/lit/ - Literature

was kafka a drinker?

>be telling bf about The Trial
>who is kafka?
>explain to him and then tell him Metamorphosis being a literary breakthrough
>what's it about
>say it's about a guy who wakes up a giant cockroach but it never says cockroach because he's more general vermin
>so it's sci fi?
>tell him no
>like the fly?
>no there's scientific explanation
>so it's a thriller?
>no
>sounds like it
>it's not trust me. it's an exploration of numerous themes like alienation
>what do you mean?
>the feeling that the world or your family sees you as vermin
>I think maybe he was just saying the world is full of cockroaches

I'm reading it to him tomorrow. What's a good way of helping him understand it?

I'm sure he is discussed on this board very frequently, but can we talk about Kafka?

I feel like his stories aren't thing to be distilled in search of clear ideas or themes or anything like that. Often I feel like there isn't any deliberate message at all and that his stories are things to be felt rather than analysed.

I'm sure everyone can agree that he had an incredible talent for translating subtle moments of life into prose.

Tell me what you think of him and his stories.

How do I into Kafka? I have his collected works in german, but do I just read them in release order or is there a better way? There doesn't seem to be a /lit/ approved flowchart I can find anywhere.

Post authors you haven't read and others tell you where to start.

I loved The Metamorphosis (and even wrote a paper on the Marxist interpretation) but I am not sure what else of his to read next.

Beetles are forever in the push up position.

kafka birthday thread
how are you celebrating, /lit/?

/lit/, if you were allowed to add a 20 year lifespan to any author (dead or alive), who would it be?

>pic related

Well /lit/.
Are this author's books recommendable? What of them do you recommend to a uncultured fag as I am?

don't mind me, just being best writer ever

Hello /lit/

What is your favorite opening line in a novel? Why is it your favorite? I'm primarily asking through a lens of creative writing. What constitutes a good first sentence, and why/if it is relevant to the overall purpose/form/message of the novel.

I guess I'll start with mine.

The Trial by Kafka
>Someone must have traduced Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning.

Simple prose which throws the reader right into the plot while also introducing the philosophical theme of the novel. The irony provided by the "fine morning" just ices the cake.

Does anyone else have a lot of trouble reading Kafka?

I'm a pretty strong reader and I can understand short stories by writers like Borges pretty easily, but I'm really struggling with Kafka's stories. I think it's just his way of describing actions and events that I can't wrap my head around. For example, I'm reading "Wedding Preparations in the Country" right now, and a sample sentence is "There was no need to think there were wheels under the floor and in front the horse between the shafts." As much as I look at that sentence I have no idea what Kafka is trying to say, even though it looks pretty simple.
Because there are lots of sentences like this, I can't focus for even a paragraph at a time without getting lost and losing focus. Does anyone else have this problem? Am I just a much weaker reader than I think? This is really just a Kafka thing for me; other writers haven't given me this kind of trouble.

ITT: Discuss your most preferred short works of Franz Kafka (short works meaning not including "The Trial" and "The Castle"

I really love a lot of Kafka's flash fiction and find it extremely interesting. I just never realized it could be done exactly the way he does it. I've also read Metamorphoses which was also incredible to put it mildly.

But I also started reading "Description of a Stuggle" and didn't really grow on it. I stopped reading after a while without having gotten that far into it.

Now, I'm sure that it's not the story, but it's me. As someone raised with constant interwebz stimulation, my attention span has suffered much to my dismay. A lot of what I read gets lost because I get bored and lose focus/attention. I guess a side-topic would be about how I may overcome this, because it's a problem I have that extends the content of this thread.

Anyways, I want to know what are Kafka's best short stories (and shorter stories as well, if your collection edition makes that distinction) so that I can get right to some real gems instead of diving in blindly. Justify if you feel the need to. Are they all worth reading in the end? I have the collection for one more day but maybe can renew it.

Hello /lit/ I don't look around here much so I'll take a shot in the dark of how the community is here. I'm 18 years old and a senior in high school with a writing assignment. I have to write a 5 page analytic essay on a theme presented in a book / short story along with a 1 page bio on the author.

The author of my choice was Franz Kafka. I have read The Metamorphasis and The Trial before and I liked them so I figured maybe I can do something on these, but for someone I am running short. I have never been much of a 'theme' person, I just read for a nice story.

I am trying to do my paper on the Metamorphasis but I can't locate a central theme with back up. What I have noticed however is that there are lots of things online about Kafka and Marxism or Alienation that deal with the short story I am looking at.


I am not looking towards you to do my paper for me, but just to point me in the right direction. What do you think is a good theme presented in The Metamorhasis, or at least how would I go to look for supporting context of these themes in his writing. Some seems obvious, others not so much.

you have 10 seconds to be as deep and edgy as possible

How does one respond to the realisation that they don't hold any preference regarding their life's direction?

FRANZ KAFKA STOPPING BY. ILL JUST HANG IN THE CORNER. DONT MIND ME.
I HEARD THERE WAS A THREAD OF WRITERS, AND I WANTED TO SEE.

I WRITE SOMETIMES BUT IM REALLY NOT VERY GOOD.
IM TERRIBLE. I SUCK. I SHOULD STOP WRITING. I SHOULD.

I FEEL LIKE A BUG, YOU KNOW, IN AN UNCARING WORLD.
WITH AN UGLY NAKED BODY, THIN MUSCLES, AND NAILS CURLED.

IN SOME BEAURCRATIC NIGHTMARE, WITH NO LOVER, FEW FRIENDS.
SO I TRY WRITING, BUT ITS ALL SO WEIRD. NO ONE WILL LIKE IT IN THE END.

IM A FAILURE. A TERRIBLE AUTHOR. I CANT LET ANYONE READ THIS, OH GOD.
I HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE. I KNOW! ILL CALL UP MAX BROD.

mfw this thread

Who is, in your opinion, the best English translator(s) of the works of Franz Kafka? I've finished the initial translation of The Trial and thoroughly enjoyed it, now I'm about to start The Castle but I'm unsure whether or not I'm getting the best of the author's intentions and lucidity. Any help?

Considering reading his short stories before I start stuff like The Trial and The Castle.

I've never read anything by Kafka and I want to start soon. What are your recommendations besides The Metamorphosis?

Just wanted to say Hello
Proust!