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/lit/ - Literature

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17011228 No.17011228 [Reply] [Original]

Where do I start.
I've read only The Metamorphosis.

>> No.17011238

>>17011228
You start with this mfer’s absolutely fresh cut

>> No.17011273

The Judgement, Penal Colony, all the short stories then pick either Castle or Trial

>> No.17011618

How is his diary?

>> No.17011892
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17011892

>>17011238
damn straight

>> No.17011919

>>17011228
read his letter to his father

>> No.17011930

the trial is great

>> No.17012360

>>17011273
why would I read the castle when it's not finished?

>> No.17012369

>>17012360
Because that didn’t stop it from being one of the greatest novels ever written.

>> No.17012374

>>17012360
Most of his novels are unfinished.

>> No.17012384

>>17012360
kafka's whole life was kinda unfinished

>> No.17012468

>>17012369
k
>>17012374
>>17012384
but he published those. he didn't publish the castle. because it wasn't done

>> No.17012662

Can I read The Trial first? Or will it be overwhelming? My reading level is high for my age

>> No.17012675

>>17012662
Unless you are 12 years old you will be fine

>> No.17012680

>>17011228

The Trial is direct access to the Sublime.

>> No.17012702

>>17012680
if you read it in english, post the first sentence of the translation you read

>> No.17012705

>>17012662

No, it really isn't a hard read. You just won't understand what the fuck is really going on, even though everything that happens is insanely banal. And you have to accept that.

>> No.17012745

>>17012702

I've read it both in French and English, but I have my English copy at arm's length, let's see

> Someone must have slandered Joseph K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.

"A new translation, based on the restored text" by Breon Mitchell

>> No.17012915

>>17012745
yeah, you're good to go. seen some translations destroying the tone of the whole book in the first sentence

>> No.17012923

>>17011273
what about amerika? is that good too

>> No.17012928

>>17012662
The Trial is easy to read but my copy of the book had no paragraphs so every single page was a wall of text. Even in dialogue there were no paragraphs.

>> No.17012946

>>17012662
The Trial isn't a hard read, the sequence of events are just incredibly obtuse and purposely mystifying because that's Kafka's staple

>> No.17012957

>>17012946

I personally love how one of the most realistic and close to the text interpretation of the Trial was that K.'s crime was that of being a major simp.

>> No.17012962

>>17011228
God he's so fucking handsome

>> No.17012979

>>17012928
thats fucking hilarious. I'm cackling. What a fucking chad move of the publisher. Like a poorly written legal opinion that goes on for far too long and has a dissent that's twice as long as the main opinion. I love it.

>> No.17013003

>>17012675
>>17012705
>>17012928
>>17012946
thanks bros, good to know. I don't mind not understanding things, just eager to understand the kafkaesque meme

>> No.17013044

>>17013003

It isn't straight up surreal, apart perhaps the scenes where he is going to court. You just don't get much insight in why things happen the way they do. And the end is such a brutal acceleration in comparison to the rest of the book, honestly, if reading the last 3 sentences doesn't cause you to experiment Ego death or something similar, you are just an NPC, no way around it.

>> No.17013470

>>17013003
The Trial is probably the best place for you to start then, seeing as its the most concerned with bureaucracy and the like (I haven't read anything else by him aside from Metamorphosis mind you)

>> No.17013772

>>17012962
are you kidding me, looks like half gipsy

>> No.17013790

>>17012928
Same thing with mine. I just assumed that that was Kafka's doing because my copy of the Castle was the same way.

>> No.17014519

>>17013470
80 pages in, it's really good! I like the cuckoldry, I was hoping that would make an appearance.

>> No.17015254

>>17012468
I thought kafka didn't publish any of his work? didn't he instruct a friend of his to burn everything he wrote but instead that friend published his work posthumously without permission or something?

>> No.17015306

>>17011273
This.

>>17012923
Yes definitely read Amerika but read the short stories first.

>> No.17015319

>>17011228
>I've read only The Metamorphosis.
which translation? after shopping around for a night last summer i settled for Susan Bernofsky's which was a treat. not sure how faithful it is in tone but i really enjoyed it.

>> No.17016446

>>17011228
Other than In the Penal Colony which was already mentioned, I really enjoyed A Hunger Artist and Josephine the Singer.

>> No.17016452

>>17015254
Some of his stories got published in literary journals during his lifetime, but you're generally right: he told his mate (Max Brod) to burn every remaining manuscript (The Trial and The Castle would have fallen under this iirc)

>> No.17016473

>>17014519
You should especially enjoy a few pages of the Merchant Block chapter, peak cuckoldry.

>> No.17016541

>>17016473
Good, I love how classic authors are on obsessed with cuckoldry! it really makes me feel good. I wish more authors would include cuckoldry in their works. How entertaining!