# Franz Kafka



## strangedaze (May 28, 2005)

He didn't have much fun, either.

Discuss Das Schloss, Das Urteil, Der Prozess, The Metamorphosis, the man and his works. 

Favorite pieces, likely in order of personal preference:

The Metamorphosis
His shorter stories and parables (philosophical flash fiction at its finest).
The Trial
The Castle
The Judgment

And if anyone has copies of the Blue Octavo Notebooks or any of his stuff in Deutsch, message me and we can make a trade or something.

A few sites for those Kafka-holics lurking:

The Kafka Project: http://www.kafka.org

The Kafka Society of America: http://www.kafkasocietyofamerica.org/

Franz Kafka on the Web (links): http://www.pitt.edu/~kafka/links.html


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## discipleofWORD (May 28, 2005)

Ahhh....I read that recently--Metamorphosis. Really pround insights. Wow. 

Here's a flash about this book, which is really neat. Sadly, it doesn't show the whole book.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/metamorphosis/


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## Ralizah (May 28, 2005)

I've not read anything of his, but I'm eager to read The Trial.


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## strangedaze (May 28, 2005)

Ugh I fucking despise people who adapt works of others. I wonder if anyone owns the rights to Kafka's writing, because he begged and pleaded to ensure that Gregor's condition was never to be depicted. What a disgrace. I've actually seen the book, too. 

R, the Trial's a nice piece of work, unfinished in a sense but it has a conclusive ending. I started with the Metamorphosis, then hit up the Trial afterwards, but I remember liking it a lot. Check it out and let us all know what you think!


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## Beatrice Boyle (May 29, 2005)

Hi Strangedaze, thanks for coming aboard the Classics forum with this thread.  Kafka is an aquired taste I'm afraid...all doom and gloom as far as I am concerned. :?  But having said that, I do concur he was a brilliant writer...a tortured soul I believe, but nevertheless...brilliant!

I have never been able to immerse myself in his books...too draining for me, so I will not get into this discussion.  Hopefully, there will be others that are eager to!


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## Pawn (May 29, 2005)

You don't need to leave your room.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Don't even listen, simply wait.
Don't even wait.
The world will freely offer itself to you.
To be unmasked, it has no choice.
It will roll in ecstacy at your feet.

[list:53f71d8fa1][list:53f71d8fa1][list:53f71d8fa1]_Kafka_
[/list:u:53f71d8fa1][/list:u:53f71d8fa1][/list:u:53f71d8fa1]One of my favourite poems, though I know neither its title nor where it was originally published (any info appreciated). Besides the above, my only experiences with Kafka have been Metamorphosis and The Trial, both of which I found to be utterly superlative. Inspirational, even.


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## Cipher2 (Jun 5, 2005)

This thread is reminding me that I have not yet finished 'Metamorphosis and Other Short Stories'.

I prefer Kafka for short stories.  For me his abstract style is too wearing for the novel.   Still I might give the Castle another try or perhaps The Trial.

Thanks Strangedaze for the intresting links.  The depiction of Samsor against Kafkas wishes is annoying.  In fact, I have read that it shouldn't be supposed that the transformation was simply a literal physical one.


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## a15haddad (Jun 8, 2005)

I love Kafka.  I even have a quote from him in my signature.

Although I somewhat agree with Cipher... his style appeals to me more in smaller doses.


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## strangedaze (Jun 8, 2005)

On that note, allow me to wholeheartedly recommend Schocken's collection of all of his shorter writings. Some personal favorites, some short enough to be called flash or microfiction, include 'The Bridge', 'The Vulture', and 'The Hunger Artist.' The edition I have, the latest released, if I'm not mistaken, has a jet black cover with a triptych of a yellow calligraphy-type pen on it. Well worth the twenty some dollars I paid for it. 

To me, Kafka seems to be the kind of writer who had bursts of brilliance interspersed with spells of extreme (existential?) angst, so it makes sense that some of his most profound writings came in the form of shorter pieces. Sometimes I wonder if his tuberculosis was somehow self-inflicted...the mind can do crazy crazy things.

As of yet, the only pieces I have yet to purchase in English are his letter to poppa Hermann and his Blue Octavo Notebooks. I hope to add them to my collection soon, as well as some more German editions. 

Fuck I love Franz. I'd have his babies, but first, he's dead, second, I'm a guy, third, some speculate that poor Franzy was impotent, while others think his were works depicting the subtleties of homoerotic love. Buh?!

Andrew


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## Beatrice Boyle (Jun 15, 2005)

This guy is a walking ad for "Murphy's Law"!!

If it were'nt so pathetic...it would be hilarious! :roll:


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## aliceedelweiss (Jun 15, 2005)

I haven't read any kafka books yet but I did by "The metamorphosis and other short stories" which I'll be reading very soon, because I've heard from many that the metamorphosis is a very good story.
alice


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## strangedaze (Jun 15, 2005)

Very good, Alex, very good. Of his longer works, that and The Trial are probably the best, but his shorter fiction is surprisingly at home with the flash and micro fiction of nowadays. Happy reading - if you have any questions, want to chat about Franz, or anything, lemme know. I'm going to have Franz's angst-ridden babies. And yes. I am that geeky.

Andrew


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## blademasterzzz (Jun 15, 2005)

Well, I've just read Das Urteil, and a few other short stories, in german. 

Interesting...


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## Hodge (Jun 15, 2005)

I've only read _The Metamorphosis_, but I wrote my final literary study paper on it. 


Kafka actually asked of a close friend, on his deathbed no less, that all his unpublished writings be burned. Fortunately for us, his friend decided not to.


He's dark, he's pessimistic, he's depressing—but most of all, he's _realistic_.


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## jipsi (Jul 12, 2005)

*kafka's diary*

I am currently reading The Trial,  and the edition of the book i purchased happens to have excerpts of Kafka's diary at the back, which is most heart wrenching yet inspiring to read if you are a writer... by knowing that a great such as kafka  is, has suffered terribly with his writing in fits and bursts and feeling radically up and down from day to day... this gives me hope , although i feel compassion for his state of mental tension and paranoia about his health. but perhaps, this constant instability is what feeds a story.


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## strangedaze (Jul 12, 2005)

Blade - I have a copy of Das Urteil, but I've only been able to (roughly) translate one of the pieces. I've read it all in english, though, but as my studies in German continue I hope to be able to read all of his work. 

Hodge - Yeah, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Franzy knew Max wouldn't burn his things. I think Brod even told Franz on numerous occasions that he wasn't down with destroying all of his stuff. But Kafka also instructed Dora Dymant, his female partner at the time, to burn some of his works. Makes me wonder what sort of Kafkaesque tomfoolery bit the dust, as it were.

jipsi - The Trial is wonderful, like his diaries. His external life was so mundane compared to the explosive one he lived in his mind. He's the epitome of a tortured writer and I think that his work fed him more than his life fed it. Let me know what you think of The Trial.


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## Lost (Sep 9, 2005)

One morning Gregor samsa awoke a hideous vermin.

Ooooh, I love Kafka.

Fucking apple, fucking microchosms, fucking allegories.


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## Hodge (Sep 9, 2005)

It really irritates me how ambiguous Gregor's size is throughout the whole thing... He's apparently large enough to frighten everyone and not fit through the door unless both sides are open, yet he's small enough to hide under the sofa. 

Tough enough to survive a fall onto his back from the ceiling, yet fragile enough to receive a major wound from an apple flung fast.

Such a depressing book... I like it.


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## Cipher2 (Sep 13, 2005)

Yeah it's ambiguous...no...it' allegory...it's metaphor...

...or maybe he just couldn't be bothered..



hmm..


maybe not.

Reminds me that I have his complete novels sitting unread on the shelf.


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## strangedaze (Sep 13, 2005)

start with the trial, cipher, you won't be dissapointed, but only touch amerika if franzy gives you a hard-on, or appropriate female equivalent.


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## Cipher2 (Sep 15, 2005)

strangedaze said:
			
		

> start with the trial, cipher, you won't be dissapointed, but only touch amerika if franzy gives you a hard-on, or appropriate female equivalent.



Is my avatar asexual? I will have to add a goatee.

No he doesn't.  If you were to use sexual arousal as a scale I would say...actually I wont.


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## strangedaze (Sep 15, 2005)

> Is my avatar asexual?



Who can really tell these days.



> I will have to add a goatee.



Whatever makes your avatar feel good about itself.



> No he doesn't.



In which case I don't recommend Amerika.



> If you were to use sexual arousal as a scale I would say...actually I wont.



Okay.


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## salvothasock (Jan 29, 2006)

funny, i heard pieces of kafka here and there in conversations. always looked up at his section at barnes and noble, i guess it wasnt the right time. my friend sent me a link to one of his parables recently, i loved it. never seen anything quite like it in other works. i picked up the sons. reading metamorphasis right now. and it seems already that this can be related to almost any time or place. anyone can relate. which is why its so poignant. really looking forward to reading his other pieces. yes, tis true, tis true...


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## whoneedsactions (Feb 4, 2006)

I liked Metamorphosis for the same reasons.  I like original metaphors that work for anyone.

About doom and gloom, I have the same conversations about certain music.  Some people think it's depressing, others think "Thank God there's SOMEONE in the world who understands."  (Usually depressives)  I've been reading a few short stories lately and Kafka's one of the best.


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## pawn_of_pawns (Feb 25, 2006)

I love Kafka. If you need help having his babies, I'd gladly donate my womb, Strangegaze. 

_The Metamorphosis _and _In The Penal Colony _are two of my favorite short stories. _The Judgment_ freaked me out, maybe because that was the very first Kafka story I read. 

It can be hard to read his novels, but I find it to be very satisfying finishing one. It took me forever to finish _The Trial_, and now I'm slowly chipping away at _The Castle_. My copy of _The Castle_ is the new translation which is very interesting. In the introduction, the translator talked about how Brod thought _the Castle _had a religious metaphor and how the Muirs implied one in their original translation. This translator says he tried keep his as close to the original as possible. It reads well, but since I don't know German I have to take his word for it. 

Has anyone seen the biography of Kafka illustrated by Robert Crumb? It's pretty interesting, though I have to admit I mostly bought it for Crumb's art. Though, Crumb did draw Samsa as an insect. (And right afterwards the author said how Kafka forbade the vermin to be depicted. :roll The author, Mairowitz, also had an irritating habit of assuming the main characters to be self inserts of Kafka. I hate when critics suppose that about any author.


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## strangedaze (Feb 25, 2006)

PoP,

I'm sure even if Franz had your womb and my, uh, contribution to the spawning of his offspring, he wouldn't know what to do with them  Oh Franzy, how you make me swoon. Anyway, I have the new translation too. Brod was a cool cat for not burning Kafka's shizzat, but I tend to agree with Harmen when he says that Kafka's original translators played with the texts to suit their own interpretations. 

I'm actually doing a presentation on Kafka in my German class, which should be a gay time. My degree requires that I have a second language, so I'm picking German up. In another year or two I hope to be fluent. 

Crumb's artwork is out of sight. I want to get myself ahold of that. Depictions of Gregor are all over the place these days, which makes me sad. I loved the original cover work for Die Verwandlung, with the scratchy penmanship and the poor fucker holding his head. Lot of debate whether it's Herr Samsa or Gregor who's outside the door. The latter would mean that it's all in Greggy's head, which I'm not inclined to agree with, but I think trying to take Kafka literally is doing yourself a huge disservice.

As for your thoughts on people who take narrators/characters to be the author, I think in K-dawgs case it may be semi-acceptable, since he made the claim time and time again that he was writing for himself.

But that's only a half truth, because he was writing for me


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## pawn_of_pawns (Feb 25, 2006)

Hehe, I'm sure Franz wouldn't know what to make of fans like us.  

I need a second language too; I tried to learn German but that didn't work out. I couldn't even say, "Hello my name is" and I ended up dropping before the end of the second week. Sigh, there goes my hopes of ever reading Kafka in the original German. 

I found Crumb's Kafka at Borders, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. It should be in the graphic novels section (not comic books!). I haven't seen that cover yet, but it sounds interesting. I'm going to google it in a second. 

Kafka very well could be writing about himself, in fact it does seem that way half the time. It is something interesting to talk about or think about, but to state it as a fact? I donno, I guess it's just a pet peeve.

Edit: I have seen it! There is (a rather crappy) copy of it in R. Crumb's book. Hmm...I'm not sure if it's Gregor either, but that is something to think about.


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## strangedaze (Feb 26, 2006)

let's be friends.


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## pawn_of_pawns (Feb 26, 2006)

Sure.
Yay! I made a friend


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