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/lit/ - Literature

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2378916 No.2378916 [Reply] [Original]

So I'm reading Kafka's The Castle.
Only 40 pages in, but from the beginning things seemed really weird to me.
Is K. really a land suveryor, or he said that so that he could spend the night at the inn? He said that he is a land surveyor, but I don't really trust him. It's like authorities of the castle decided to play along with his story. It's as if everyone here is playing a game with him. What are his useless asisstants doing beside being useless? They seem childish and stupid, but are they really like that or they're actually pretending and messing with him? I can't tell. Kafka's world is really fascinating. This is like watching a David Lynch film. I wouldn't be surprised if Dave was actually influenced by his work. The Castle mostly reminds me of Twin Peaks. Is The Giant good or bad? Is he just playing with Dale Cooper or not? Is the Waiter at the White Lodge good or bad? What are their intentions? They all seem weird and childish in a way, but are they really like that? Is everyone just palying a game with Dale Cooper? Same thing in The Castle it seems.

What do you think?

>> No.2378918

>wouldn't be surprised if Dave was actually influenced by his work.
Uhh, yes.
http://dlf.tv/2009/franz-kafka/

>> No.2378922

The Giant is definitely good.

>> No.2378924

Don't you dare to compare that untalented piece of shit who can't make a cohesive and liner film to save his life with Kafka.
Herp derp, my fans will find a meaning in this when in actuality there's no fucking meaning at all, hurrr durr, they'll think it's really deep durrr.

>> No.2378962

Bump

>> No.2379004
File: 98 KB, 700x765, kafkaesque.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2379004

>>2378916
OP, you've just described what "kafkaesque" means.

>> No.2379072

My thread got buried in the DFW spam, so I'm bumping. Hopefully no one is offended by this.

>> No.2381273

bump

>> No.2381285
File: 39 KB, 720x480, Kafkaesque.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2381285

>> No.2381694

Because Kafka is absurd for the sake of being absurd.
There's nothing else to discuss.

>> No.2382123

>>2381694
No, that's the way he perceived this world. He wrote the way he felt. Alienation, depression, everyone is reserved, etc, etc.
It's not just "absurd for the sake of being absurd".

>> No.2382136

>>2381285

No meat touching, please.

>> No.2382164

>>2378916

It's obvious that you are not able to enjoy Kafka's work. 40 pages in and already everything you can think about is how "weird" everything is, wondering about "true intentions", searching for prevalent coherence.
The fact that you're here after 40 pages, asking for other people's thoughts instead of continuing to read alone is proof of this. Basically, as soon as someone picks up Kafka, if he isn't bound to keep on reading, stops asking questions, stops thinking in conventional causal relations or, in other words, isn't entirely absorbed in his realm, he isn't able to experience his literary style.

tl:dr: Just go on reading and stop being so goddamn reflective about it.

>> No.2382171

>>2382164
>wondering about "true intentions"
That's what I did all the time when I was reading Kafka in high school. Maybe I would think about it from a different perspective now though.

>> No.2382208

As is often the case in Kafka, it is important to reference other works by him in understanding a particular novel or story. Throughout his entire oeuvre, legal and bureaucratic institutions (i.e. the castle) are characterized by an absurd inaccessibility coupled with an equally absurd need to understand and gain entrance to these institutions in order to set one's life and world in order -- that is, to accurately "survey" the land.

For instance, see the short parables "Before the Law" and "An Imperial Message" for examples in which dire need to be admitted to and heard by those in authority is almost perfectly stymied. Because I'm somewhat religiously inclined, I tend to interpret these scenarios according to old testament Biblical Hermeneutics. Specifically, it seems that knowledge of the dictates of divine authority is both absolutely essential and absolutely prohibited in the old testament. This predicament closely mirrors the one faced by many of Kafka's characters.

Here's the two parables:
"Before the Law":
http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm

"An Imperial Message"
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~abert/imperial.htm

>> No.2382238

>it's like watching a David Lynch film

Please don't compare the genius of Kafka with "LOL LETS BE ARTSY AND PUT RANDOM SHIT IN OUR MOVIE SURELY THEYLL THINK IT'S DEEP AND EDGY".

>> No.2382394

>mfw comparing Lynch to Kafka

>> No.2382698

>Is the Waiter at the White Lodge good or bad?

I've oft wondered this.

>> No.2382701

Kafka is the DFW of his time.

>> No.2382705

>>2382701
Except Kafka had talent.

>> No.2382710

>>2382238
+ TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

>> No.2382851
File: 940 KB, 2048x1536, IMG_0019.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2382851

I read somewhere that Lynch considered Kafka his artistic brother, and I guess I can see it in their shared absurdism. But whenever something doesn't make sense in a Lynch film, it's kinda funny, whereas in Kafka's work, it makes me feel stupid, inferior, small, and so on.

Thus, Lynch can lick my nuts.

>> No.2382869

>>2382851
That's odd because I was laughing my way through The Trial, but found the editing in Blue Velvet captivating.

>> No.2382878
File: 85 KB, 417x498, kafka2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2382878

it would be nice if we tiered his translators for a change..

>> No.2383591

For some reason everyone loves David Lynch even though that dude's got no talent whatsoever.

>> No.2383601

Twin Peaks is wonderful, you plebeians.

>> No.2383605

Their resemblance to Kafka is precisely why I like Lynch and Kubrick movies.

>> No.2383609

>>2383605
Well Kubrick himself looked a lot like Kafka when he was younger and like a more obese, chronically-underslept Kafka when he was older, so I'd say he was on he right track from the get-go.

>> No.2383712

Twin Peaks seemed kind of alright at first. I had a decent story, but what's up with that ending? Way to ruin fucking everything and not answer a single question.
So random lol White Lodge XD.

Days and hours wasted on watching it and I get that.

>> No.2383803

>>2382851
Lynch said himself that all of his films were supposed to be so outrageous it is funny. Not understanding why you would hate him if you derive some pleasure in his films the way intends them to be enjoyed.

>> No.2384093

>>2383803
Because he's a talentless cunt who can't write a cohesive story.

>> No.2384493

Just go with the flow.
As soon as you realize that it's Kafka and it's Kafkaesuqe It's smooth sailing.

>> No.2384507

Be careful with Kafka that's all I'm saying.

>> No.2384514

>>2384093
>story
Watch Persona by Ingmar Bergman. That is what Lynch is trying to be like in majority of his films. Also have you seen The Elephant Man? Pretty coherent film.

>> No.2384515

>>2383712
Blame CBS.

>> No.2384524

>>2384514

also, not to dfwbomb a non-dfw thread, but his essay on going to watch lynch film lost highway gives some pretty cool insight into the dude

>> No.2385101

>>2384514
Persona is a good character study. That's not the case with Lynch's films. Bergman and Lynch are two entirely different things and can't be compared. Also he didn't write The Elephant Man.

>>2384515
How? Why? He ruined the last episode of Twin Peaks with his stupid random shit. He should've left it to Mark Frost or whatever that dude's name is to write a proper fucking ending.

>>2384524
DFW was a fan of Lynch?

>> No.2385110

>>2385101

not sure if he was a fan per se but he followed him around during the filming of lost highway and wrote a piece about it

my favorite bit is that david lynch apparently says "golly!" unironically

actually, just found a link if you want to read http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/lhpremiere.html

>> No.2385138

>>2385101
>DFW was a fan of Lynch?

Living-under-a-rock confirmed.

>> No.2385148

>>2382851

Someone wrote a good essay that I agree with about Kafka's sense of humour. I think Kafka was essentially a humorist. That the humor was rooted in genuine suffering, I have no doubt.

Also, >>> I tend to interpret these scenarios according to old testament Biblical Hermeneutics

I like you.

>> No.2385171

>>2385148
Humorist? Haha, no.
Kafka was a tortured ascetic, a genius and a lonely individual.
I'm almost like him, except I'm not an ascetic and even though I do not want to I enjoy worldly pleasures. Oh and I'm also not a genius.

>> No.2385172

>>2385101
Forgive me, I should have said ABC.
The proper ending was the resolve of the Laura Palmer murder case. ABC execs forced Lynch and Frost into revealing the identity of the killer early because they weren't confident viewers would be strung along with one mystery the entire series (which was the entire point of the show, a few seasons focused around one person and one event and the town's connection to it) What followed in the rest of Season 2 were a bunch of shitty, uninteresting subplots nobody cared about and a bunch of mysteries about Twin Peaks that had to be resolved in a very short amount of time

>> No.2385175

>>2385148
>Someone.
>DFW.

>> No.2385180

>>2385172
>What followed in the rest of Season 2 were a bunch of shitty, uninteresting subplots nobody cared about
Exactly this!
First season was so fucking amazing. But Season 2, ughhh. It turned more into a comedy and a meloldrama than a mystery show. That Nadine shit, Audrey falling in love, irrelevant dude from China and his whore, etc, etc.
Last three episodes or so got a bit better, but it was still a ruined show for me. Also I'm not sure if that Windom Earle stuff was needed :/

>> No.2385185

>>2385175
Hahahahaha, DFW wrote an essay on Kafka? Link.

>> No.2385192

>>2385180
Season 2 wasn't directed by David Lynch, in fact he wanted to end TP after Laura's murderer identity was discovered.

>> No.2385199
File: 62 KB, 631x612, ignatiusjreillyx13j2xe.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2385199

>>2385180
I might be wrong about this, but I believe Lynch wasn't there for either the beginning or some portion of the second season.

>>2385172

ABC was so goddamned retarded back then. They dropped My So-Called Life because they didn't think there was a "teenage girl market." Jesus christ...

>> No.2385206
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2385206

What are you guys talking about?
There's no way this could've had a better ending. Lynch is a genius.

>> No.2385229

>>2385206
The ending was better then the rest of season 2 at least. That James story arc...goddamn that was terrible...

>> No.2385238

>>2385206
>Lynch is a genius.
>genius
I don't think you know the meaning of that word.

>> No.2386948

>>2385238
No, he is a genius. Did you watch Mulholland Dr.?