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A Crossbreed
Mit dem Werkbeitrag aus Kindlers Literatur Lexikon.
Mit dem Autorenporträt aus dem Metzler Lexikon Weltliteratur.
Mit Daten zu Leben und Werk, exklusiv verfasst von der Redaktion der Zeitschrift für Literatur TEXT + KRITIK.
Phantastisches und Unheimliches, Paradoxes und Kafka beschreibt die unglaublichsten Sachverhalte nüchtern und minutiös. Grenzbereiche werden ausgeleuchtet, existenzielle Grund- oder Ausnahmesituationen in unvergessliche Bilder gefasst. Seine Texte haben die gleiche Intensität wie Träume. »Es ist das Schicksal und vielleicht auch die Größe dieses Werks, dass es alle Möglichkeiten darbietet und keine bestätigt« (Albert Camus).
Mit dem Autorenporträt aus dem Metzler Lexikon Weltliteratur.
Mit Daten zu Leben und Werk, exklusiv verfasst von der Redaktion der Zeitschrift für Literatur TEXT + KRITIK.
Phantastisches und Unheimliches, Paradoxes und Kafka beschreibt die unglaublichsten Sachverhalte nüchtern und minutiös. Grenzbereiche werden ausgeleuchtet, existenzielle Grund- oder Ausnahmesituationen in unvergessliche Bilder gefasst. Seine Texte haben die gleiche Intensität wie Träume. »Es ist das Schicksal und vielleicht auch die Größe dieses Werks, dass es alle Möglichkeiten darbietet und keine bestätigt« (Albert Camus).
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1931
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,613 books40k followersFranz Kafka was a German-speaking writer from Prague whose work became one of the foundations of modern literature, even though he published only a small part of his writing during his lifetime. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka grew up amid German, Czech, and Jewish cultural influences that shaped his sense of displacement and linguistic precision. His difficult relationship with his authoritarian father left a lasting mark, fostering feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inadequacy that became central themes in his fiction and personal writings.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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February 12, 2019It was short, but I think this is the best short story he's written. I think Kafka's strange sense of humour really comes through in this one! It's a great short story :D
September 29, 2023
convivencia de dos personalidades diferentes en su totalidad en una misma persona, cada una somete a la otra a no dejar manifestarse nunca por completo, no puede maullar, no puede cazar, no le gustan las ratas "huye de los gatos y quiere atacar a los corderos" no se siente afín a ninguna de sus dos partes por lo que como dice el autor a veces se empeña en ser perro, se siente tan ajeno a los demás gatos, a los demás corderos que no los reconoce como si fueran su misma especie sino que en esa desesperación (quizás) de no pertenecer busca ser algo más, algo que no es. este animal se presenta muy cercano al autor, una herencia de su padre que antes tenía más de cordero que de gato pero al pasar a sus manos aumentó su parte de gato haciendo que tenga lo mismo de cordero que de gato, incluso puede llegarse a decir que en realidad el animal y el dueño son uno mismo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2023
A brief and weird dive into the mind of a sheep-bodied cat and how it exists in the world it lives in alongside other "normal" living creatures.
This short story explores the identity crisis faced by a creature that cannot identify itself. In the next chapter, how the environment plays a role in it process of recognizing and accepting it true self and validating the existence of other living beings who are one hundred and eighty degrees different from itself.
This short story explores the identity crisis faced by a creature that cannot identify itself. In the next chapter, how the environment plays a role in it process of recognizing and accepting it true self and validating the existence of other living beings who are one hundred and eighty degrees different from itself.
March 27, 2022
The narrator here takes the role of the father with the crossbreed (between a cat and a lamb) being the son that strives towards being understood and dying, but gets the relief of neither from their father.
August 29, 2020
Por mais absurdo q seja essa é literalmente a história, de duas páginas, de um cara q possui um animal metade cordeiro e metade gato(????????????). Apesar da aleatoriedade é bem bonitinho e demonstra o pq de kafka não querer ter publicado kkkkk
May 21, 2019
This is quite short and, to be honest, kind of resembles a writing exercise instead of an actual story. However, it's still a nice piece of literature I'm glad I read.
September 21, 2025
الهجين
يقدّم كافكا صورة رمزية عن ذاته من خلال كائن غريب نصفه قط ونصفه الآخر حمل. هذا الكائن ليس مجرد حيوان أليف، بل مرآة تمثل شخصيته الممزقة بين طرفين متناقضين: القط بما يحمله من دهاء واستقلالية، والحمل بما يرمز اليه من براءة وضعف وطاعة. غير ان المفارقة ليست في وجود النصفين فحسب، بل في عجزهما عن الاندماج داخل كائن واحد متوازن، يظل الهجين معلق بين عالمين، لا ينتمي تماماً إلى اي منهما.
يشير كافكا إلى انه ورث هذا الكائن من ابيه، وكأنما يقول إن هذا ميراث ثقيل حمله عن أب ذي سلطة صارمة وسطوة جارفة. وهو ما يذكرنا ب "رسائل الى الوالد" حيث يصف كيف اورثه والده الخوف والشعور بالدونية، فصار وجوده محكوم بالتوتر بين الطاعة القسرية والرغبة في التمرد.
بهذا المعنى، يصبح الهجين رمزاً مكثفاً لجوهر تجربة كافكا الوجودية كائن لا يستطيع أن يكون بريئاً تماماً ولا ماكراً تماماً، يراوح في منطقة رمادية.
يقدّم كافكا صورة رمزية عن ذاته من خلال كائن غريب نصفه قط ونصفه الآخر حمل. هذا الكائن ليس مجرد حيوان أليف، بل مرآة تمثل شخصيته الممزقة بين طرفين متناقضين: القط بما يحمله من دهاء واستقلالية، والحمل بما يرمز اليه من براءة وضعف وطاعة. غير ان المفارقة ليست في وجود النصفين فحسب، بل في عجزهما عن الاندماج داخل كائن واحد متوازن، يظل الهجين معلق بين عالمين، لا ينتمي تماماً إلى اي منهما.
يشير كافكا إلى انه ورث هذا الكائن من ابيه، وكأنما يقول إن هذا ميراث ثقيل حمله عن أب ذي سلطة صارمة وسطوة جارفة. وهو ما يذكرنا ب "رسائل الى الوالد" حيث يصف كيف اورثه والده الخوف والشعور بالدونية، فصار وجوده محكوم بالتوتر بين الطاعة القسرية والرغبة في التمرد.
بهذا المعنى، يصبح الهجين رمزاً مكثفاً لجوهر تجربة كافكا الوجودية كائن لا يستطيع أن يكون بريئاً تماماً ولا ماكراً تماماً، يراوح في منطقة رمادية.
April 25, 2022
i want a half-kitten half-lamb :( that’s like so cute
November 2, 2023
The story emphasizes on that fact that this bizarre animal belonged to narrators father. This might again is another wailing of Kafka about father hostility as He being the animal he's talking about.
December 31, 2024
4.75 ⭐
"przed kotami ucieka, jagnięta chce atakować"
"przed kotami ucieka, jagnięta chce atakować"
February 16, 2025
Possibly one of my favourite Kafka works ever despite being very, very short in lengths, and is usually the first thing I recommend from him before diving into the longer novels.
September 7, 2025
Loved reading the short story that inspired Tokyo Ghoul. The meaning is extremely potent.
October 2, 2025
the best kafka short story perhaps
December 20, 2023
Es uno de los relatos más bonitos qué he leído, realmente Kafka sabe hacernos empatizar con él y sus protagonistas.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews