# Franz Kafka



## Inderjit S (Mar 19, 2004)

Any fans of Franz Kafka on this board? Want to discuss any of his works? Any people who hate him for some reason or another?


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## Sarah (Mar 19, 2004)

How ironic. Just started to read metamorphosis for english. It's the most disgusting book i've ever read. I hate bugs.


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## Morfea (Mar 21, 2004)

Kafka..hmmmm..he's great, but just sometimes i just loose myself while reading, because he likes to long-wind (i hope that's the word)..but on the other hand that long-winding mostly consists of completely and utterly the best descriptions..i'm not kafka expert or anything..i've read only Process and Metamorphosis..but still..i was aghasted and fascinated at both works..I find metamorphosis one of the best works ever..that coldness, the letargy, relief from worry..and the fact that nobody actually noticed that he was one huge bug..everything just facsinates..


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## ely (Mar 21, 2004)

I've read his "The Trial". What can I say about it? It's not one of my very favourites but I liked it. It made me think. I consider books that make me think good, especially those that I still think about once in a while even though it's been long time since I read them. So it was good and it made me think, though it probably also gave me a headache.


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## Arthur_Vandelay (Mar 23, 2004)

I've read quite a few of his shorter works: "The Burrow", "Metamorphosis," "A Hunger Artist," "In the Penal Colony." And I have to say: two thumbs up!! Humourous and depressing all at once


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## Inderjit S (Mar 23, 2004)

'The Trial' is, IMO, better then 'The Castle' (his two principal works) it is a lot more depressing, though 'The Castle' is funnier and has a better list of characters. The ubiquitous protagonist, Joseph K. is also for me, more vacuous and less annoying in 'The Trial' the K. of 'The Castle' is annoying and supercilious and quite naive too. Though, then again, both stories are unfinished, 'The Trial' is more "finished" then 'The Castle' though it does lead to interesting canonical arguments on Kafka and any fellow fastidious Tolkien-canon fans know how interesting and topical canon debates can get, everyone so sure of their truism and stubbornly rejecting arguments that negate their own view.

Looking forward to reading his shorter stories now. 

Kafka may be syntaxically...exasperating at time, but that adds to the effect.

Also in 'The Castle' after Kafka waits so long to have a discussion with a employee of 'The Castle' and when he finally get's the chance he falls asleep. Hilarious! Though Burgel's speech was a bore.


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## Walter (Mar 24, 2004)

I wonder in which language you have read Kafka, Inderjit. Because, what fascinated me most, was his particular, unique and thitherto uncommon use of the German language in his narratives. While I never was quite partial of his narrative style, it nonetheless fascinated me in a way that I could not put away the books. I wonder how much of that is - respectively: can possibly be - preserved in a translation...


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## Inderjit S (Mar 25, 2004)

I have read the English version. The German verison is prob. better, as a lot of translations are inferior to their original language versions.


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## celebdraug (Mar 25, 2004)

I have never actually heard of him...


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## Walter (Mar 26, 2004)

Here's one of his rather short pieces (consisting of a mere two sentences):



> Die Wahrheit über Sancho Pansa
> Franz Kafka
> Sancho Pansa, der sich übrigens dessen nie gerühmt hat, gelang es im Laufe der Jahre, durch Beistellung einer Menge Ritter- und Räuberromane in den Abend- und Nachtstunden seinen Teufel, dem er später den Namen Don Quixote gab, derart von sich abzulenken, daß dieser dann haltlos die verrücktesten Taten aufführte, die aber mangels eines vorbestimmten Gegenstandes, der eben Sancho Pansa hätte sein sollen, niemandem schadeten. Sancho Pansa, ein freier Mann, folgte gleichmütig, vielleicht aus einem gewissen Verantwortlichkeitsgefühl, dem Don Quixote auf seinen Zügen und hatte davon eine große und nützliche Unterhaltung bis an sein Ende.



I have attempted a translation where I tried to preserve the somewhat awkward style which I think is characteristic for Kafka:



> The Truth About Sancho Pansa
> Franz Kafka
> Sancho Pansa, who by the way never boasted about this, accomplished throughout the years, by provision of a wealth of knight- and burglar-novels in the evening- and night-hours to turn away his devil, whom he later gave the name Don Quixote, from himself, so that he committed the craziest deeds unrestrained, but which short of a predestined item, who precisely should have been Sancho Pansa, harmed no one. Sancho Pansa, a free man, followed serenely, maybe out of a certain feeling of responsibility, Don Quixote on his expeditions and got great and useful pleasure therefrom until his end.


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Aside from the style, Kafka gives here quite an interesting interpretation of the "origin" of Don Quixote. I wonder if Cervantes would approve


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## Maeglin (Mar 28, 2004)

Sarah said:


> How ironic. Just started to read metamorphosis for english. It's the most disgusting book i've ever read. I hate bugs.




How ironic that I just finished the Metamorphosis as you were starting it a few weeks ago. Anyway, I was not big fan of the Metamorphosis, it bored me to tears. However, I do see and appreciate all of the symbolism in the story, it was really deep, and I respect that a great deal, he's just not my type of writer.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 9, 2022)

What the heck, why not.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Sep 9, 2022)




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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 9, 2022)




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## Rivendell_librarian (Oct 25, 2022)

I read _The Trial_ recently in a nice folio edition. My first Kafka novel. He's really clever, using everyday language to create some surreal situations. The different chapters can be quite different in character from each other. I realize the long-winded disquisitions are long-winded to emphasise the frustration of Joseph K's situation. The system means he cannot know the reason for his arrest, and he cannot change his situation because he cannot meet the higher court officials in control. Hence a description of modern life for the individual: beset by forces one cannot understand,
This was the best illustration for me:


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