The Franz Kafka Author Page - Biography and Books

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The Trial By Franz Kafka

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The Trial Franz Kafka The narrative emerges from the book’s opening sentence: “Somebody must have slandered Joseph K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.” It is K.’s 30th birthday, and a pair of guards have arrived at his boardinghouse to inform him that he is under arrest. He is shortly summoned before the inspector, who is in the bedroom of another tenant. The inspector does not know what the charges are but tells K. that he is free to continue living his life as usual. K. goes to the bank where he works and is later told that a series of hearings will be taking place on Sundays. K. is not informed of the time that he is expected to appear, but he goes on Sunday morning to the address he was given, which proves to be that of a large tenement building. Eventually a washerwoman directs him to a crowded meeting hall, where the examining magistrate scolds K. for being late. K. energetically protests his treatment and denounces the corruption of the system. As he is leaving, the magistrate tells him that he has damaged his case by declining to participate in the hearing. No further summonses arrive, so K. returns to the building the following Sunday morning only to be told by the washerwoman that court is not in session. Her husband is the court usher, and he offers to show K. the law court offices. While there K. begins to feel extremely fatigued, but after two officials help him outside, he immediately recovers. A few days later, as he is leaving work, K. hears a sound coming from a storeroom, and inside it he finds the guards who arrested him being flogged because of his complaints about them to the magistrate. An uncle of K.’s later takes him to the defense lawyer Dr. Huld. Although Huld is in bed because of a heart condition, he is very interested in taking on K. as a client. The chief clerk of the court emerges from a dark corner of the room, and he and Huld discuss the case. Huld’s caretaker, Leni, lures K. from the room and seduces him. She also tells him that he is being too stubborn and that he must confess his guilt. K.’s uncle is furious over his inattention to his case. Weeks pass, during which K. finds it increasingly difficult to focus on work and also becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his lawyer’s largely invisible work on his behalf. One day a bank client suggests that he seek help from the court painter, Titorelli. In light of K.’s innocence, Titorelli says that he can help K., though he reveals that, in his experience, no one has ever been acquitted. However, he believes that K. can obtain an ostensible acquittal, which is provisional and hence carries the risk that charges might be reinstated, or an indefinite postponement, which requires regular filings and appearances. Either may prevent the case from reaching the sentencing phase. When K. goes to fire Huld, he meets Block, a merchant who is another client of Huld’s. Block’s case has been going on for five years, and he has secretly engaged other lawyers and tried to represent himself. Huld exhibits his power over Block in an attempt to dissuade K. from dismissing him. Later at work, K. is asked to show an Italian client a local cathedral, but the client fails to arrive at the appointed time. A priest appears at a side pulpit and reveals that he is the prison chaplain. He informs K. that his case is going badly, as he is by now considered to be guilty. The chaplain then tells him a baffling parable. On the eve of K.’s 31st birthday, two men in frock coats and top hats come to his home. He goes with them, and they hold his arms. Although it seems that they are going where K. leads them, they take him to an abandoned quarry and have him sit with his head on a stone. They pass a knife back and forth to each other, and then one of them pushes it into K.’s heart and twists it twice. K. never discovered why he was arrested or what he was charged with, and he was never able to understand the principles governing the system of justice in which he found himself ensnared. In the end, he did not resist his inevitable execution.

Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

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Metamorphosis Franz Kafka “One morning Gregor Samsa woke from anxious dreams to find himself transformed into a disgusting insect...” Thus opens one of the most famous books of the twentieth century, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Published in 1915, The Metamorphosis is written originally in German. It is a brief but extremely thought provoking novella. Readers and writers have termed it one of the most influential works of the century and hailed Kafka as the creator of a new form in literary tradition. Today, the book has been studied, analyzed and researched extensively by teachers, students and psychologists. It is seen as a tale which reflects how human beings view those who are stricken by illness or disability. It also causes us to think about our attitudes towards people of different sexual orientation, race, social and economic status. Franz Kafka was a Czech writer who struggled to find his voice amidst the pressures and compulsions enforced by his strict father. He studied law but ultimately went to work in a government agency for a pittance, which however, allowed him to spend time on developing his passion for writing. He wrote The Metamorphosis in 1912 but it took the Herculean efforts of friends and well-wishers to finally persuade him to publish it, as he was so lacking in confidence in his own abilities. The book met with instant success, bagging the prestigious Theodor Fontane Prize for German literature. Spurred by the acclaim and encouragement he received, Kafka went on to write a slew of short stories and novels. However, before many of them were published, Kafka tragically died at the age of just 41. His works, which included many letters to friends and his personal journals form part of his body of work. His close friend Max Brod did not heed his last wishes to destroy all his manuscripts and hence we are fortunate enough to still have access to the works of this great writer even today. Translations from the original German into other world languages is an ongoing feature of Kafka's work. Gregor Samsa the unlikely hero of The Metamorphosis finds himself in a most bizarre, yet unexplained, situation when he wakes up as a revolting vermin. His family and friends cannot accept him and their subsequent behavior towards him forms the rest of this strange yet intensely poignant story. As one of the most important turning points in modern literature, The Metamorphosis is indeed a great addition to your collection.