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Franz Kafka: The Best Works
This ebook compiles Franz Kafka's greatest writings, including novels, novellas, short stories and parables such as "Amerika", "The Trial", "The Metamorphosis", "The Castle", "In the Penal Colony", "A Hunger Artist" and "The Great Wall of China". This edition has been professionally formatted and contains several tables of contents. The first table of contents (at the very beginning of the ebook) lists the titles of all novels included in this volume. By clicking on one of those titles you will be redirected to the beginning of that work, where you'll find a new TOC that lists all the chapters and sub-chapters of that specific work.
1086 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1931
745 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,166 books37.5k 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
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March 2, 2022These are my own interpretation when reading the stories. What are your thoughts?
1. Unhappiness "Unglücklichsein": The narrator was so lonely and miserable that he started talking to a ghost child. He was lonely that he felt happy instead of scared to the apparition. He then argued with the ghost as if he was fighting with his own thoughts. He left the room and had a random conversation with his neighbor about not stealing his ghost otherwise their relationship will be over. He went on saying I'm tired and need to sleep. Weird story, is this about a man with psychosis due to intense isolation?
2. The Judgement "Das Urteil": A story about Georg writing a letter to his jaundiced friend that "ran" to Russia. Talked about how his friend never visit him and his family anymore, should he tell his friend that he is getting engaged? Georg contemplated on his father's condition since his mother died.. He tells his father about him writing the letter to his old friend. The father was suddenly angry to Georg and cursed to death by drowning- Georg did end up killed himself by jumping off a bridge. I don't understand this bizarre tale, why is something simple turned into a complicated short story. I suppose those characters symbolized something personal to Kafka in real life?
3. Before The Law (a parable): I think the man from the country is typical human being, The Law is heaven, the gatekeeper is .. well the heaven's gate keeper. So the man is trying to understand and chase after Heaven. That he doesn't really live his life, just chasing after heaven and do nothing. He asked and asked the gatekeeper, trying to learn all about heaven until he is old and dying. In the end he does not understand anything.
“Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” Does this mean, heaven doesn't exist and it the end death is just.. death. So live your lives, don't waste it on trying to chase The Law.
4. The Metamorphosis (a novella): Comments separately
5. A Report to An Academy "Ein Bericht für eine Akademie":
I think this is about someone with minor ethnic heritage trying to fit into the dominant culture of a society. To fit in and look normal.
"I repeat: there was no attraction for me in imitating human beings; I imitated them because I needed a way out, and for no other reason."
6. Jackals and Arabs: Allegory of Jewish-Arab relations, Kafka "caricaturing the concept of the Chosen People who appear as intolerant of the Arab culture as the Arab culture is of them." or existentialist theme https://www.essayfox.com/jackals-and-...
7. A Country Doctor "Ein Landarzt":
8. In The Penal Colony "In Der Strafkolonie":
9. A Hunger Artist ""Ein Hungerkünstler":
10. The Trial "Der Process": Comments separately
11. The Castle "Das Schloss": Comments separately
12. Amerika: Comments separately
13. A Little Fable: The mouse is dead either way
14. The Great Wall of China:
15. The Hunter Gracchus:
16. The Burrow:
1. Unhappiness "Unglücklichsein": The narrator was so lonely and miserable that he started talking to a ghost child. He was lonely that he felt happy instead of scared to the apparition. He then argued with the ghost as if he was fighting with his own thoughts. He left the room and had a random conversation with his neighbor about not stealing his ghost otherwise their relationship will be over. He went on saying I'm tired and need to sleep. Weird story, is this about a man with psychosis due to intense isolation?
2. The Judgement "Das Urteil": A story about Georg writing a letter to his jaundiced friend that "ran" to Russia. Talked about how his friend never visit him and his family anymore, should he tell his friend that he is getting engaged? Georg contemplated on his father's condition since his mother died.. He tells his father about him writing the letter to his old friend. The father was suddenly angry to Georg and cursed to death by drowning- Georg did end up killed himself by jumping off a bridge. I don't understand this bizarre tale, why is something simple turned into a complicated short story. I suppose those characters symbolized something personal to Kafka in real life?
3. Before The Law (a parable): I think the man from the country is typical human being, The Law is heaven, the gatekeeper is .. well the heaven's gate keeper. So the man is trying to understand and chase after Heaven. That he doesn't really live his life, just chasing after heaven and do nothing. He asked and asked the gatekeeper, trying to learn all about heaven until he is old and dying. In the end he does not understand anything.
“Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I’m going now to close it.” Does this mean, heaven doesn't exist and it the end death is just.. death. So live your lives, don't waste it on trying to chase The Law.
4. The Metamorphosis (a novella): Comments separately
5. A Report to An Academy "Ein Bericht für eine Akademie":
I think this is about someone with minor ethnic heritage trying to fit into the dominant culture of a society. To fit in and look normal.
"I repeat: there was no attraction for me in imitating human beings; I imitated them because I needed a way out, and for no other reason."
6. Jackals and Arabs: Allegory of Jewish-Arab relations, Kafka "caricaturing the concept of the Chosen People who appear as intolerant of the Arab culture as the Arab culture is of them." or existentialist theme https://www.essayfox.com/jackals-and-...
7. A Country Doctor "Ein Landarzt":
8. In The Penal Colony "In Der Strafkolonie":
9. A Hunger Artist ""Ein Hungerkünstler":
10. The Trial "Der Process": Comments separately
11. The Castle "Das Schloss": Comments separately
12. Amerika: Comments separately
13. A Little Fable: The mouse is dead either way
14. The Great Wall of China:
15. The Hunter Gracchus:
16. The Burrow:
December 14, 2018
A good read not great though
Not all stories are that great or interesting to read - I prefer the novels, the short stories are some how not that appealing and you really need to push yourself through especially the repetitive
Not all stories are that great or interesting to read - I prefer the novels, the short stories are some how not that appealing and you really need to push yourself through especially the repetitive
July 27, 2020
This review covers only The Castle, one of the works in this anthology.
Franz Kafka lived in Germany in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries He is most well-known for his work The Metamorphosis, in which the protagonist grotesquely wakes up one day as a giant cockroach. The work of this review (The Castle) was started and left unfinished in 1922, two years before Kafka’s death in 1924. It was only published posthumously in 1926 – against Kafka’s expressed wishes in his will.
It tells the story of the main character, known only tersely as K., who arrives in a village in Germany and claims to be a “land surveyor.” However, he cannot get approval to work in this role unless certified by the village’s central authority, named Klamm, dwelling in a Castle. The villagers keep pushing him towards the Castle, but despite the necessity of authorization, he is unable to get an audience. (Anyone who has dealt with governmental or corporate bureaucracies can certainly relate.) His assistants get jobs there, his girlfriend gets an audience there after cheating on K., but K. can never attain his goal. The story ends abruptly, without a climax or a denoument, and the reader is left to imagine the rest of the tale.
Scholars have long pondered the symbolism that Kafka intended. Of course, we will never know for sure. Could it be humanity’s never-ending yet unattained attempt at salvation and at finding God/heaven on earth? Could it just be the futility and meaninglessness of life? Could it be about the facelessness of modern governmental bureaucracies? Though not a professional literary scholar, I suggest that we need to see this work in the scope of the European intellectual landscape after World War I. This landscape held a bevy of alienated individuals who saw through human attempts of self-betterment, only to destroy each other horrifically on battlefields. They were disillusioned with everything – God, progress, labor, idealism, Marxism, democracy, indeed with all of life.
In this sense, we can view Kafka in The Castle as a proto-existentialist. After Kafka, Sartre and Camus wrote elegantly about the absurdity of life. Some might find books like this hopeless. I certainly had my frustrations while reading it of its pointlessness. Still, such existentialist dilemmas certainly fit with Kafka’s disposition and historical moment. If he can write a classic about suddenly turning into a cockroach, why not write a story without an ending?
Franz Kafka lived in Germany in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries He is most well-known for his work The Metamorphosis, in which the protagonist grotesquely wakes up one day as a giant cockroach. The work of this review (The Castle) was started and left unfinished in 1922, two years before Kafka’s death in 1924. It was only published posthumously in 1926 – against Kafka’s expressed wishes in his will.
It tells the story of the main character, known only tersely as K., who arrives in a village in Germany and claims to be a “land surveyor.” However, he cannot get approval to work in this role unless certified by the village’s central authority, named Klamm, dwelling in a Castle. The villagers keep pushing him towards the Castle, but despite the necessity of authorization, he is unable to get an audience. (Anyone who has dealt with governmental or corporate bureaucracies can certainly relate.) His assistants get jobs there, his girlfriend gets an audience there after cheating on K., but K. can never attain his goal. The story ends abruptly, without a climax or a denoument, and the reader is left to imagine the rest of the tale.
Scholars have long pondered the symbolism that Kafka intended. Of course, we will never know for sure. Could it be humanity’s never-ending yet unattained attempt at salvation and at finding God/heaven on earth? Could it just be the futility and meaninglessness of life? Could it be about the facelessness of modern governmental bureaucracies? Though not a professional literary scholar, I suggest that we need to see this work in the scope of the European intellectual landscape after World War I. This landscape held a bevy of alienated individuals who saw through human attempts of self-betterment, only to destroy each other horrifically on battlefields. They were disillusioned with everything – God, progress, labor, idealism, Marxism, democracy, indeed with all of life.
In this sense, we can view Kafka in The Castle as a proto-existentialist. After Kafka, Sartre and Camus wrote elegantly about the absurdity of life. Some might find books like this hopeless. I certainly had my frustrations while reading it of its pointlessness. Still, such existentialist dilemmas certainly fit with Kafka’s disposition and historical moment. If he can write a classic about suddenly turning into a cockroach, why not write a story without an ending?
December 31, 2020
This edition is sort of the literary equivalent of a greatest hits collection. It includes what are usually considered the best short stories as well as "Metamophosis" and the unfinished novels. The text has obviously been scanned from a hard copy, and consequently the quality is somewhat mixed. The text of "The Trial," for example, is pretty clean, while the text for "The Castle" is riddled with uncorrected typos. In most cases, it's easy to figure out what the word should be, so it is more of a nuisance than a deterrence to understanding. Because of that I gave this edition four stars. I can't speak to the quality of the translations in regards to their fidelity to the originals, but the versions included are quite readable. Personally, I prefer the short stories to the novels. For anyone interested in getting to know Kafka and his work, this is a very good selection and at a great price, if you don't mind the occasional typo.
August 16, 2018
I bought this book so I could read Kafka's short story, Metamorphosis. I'm not fond of short stories as a rule, but this one was pretty amazing. A salesman living with, and supporting, his parents and sister wakes up one morning as a big bug. There are so many facets to this story, so many metaphors wrapped up in this "situation" that the family accepts matter of factly. They have questions to be sure but none of them are of a serious nature. I highly recommend Metamorphosis. I plan to read more of his work.
September 15, 2020
I was very impressed with "The trial" so I decided to read this book. Between the novels and tales I cannot choose which one I like the most. All of them have its particularities. What I can say is that "Amerika" is a pretty good work, unfortunately it is not completed. "The hunger artist" affected me a little maybe because I was influenced by the fact Kafka worked in this writing prior of his death, while he was suffering laryngeal tuberculosis. "The castle" is the last one in my list, I found it very dramatic but absurd and infuriating, which is what characterized Kafka's work.
Read
August 4, 2024for some reason they don't have the collection of his lost writings that i read on here, so i'll put this toward my goal instead
December 15, 2024
I love Kafka's writing style, and the potential for unsettling horror in his stories, but this was not a bingeable collection. I found that after a while, all of the frustratingly (but intentionally) useless characters and situations started to blend together. My favourites are still "In the Penal Colony" and "Metamorphosis" - the two stories I read before this collection - but I did also enjoy "The Burrow".
3.5
3.5
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews