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Kafka: the Impossible Biography

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39 pointslermontov14 comments

Isn't the literariness of biography precisely how it approaches the questions asked in this article, and in the biography on Kafka? It comes up again and again in most renowned biographies. On the surface they are about an individual, in their depths, they are about how one tells the story of a life and the many conceptual choices one takes while writing. The best make that superficial/deep relationship seamless. I guess these ones on Kafka don't.

Aside, can anyone recommend the best work to start with for Kafka?

In the Penal Colony is a good one.

His most widely known story is probably The Metamorphosis.

He has a lot of short works you can get through in under 10 minutes. "A Message from the Emperor", for instance.

Any suggestions for people who don't really like Kafka based on the few most common works usually talked about?

Didn't he only write like 30 stories or something?

I think there might be something to an idea that people who already have considered things the way Kafka does might not value his pieces much, because other than conceptually there might not be as much there as other famous classics writers?

Kafka only wrote 3 novels, all unfinished, all excellent.

"The Trial" is the conventional starter Kafka novel. It's the only one with an ending.

"The Castle" is my favorite. A good entry if you think you already understand Kafka (you may be surprised).

"Amerika", or "The Man Who Disappeared", is an under-appreciated gem but should be read 3rd because it's the least complete and you'll need the practice appreciating unfinished novels.

> Aside, can anyone recommend the best work to start with for Kafka?

I think I might like his "little bits" even more than the longer stories; diary entries, letters, aphorisms etc. A book full of those is never misspent money.

Start with his short stories. One of the best, and one of my favorite stories by any author, is "A Little Fable": http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0012-a-little-fable...

Then, perhaps, "The Metamorphosis", before or after reading Nabokov's lecture on it.

Here is one of my favorite Kafka stories, Before the Law.[1] It's very short. You can read it in maybe five minutes.

[1] - http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm

I don't understand. Is this a reification of the social construct of "law" to which he desires entrance, or do I not understand an archaic idiom?

To my eyes, what "the law" is is actually immaterial to the story's point. It's something the protagonist desperately desires, and the story is about how he goes about trying to attain that desire and what stands in his way. That's the important part.

To me, it was getting obsessed with breaking through the first obstacle, but forgetting the eventual end goal. Despite gifts and conversation, he never once made his own luck. He trusted that the guardian was telling the truth, until it was too late for him to even try. Better to fall down trying than to never succeed without even attempting. I've never been one for literary analysis, however, and may be missing the point.

Part of the story does have to do with the protagonist's passivity and lack of initiative, but also with his deference to authority. Kafka has the gatkeeper speak in ambiguous ways, hinting at something that's never made clear. Is he on the supplicant's side, or is he against him? Does he wield vast power, or is it all a bluff?

Kafka does not give us any answers to these questions, but really challenges us to reflect on them ourselves, and to perhaps see some parallels to this in our own lives. The whole story could be seen as a miniature version of all too many desperate, futile lives that people live today -- they yearn for something, but meekly, perhaps out of some defect in their characters (a defect but perhaps also a virtue -- that of trust and obedience or deference to authority) fail to attain what they yearn for.

We could probably go on analyzing this tale for some time. I find the it to be quite deep and rich in meaning, and that's why I love it.

I'd like to offer a different perspective. I read this story in high school in class.

Kafka intended to be a chemical engineer, but he studied law at his father's request. He had talent for writing, but stuck being a clerk drafting legal documents.

I had (have) a very similar story. At the time I read Kafka's "the process" and then consecutively this story, I had felt helplessness in insufferable amount. Computers were all that interested me, I believed I was really talented, I always believed that İ had a calling. But in real life, I had little prospects for getting into college, although I was a real good student.

At the end I conceded like I always do, and started Law School.

I guess Kafka's trying to say that don't be a conformist, stand up for your self. The protagonist (of the Process, which includes this story as far as I can remember) had a job (but he didn't like it), he had a girlfriend (but he didn't care for it). He didn't enjoy life, he He believed that he had to accept everything imposed upon him and this got him killed.

I'd definitely recommend his short stories, Metamorphosis and The Judgement. I also really enjoyed the novel, The Trial.

There are some free ones from Kafka on Project Gutenberg:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=kafka

In english I see there "Metamorphosis" (also as audiobook) and "The Trial".

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