2025This collection for Brent’s course: per Brent, pay attention to “Before the Law,” which is a fragment from The Trial; “A Message from the Emperor,” and “A Report to an Academy.”
Read for class +++
Also : The Judgment*, Investigation of a Dog*, A Hunger Artist, and Josephine the Singer* from Mark Anderson’s essay [Norton] that Gregor bears an affinity with these other artists.
[*see notes under Norton Edition]
Biographical preface:
A concern with religious questions runs through Kafka‘s life and work, but his thought does not correspond closely to any established faith. He had an extensive knowledge of both Judaism and Christianity, and knew also the philosophies ofNietzsche and Schopenhauer… he read eclectically and often critically in religious classics.
Though limpid, Kafka’s style is also puzzling. He was sharply conscious of the problems of perception, and of the new forms of attention made possible by media such as the photograph and cinema. when he engages in fantasy, his descriptions are often designed to perplex the reader: thus it is difficult to make out what the insect in the metamorphosis actually looks like. he was also fascinated by ambiguity and often includes in his fiction, long arguments in which various interpretations of some puzzling phenomenon are canvassed, or in which the speaker by faulty logic contrives to stand an argument on its head. in such passages he favors elaborate sentences and often in indirect speech. yet his German, though often complex is never clumsy. in his fiction, his letters, and his diaries, he writes with unfailing grace and economy.
Kafka worries at universal moral problems of guilt, responsibility, and freedom; and he also examines the mechanisms of power by which authorities can suddenly coerce and subjugate the individual, as well as as the individual’s scope for resisting authority.
Placing Kafka in his historical context, brings limited results. the appeal of his work rests on its universal, parable-like character, and also on its presentation of puzzles Without solutions. We largely experience what Kafka’s protagonist does without a narrator to guide us. when there is a distinct narrative voice, as sometimes in the later stories, the narrator himself is puzzled by the phenomenon he encounters. his fiction is thus characterized of modernism and demanding an active reading Dr reader is not invited to consume the text passively, but to join actively in the task of puzzling it out and resisting simple interpretations and in working not towards a solution, but towards a fuller experience of the text on each reading
+++”The Aeroplanes at Brescia”
A Country Doctor: Little Tales
“The New Advocate”*
“A Country Doctor”*
“In the Gallery “*+++
“An Ancient Manuscript”*+++
“Before the Law”* {x-ref: The Trial}
“Jackals and Arabs”*+++
“a Visit to the Mine”
“The Next Village”
“A Message from the Emperor” +++
“Odradek, or Cares of a Householder”* +++
“Eleven Sons”
“A Brother’s Murder”*
“A Dream”* +++
“A Report to the Academy”* +++ - an ape shares his experience of being captured, but it’s really a view of humanity (or inhumanity, if you prefer.
”A Hunger Artist”* +++ - Four stories, but first, before discussing the others, the story “A Hunger Artist” itself: when I read this, it struck me that it is an extended metaphor, that it is about a writer and the process of writing, about the internal struggle, the depletion (emotional and intellectual) from pouring oneself out onto paper that a writer experiences; Kafka includes the audience, who are in the beginning are enthralled and as time goes on, not so much anymore; and the artist’s feeding off that adoration, then starving when the attention wanes; the impresario? = the writer’s agent/publisher. Why “A” artist, and not “The” artist? Kafka’s acknowledgement that there are other writers out there.
The same extended metaphor applies to the other stories in this small collection: “First Sorrow “ - the trapeze artist: Kafka imagining the writer as a high-flying artist; and “A Little Woman” - is Kafka’s view of Felice Bauer and how she views him as he engages in the solitary act of writing. Still trying to puzzle out how “Josefine the Singer” +++ fits with these three other stories.
[see Norton Kafka’s Selected Stories for Nicola Gess’s essay “The Politics of Listening: The Power of Song in Kafka’s ‘Josefine the Singer.’]
“Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor” +++
“The Huntsman Gracchus”*
“Investigation of a Dog”*
“The Burrow”*
“Besides, it is stupid, but true, that your self-esteem suffers if you can’t see your entire hoard all together so that you can tell at a glance what you possess.”
“The Bridge”*
“The Knock at the Courtyard Gate”*
“The Judgment”* - not in this collection; see the Penguin or Norton edition
*see notes under Norton Edition
Read for class +++
Also : The Judgment*, Investigation of a Dog*, A Hunger Artist, and Josephine the Singer* from Mark Anderson’s essay [Norton] that Gregor bears an affinity with these other artists.
[*see notes under Norton Edition]
Biographical preface:
A concern with religious questions runs through Kafka‘s life and work, but his thought does not correspond closely to any established faith. He had an extensive knowledge of both Judaism and Christianity, and knew also the philosophies ofNietzsche and Schopenhauer… he read eclectically and often critically in religious classics.
Though limpid, Kafka’s style is also puzzling. He was sharply conscious of the problems of perception, and of the new forms of attention made possible by media such as the photograph and cinema. when he engages in fantasy, his descriptions are often designed to perplex the reader: thus it is difficult to make out what the insect in the metamorphosis actually looks like. he was also fascinated by ambiguity and often includes in his fiction, long arguments in which various interpretations of some puzzling phenomenon are canvassed, or in which the speaker by faulty logic contrives to stand an argument on its head. in such passages he favors elaborate sentences and often in indirect speech. yet his German, though often complex is never clumsy. in his fiction, his letters, and his diaries, he writes with unfailing grace and economy.
Kafka worries at universal moral problems of guilt, responsibility, and freedom; and he also examines the mechanisms of power by which authorities can suddenly coerce and subjugate the individual, as well as as the individual’s scope for resisting authority.
Placing Kafka in his historical context, brings limited results. the appeal of his work rests on its universal, parable-like character, and also on its presentation of puzzles Without solutions. We largely experience what Kafka’s protagonist does without a narrator to guide us. when there is a distinct narrative voice, as sometimes in the later stories, the narrator himself is puzzled by the phenomenon he encounters. his fiction is thus characterized of modernism and demanding an active reading Dr reader is not invited to consume the text passively, but to join actively in the task of puzzling it out and resisting simple interpretations and in working not towards a solution, but towards a fuller experience of the text on each reading
+++”The Aeroplanes at Brescia”
A Country Doctor: Little Tales
“The New Advocate”*
“A Country Doctor”*
“In the Gallery “*+++
“An Ancient Manuscript”*+++
“Before the Law”* {x-ref: The Trial}
“Jackals and Arabs”*+++
“a Visit to the Mine”
“The Next Village”
“A Message from the Emperor” +++
“Odradek, or Cares of a Householder”* +++
“Eleven Sons”
“A Brother’s Murder”*
“A Dream”* +++
“A Report to the Academy”* +++ - an ape shares his experience of being captured, but it’s really a view of humanity (or inhumanity, if you prefer.
”A Hunger Artist”* +++ - Four stories, but first, before discussing the others, the story “A Hunger Artist” itself: when I read this, it struck me that it is an extended metaphor, that it is about a writer and the process of writing, about the internal struggle, the depletion (emotional and intellectual) from pouring oneself out onto paper that a writer experiences; Kafka includes the audience, who are in the beginning are enthralled and as time goes on, not so much anymore; and the artist’s feeding off that adoration, then starving when the attention wanes; the impresario? = the writer’s agent/publisher. Why “A” artist, and not “The” artist? Kafka’s acknowledgement that there are other writers out there.
The same extended metaphor applies to the other stories in this small collection: “First Sorrow “ - the trapeze artist: Kafka imagining the writer as a high-flying artist; and “A Little Woman” - is Kafka’s view of Felice Bauer and how she views him as he engages in the solitary act of writing. Still trying to puzzle out how “Josefine the Singer” +++ fits with these three other stories.
[see Norton Kafka’s Selected Stories for Nicola Gess’s essay “The Politics of Listening: The Power of Song in Kafka’s ‘Josefine the Singer.’]
“Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor” +++
“The Huntsman Gracchus”*
“Investigation of a Dog”*
“The Burrow”*
“Besides, it is stupid, but true, that your self-esteem suffers if you can’t see your entire hoard all together so that you can tell at a glance what you possess.”
“The Bridge”*
“The Knock at the Courtyard Gate”*
“The Judgment”* - not in this collection; see the Penguin or Norton edition
*see notes under Norton Edition
January 5, 2024
“UN ARTISTA DEL HAMBRE” Y “UN ARTISTA DEL TRAPECIO” DE FRANZ KAFKA
En “Un artista del hambre”, a través de un inusual y horrendo oficio que carece de escrúpulos para los viles empresarios que lo explotan, exponiendo a las multitudes al peculiar e infundado divertimento de observar a un desventurado ayunador; desde esta perspectiva, pues, vislumbramos a este demacrado hombre que no ingiere alimento alguno, siendo un empleado de tan execrable profesión: basada en un insólito y atroz espectáculo donde un hombre es sometido a una huelga de hambre ilimitada; siendo este ninguneado y encarcelado en una jaula destinada, más bien, a voraces bestias del circo ambulante; siendo exhibida su exorbitante delgadez y decrepitud ante una masa de gente atraída, insensible y espeluznantemente, ante esta inverosímil estampa de podredumbre y progresiva inanición. Y es que la contemplación de esta figura humana en plena consunción, parece levantar una inusitada oleada de admiración entre el público, como si se tratase de una marea humana habiendo perdido los atributos que así les designan —ni seres humanos ni persona alguna pueden ser, sin corazón ni alma ni compasión—; mas, con todo, da la impresión de que, incluso, fríamente disfrutan tras los barrotes que albergan el menguado cuerpecillo de un hombre que aparece dibujado, y difuminado, y casi ya borroso, como un mono de feria en aras de su extinción.
“Un artista del trapecio” es un relato cortísimo que deja entrever el bagaje de la inocencia en las cuerdas del trapecista; en las alturas y al nivel mismo de las nubes, el niño del trapecio siempre vivirá bajo la acrobática mirada que jalona la edad infantil; siempre verá con sus ojos de trapecista hasta que un día se dé de bruces con ese columpio que llena ya la edad adulta.
En ambos relatos, Frank Kafka, con un lenguaje sutil y sublime, de prosa muy cuidada y sofisticada, nos adentra en la hondura del ser humano; nos lleva a reflexionar ante situaciones que exhalan lo más despiadado, bárbaro, humillante y vejatorio de una miserable condición humana frente a otra absolutamente superficial, cuyos sentimientos no existen (en el caso concreto del relato “Un artista del hambre”). Estos relatos están impregnados de filosofía, de un mensaje ético y moral, llevado al extremo, para hacernos recapacitar sobre la bondad o el malvado salvajismo hacia nuestros congéneres; sobre la soledad que nos aísla, y que nos inunda en contra nuestra, o la indiferencia que mostramos hacia los demás; sobre la capacidad de saber sentir en la mente y la desgracia del prójimo. Son relatos muy breves, pero recomendables y escritos con gran maestría.
*RESEÑA DE RAQUEL VICTORIA
Calificación: 5/5
*Soy escritora de novela histórica donde las mujeres son protagonistas:
-Ambientada en el siglo XIX:
DE BORDADOS A SEDAS: https://pge.me/Debordadosasedas
-Ambientadas en el siglo XX:
LA POSADA DEL POZO: https://pge.me/Laposadadelpozo
LAS RAÍCES DE LA ENCINA: https://pge.me/Lasraícesdelaencina
*Aunque mi desempeño y labor primordial como escritora es, fundamentalmente, la de novelista; además, esculpo otros géneros literarios como son: la poesía; la crítica literaria, que realizo a través de mis reseñas; el ensayo, que desarrollo por medio de mis artículos de temática femenina y/o histórica, o relacionados con el medio ambiente y/o con la naturaleza…; y el relato breve.
En “Un artista del hambre”, a través de un inusual y horrendo oficio que carece de escrúpulos para los viles empresarios que lo explotan, exponiendo a las multitudes al peculiar e infundado divertimento de observar a un desventurado ayunador; desde esta perspectiva, pues, vislumbramos a este demacrado hombre que no ingiere alimento alguno, siendo un empleado de tan execrable profesión: basada en un insólito y atroz espectáculo donde un hombre es sometido a una huelga de hambre ilimitada; siendo este ninguneado y encarcelado en una jaula destinada, más bien, a voraces bestias del circo ambulante; siendo exhibida su exorbitante delgadez y decrepitud ante una masa de gente atraída, insensible y espeluznantemente, ante esta inverosímil estampa de podredumbre y progresiva inanición. Y es que la contemplación de esta figura humana en plena consunción, parece levantar una inusitada oleada de admiración entre el público, como si se tratase de una marea humana habiendo perdido los atributos que así les designan —ni seres humanos ni persona alguna pueden ser, sin corazón ni alma ni compasión—; mas, con todo, da la impresión de que, incluso, fríamente disfrutan tras los barrotes que albergan el menguado cuerpecillo de un hombre que aparece dibujado, y difuminado, y casi ya borroso, como un mono de feria en aras de su extinción.
“Un artista del trapecio” es un relato cortísimo que deja entrever el bagaje de la inocencia en las cuerdas del trapecista; en las alturas y al nivel mismo de las nubes, el niño del trapecio siempre vivirá bajo la acrobática mirada que jalona la edad infantil; siempre verá con sus ojos de trapecista hasta que un día se dé de bruces con ese columpio que llena ya la edad adulta.
En ambos relatos, Frank Kafka, con un lenguaje sutil y sublime, de prosa muy cuidada y sofisticada, nos adentra en la hondura del ser humano; nos lleva a reflexionar ante situaciones que exhalan lo más despiadado, bárbaro, humillante y vejatorio de una miserable condición humana frente a otra absolutamente superficial, cuyos sentimientos no existen (en el caso concreto del relato “Un artista del hambre”). Estos relatos están impregnados de filosofía, de un mensaje ético y moral, llevado al extremo, para hacernos recapacitar sobre la bondad o el malvado salvajismo hacia nuestros congéneres; sobre la soledad que nos aísla, y que nos inunda en contra nuestra, o la indiferencia que mostramos hacia los demás; sobre la capacidad de saber sentir en la mente y la desgracia del prójimo. Son relatos muy breves, pero recomendables y escritos con gran maestría.
*RESEÑA DE RAQUEL VICTORIA
Calificación: 5/5
*Soy escritora de novela histórica donde las mujeres son protagonistas:
-Ambientada en el siglo XIX:
DE BORDADOS A SEDAS: https://pge.me/Debordadosasedas
-Ambientadas en el siglo XX:
LA POSADA DEL POZO: https://pge.me/Laposadadelpozo
LAS RAÍCES DE LA ENCINA: https://pge.me/Lasraícesdelaencina
*Aunque mi desempeño y labor primordial como escritora es, fundamentalmente, la de novelista; además, esculpo otros géneros literarios como son: la poesía; la crítica literaria, que realizo a través de mis reseñas; el ensayo, que desarrollo por medio de mis artículos de temática femenina y/o histórica, o relacionados con el medio ambiente y/o con la naturaleza…; y el relato breve.
September 15, 2024
A Primeira Dor - 4* (MUITO BOM. na minha interpretação é sobre acreditar que nascemos para fazer o que fazemos na nossa carreira e nada mais, e que deveríamos passar nossa vida inteira sendo produtivos e abdicando de todos os nossos outros interesses - que essa vida é a perfeita. extremamente conciso e bem escrito e necessário)
Uma Mulher Pequena - 3* (não entendi muito bem o que ele quis dizer com essa. talvez um autoritarismo que te criticará não importa o que você fizer? por conta de preconceitos ou algo do tipo? mas gostei da leitura, extremamente bem escrito)
Um Artista da Fome - 5* (a ideia de conto mais interessante da seleção, acredito. nunca tinha ouvido falar em artistas da fome e mesmo depois de ler o conto achei que era algo que o kafka inventou para escrever a história. pelo jeito, não. ótimo conto e ótima escrita. também acredito que tenha a ver com o capitalismo e com a obsolescência que acaba ocorrendo com artistas quando o público já não se interessa por eles. para onde eles vão? a gente vê o que quer interpretando obras de arte né e pra mim tudo é uma crítica ao capitalismo)
Josefina, a Cantora ou O Povo dos Ratos- 2* (li esse quando tava MORRENDO de sono então talvez eu só não tenha tido a melhor experiência por conta disso, mas depois de ver as explicações sobre o conto acho que fez um pouco mais de sentido. mas não gostei muito da escrita dele)
Na Colônia Penal - 5* (PUTA QUE PARIU. meu pai me avisou que esse era uma das escritas do kafka preferidas dele e eu concordo plenamente. que novela genial. a escrita mais kafkiana dessa seleção, eu acredito. as ideias de tortura como uma diversão às massas, de um aparelho que poderia ser usado para coisas úteis ser usado para o mal - em uma interpretação que vi, o professor falou sobre os aviões, que inspiravam tanta esperança e acabaram sendo quase que imediatamente usados para guerrear -, a ideia de máquinas para tortura que seria depois usada no nazismo - o kafka sendo judeu, essa noção é ainda mais interessante vinda dele -, a ideia de um pai totalitário, o "velho comendante", onde no tempo dele era "tudo melhor" e hoje em dia - "novo comandante" - todos são frescos e não aguentam uma tortura de leve e uma punição imediatamente após uma acusação, sem nenhum processo jurídico no meio -, o que mostra novamente a permanência dessa ideia de uma figura paterna nas obras do kafka... essa novela foi simplesmente impecável)
Uma Mulher Pequena - 3* (não entendi muito bem o que ele quis dizer com essa. talvez um autoritarismo que te criticará não importa o que você fizer? por conta de preconceitos ou algo do tipo? mas gostei da leitura, extremamente bem escrito)
Um Artista da Fome - 5* (a ideia de conto mais interessante da seleção, acredito. nunca tinha ouvido falar em artistas da fome e mesmo depois de ler o conto achei que era algo que o kafka inventou para escrever a história. pelo jeito, não. ótimo conto e ótima escrita. também acredito que tenha a ver com o capitalismo e com a obsolescência que acaba ocorrendo com artistas quando o público já não se interessa por eles. para onde eles vão? a gente vê o que quer interpretando obras de arte né e pra mim tudo é uma crítica ao capitalismo)
Josefina, a Cantora ou O Povo dos Ratos- 2* (li esse quando tava MORRENDO de sono então talvez eu só não tenha tido a melhor experiência por conta disso, mas depois de ver as explicações sobre o conto acho que fez um pouco mais de sentido. mas não gostei muito da escrita dele)
Na Colônia Penal - 5* (PUTA QUE PARIU. meu pai me avisou que esse era uma das escritas do kafka preferidas dele e eu concordo plenamente. que novela genial. a escrita mais kafkiana dessa seleção, eu acredito. as ideias de tortura como uma diversão às massas, de um aparelho que poderia ser usado para coisas úteis ser usado para o mal - em uma interpretação que vi, o professor falou sobre os aviões, que inspiravam tanta esperança e acabaram sendo quase que imediatamente usados para guerrear -, a ideia de máquinas para tortura que seria depois usada no nazismo - o kafka sendo judeu, essa noção é ainda mais interessante vinda dele -, a ideia de um pai totalitário, o "velho comendante", onde no tempo dele era "tudo melhor" e hoje em dia - "novo comandante" - todos são frescos e não aguentam uma tortura de leve e uma punição imediatamente após uma acusação, sem nenhum processo jurídico no meio -, o que mostra novamente a permanência dessa ideia de uma figura paterna nas obras do kafka... essa novela foi simplesmente impecável)
November 12, 2024
O livro obtém diversos contos com uma narrativa perfeita de solidão, insuficiencia e angustia que é característico dos textos de Kafka.
O conto que mais me comoveu foi "O artista da fome", para ser honesta eu senti mais do que entendi a narrativa. Mas na minha percepção o conto abordo assuntos como insatisfação, angústia e problemas de identidade. O conto me comoveu após o meu entendimento de que sempre estamos tentando ser o melhor em tudo para que não sejamos excluídos dessa sociedade que exige a perfeição, mas por dentro estamos vazios, sozinhos e ninguém liga para a gente apenas o que temos para oferecer a essa vida que é um palco (e é claro que sempre fazemos a melhor performance para que sejamos vistos e admirados).
Trechos que eu mais gostei do conto:
"Mas por algum motivo ele não estava satisfeito jamais; talvez não fosse o jejum a causa de uma magreza tal que muitas pessoas, espantadas, viam-se obrigadas a evitar a apresentação porque não aguentavam ve-lo, mas a tal magreza era causada apenas pela insatisfação consigo próprio".
"Porque eu nunca encontrei a comida que me agradasse. Se eu a tivesse encontrado, acredite, eu não teria feito nenhum alarde e teria comido até me empanturrar."
Como dizia Kafka: "Tive vergonha de mim mesmo, quando percebi que a vida é um baile de máscaras, e participei com meu rosto verdadeiro."
O conto que mais me comoveu foi "O artista da fome", para ser honesta eu senti mais do que entendi a narrativa. Mas na minha percepção o conto abordo assuntos como insatisfação, angústia e problemas de identidade. O conto me comoveu após o meu entendimento de que sempre estamos tentando ser o melhor em tudo para que não sejamos excluídos dessa sociedade que exige a perfeição, mas por dentro estamos vazios, sozinhos e ninguém liga para a gente apenas o que temos para oferecer a essa vida que é um palco (e é claro que sempre fazemos a melhor performance para que sejamos vistos e admirados).
Trechos que eu mais gostei do conto:
"Mas por algum motivo ele não estava satisfeito jamais; talvez não fosse o jejum a causa de uma magreza tal que muitas pessoas, espantadas, viam-se obrigadas a evitar a apresentação porque não aguentavam ve-lo, mas a tal magreza era causada apenas pela insatisfação consigo próprio".
"Porque eu nunca encontrei a comida que me agradasse. Se eu a tivesse encontrado, acredite, eu não teria feito nenhum alarde e teria comido até me empanturrar."
Como dizia Kafka: "Tive vergonha de mim mesmo, quando percebi que a vida é um baile de máscaras, e participei com meu rosto verdadeiro."
July 12, 2018
A short story, simple language, not-so-complicated plot, easy-to-follow action, yet sophisticated style. The stylistic sophistication of Kafka's writing lies in this very simplicity.
The elegance of its simplicity, nevertheless, is only shown on the surface. Beneath the deceptive simplicity, there lies philosophical dilemmas that I have difficulty to keep up. Philosophical reading-between-the-lines is so not my cup of tea.
The story can be an allegory of a misunderstood artist, or it can be seen as his spiritual representation. It is also not imposible that the story is about Kafka's life as an alienated artist who is dying, since he wrote this piece at the end of his life.
The panther, on the other hand, is the hunger artist's antithesis; satisfied and contented. Its corporeality stands in marked contrast to the hunger artist's ethereality.
The elegance of its simplicity, nevertheless, is only shown on the surface. Beneath the deceptive simplicity, there lies philosophical dilemmas that I have difficulty to keep up. Philosophical reading-between-the-lines is so not my cup of tea.
The story can be an allegory of a misunderstood artist, or it can be seen as his spiritual representation. It is also not imposible that the story is about Kafka's life as an alienated artist who is dying, since he wrote this piece at the end of his life.
The panther, on the other hand, is the hunger artist's antithesis; satisfied and contented. Its corporeality stands in marked contrast to the hunger artist's ethereality.
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