What even. ( )

The centrepiece of this collection, the famous 'Metamorphosis', is a masterpiece of alienation and incomprehension in and at society. It approaches such themes completely without self-pity and in a novel way (a man awakes to find himself turned into an insect); it is a great and influential work that should be read by everyone. I consider it important to stress Kafka's genius in this story because there was little else in this collection that really impressed itself upon me. To be clear, the writing is very good and some of the stories made small craters on my brain ('The Passenger', 'For the Consideration of Amateur Jockeys', 'The Neighbouring Village', 'A Report to an Academy' and 'The Coal-Scuttle Rider', since you ask) but there was nothing, sans 'Metamorphosis', that really encouraged me to consider Kafka a genius.

However, below genius there is still plenty of hunting ground and part of Kafka's attraction is the way "his self-doubt, his savage self-criticism" (as translator Michael Hofmann puts it in his Introduction) manifests itself in his writing. A significant part of Kafka's legend is how he asked his friend Max Brod to destroy all his manuscripts, an agreement which Brod reneged on after Kafka's death. I imagine every writer, good and bad, has had similar self-doubt at some point in their career and perhaps this is why Kafka's work maintains our interest: it is a purely distilled manifestation of that one aspect of a writer's psyche. ( )

Just got the Barnes & Noble 2003 edition for my daughter.Wonder why I cannot add that edition to my shelves as well. Annoying.




Ok well apart from Metamorphosis (which is brilliant), I'm not that impressed. Several of the stories are basically just a paragraph or two...mere observations...well done, but ho hum. The Stoker was interesting and leaves you hanging wanting more. I actually really preferred reading the Introduction by Michael Hofmann who translated this edition. ( )

I first met Kafka’s haunting prose while staying in Prague. Not even a year gone by and I find myself re-reading him again, trying once more to decipher what hidden messages might be found in his daunting short stories.
After having read his tales twice I have come to the conclusion that there is no use in trying to deconstruct the unrealistic situations of the imaginary worlds he created, there is no need to unveil any encrypted symbolism in order to weave out some sort of moral code from his nightmarish worlds.
Kafka defies interpretation in presenting illogical situations from an objective point of view, constantly validating contradictory perceptions to the reader who ends up not questioning the “hows” or the “whys” of his stories, but simply allows himself the luxury of being carried away with them. I have allowed myself to get lost in Kafka’s worlds and here there are some of my mementos.

Metamorphosis is not about change, but about completion.
Gregor Samsa has always felt in need of spiritual nourishment. His doomed attempts at building connections with others are rife with futility.
That’s why he balances his unsatisfied spiritual hunger by working himself out to provide for his family. It doesn't matter if his occupation repulses him. It doesn't matter if his exertions are never appreciated. He needs to believe his own charade, he is even ready to waste his own life only in exchange for some human contact or some sort of understanding.
There is no big surprise when one day he wakes up, after a feverish night, only to discover he has become what he had always known to be. A monstrous insect. He has ultimately been granted with a new body which fits with the image others had of him. No more need to pretend. As the caterpillar becomes the butterfly; Samsa becomes the giant bug he had always considered himself to be. The body alters violently, destroying its former self. A painful transformation takes place which brings fulfillment. It is through suffering that comes knowledge. Samsa's animal body is the leading conduit which releases him from his lifelong jail. Gregor has finally understood that he he can’t feed on music, he can’t feed on art. He won’t ever be able to communicate with his beloved family, he belongs to another world. So he conscientiously chooses to cease to be. Gregor’s premature death appears both as an act of undemanding love and pure understanding.
Reaching fulfillment through suffering.
Becoming another when one finally acknowledges that its true essence has always been the same.
A tale of fulfillment.
Samsa and Kafka have matching letters. They also sound alike. I wonder why.

A Country Doctor is about the price we have to pay for the advance of science in a modern world. Like in the Tale of the new Prometheus, man plays God. A Doctor has the power to keep life, has a duty towards his patients, has to keep life regardless of its cost. He has to become his patient in order to save him. Such a heavy burden. What am I to do? I am only a country doctor.

In the Penal Colony is about spiritual art. A judicial system which allows the convicted to reach expiation through the suffering derived from having imprinted his misdeeds on his flesh. Not a tormenting instrument but a way to cleanse one’s soul. Brutal, repulsive and disgusting. This particular tale brought reminiscences of Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Either an ominous premonition of Auschwitz and Dachau or a harsh reminder of the Old Testament values, there is a disturbing analogy between the nature of the language, the nature of the tormenting instrument and the purposes of art.

In the other stories, nameless characters are introduced as mere spectators who witness the inevitable development of their lives, they are mere onlookers, slaves to their own imperfections, they all have to face surreal, demonic scenarios. But knowledge comes only through painful, personal transformation and it must be known in the flesh. We need to become “the other” in order to fully understand. Kakfa’s claustrophobic tales are “the instrument” and “the metamorphosis” takes place in the reader, who suffers its painful but necessary transformation to ease his spiritual hunger. ( )

I didn't really like the translation, it makes it a bit hard to read at times. The sentences are all put together in long paragraphs which makes it boring and confusing. ( )