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For anyone that doesn’t quite ‘get’ Kafka: I recommend his short stories and aphorisms over his novels. Metamorphosis and The Castle never quite did much for me
by ceilingcorner 6y ago
For anyone that doesn’t quite ‘get’ Kafka: I recommend his short stories and aphorisms over his novels. Metamorphosis and The Castle never quite did much for me, whereas The Great Wall of China or In the Penal Colony are some of my favorites.
- telesilla 6y agoIn the Penal Colony is brilliant. I read it when young and many years later cannot forget it. http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/793CA_web/PenalColony.pdf http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/793CA_web/PenalColony.pdf
- plants 6y agoThose are two of my favorites also, especially "In the Penal Colony." For anyone looking for more, I would add "The Burrow" as great introduction to the weirdness of Kafka as well.
- tutuca 6y agoBefore the Law is my top favorite short story of all time.
- scarecrowbob 6y agoI'll toss "A Hunger Artist" on there, too.
- liveoneggs 6y agothis is the one I think about the most
- greyswan 6y agoI absolutely did not enjoy reading Kafka, but I get the importance of the work, and I think about it constantly.
- scrozier 6y agoAfter 40 years, I can't forget the image of the felt gag in The Penal Colony.
- jwigg 6y agoI've read Metamorphosis many times over the years, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a very subtle dark comedy. But of all the punchlines, including the ending, are (for lack of a better term) situational. I can't explain further without spoilers, so HN might not be the right format for it.