What do you like about kafka?
I got his complete works and I just don't get what makes him so important. I liked hunger artist and the metamorphosis but I don't get why he's considered one of the best. Most of his works seem boring or incomplete to me.
Can you guys help me? I really want to like him
>>7674793
I like the fact that I can subvert the meaning of his works to apply to my personal young-adult angst.
Read The Trial.
>>7674793
Proper meme-tier author 2bqhw/u family.
>>7674806
accurate
I remember reading Amerika years back and It felt like a surreal nightmare. I had no idea it was supposed to be a comedy.
But yeah, The Trail is pretty good and you should read this if you have the chance.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CK480j6khmHzAZYdR26Zu1Iu064uCo32JnESIulbFYw/preview
>>7674793
>reading for enjoyment
>>7676885
When I was 16 Amerika was the book which introduced me to the literature I keep adoring. Such an underrated masterpiece. Kudos, anon
>>7674793
>>I really want to like him
Please don't do this.
Carve your own path dude. There are a lot of meme authors out there, and not all of them are for everyone.
If you get nothing out of a specific author, than maybe you're not quite ready, or maybe it's just not to your tastes.
You can't go reading things because you think you ought to like them.
>>7676930
This.
>>7676930
Sometimes it does work tho. I couldn't get into Pynchon for the half of lot 49, but at the end I was completely fascinated. On the other hand, I guess I missed a lot in the first half which could have been better if I picked the book at the "right" time.
>>7676943
Sorry. Just to clarify. I don't think you can make a proper judgement on an author before finishing at least ONE of their books. I don't mean that, if you get bored on the first chapter, just drop it. All I mean is don't read book after book after book, expecting something to all of a sudden click. The real difference, I think, is loving your life. The more you explore yourself and experience the human condition, the more things will begin to click.
are the interrogation scenes in the trial just supposed to further show the ridiculous of bureaucracy in the justice system or what? i felt like i was following along with everything fine enough but now i feel like im missing something. also why does K keep getting horny why would i care about these women
>>7674793
Kafka's one of those writers who I only appreciated after reading up about his life. I know death of the author is the big thing, who cares about him he's just the author lol, but hey this is what worked for me. Learning about him being a weirdo self-hating Jew who kept his underwear on the time he went to a nudist spa just brings out the personality in his work better.
>>7674793
Read Metamorphosis first, if you like it read The Trial, if you like it then The Castle and Amerika. Then maybe his short stories. The letter to his father can be read at any time and it's great to understand why Kafka wrote about some themes and how they were related to his personal life. There is also a three-volume biography but it's in german and there is no english translation.
Take your time with his books. In my experience reading Kafka was also great, but also very tiresome, and couldn't read more than 30 pages in one sitting, yet somehow after I finished the book I thought the experience of reading it was amazing, something that cannot be explained with words but a very strange feeling that I've only found in Kafka's work - surreal, mysterious, hilarious, depressing, uplifting, acceptance, and much more contribute to create a unique atmosphere and characters that are hard to forget.
>Can you guys help me? I really want to like him
Why? You don't have to like it.
why does nobody recommend The Castle?
I loved it even though it's probably not equal to The Trial
>>7677262
It's unfinished.
>>7674793
read the one with the jackals
>>7677268
It's probably better left unfinished anyway. It started to get worse near the end because he didn't know what the fuck to do with anything or anyone.
>>7674793
I like him because I can relate to his warped sense of humor. Mostly, I think he's considered important because of how great he was at painting a clear picture of what's happening while keeping the meaning of it highly ambiguous.
>>7676963
>supposed
>intentional fallacy
just fucking read it and figure something out yourself
>>7677268
Every novel/ most stories he wrote are loosely unfinished. The only stories I'm aware of that had an intended finish were The Metamorphosis, The Judgement, In the Penal Colony and a few stragglers
>>7677335
>Every novel/ most stories he wrote are loosely unfinished.
The Trial is pretty much finished. The missing part is only the end of a chapter.
His name
>>7677349
I say loosely because I don't think it matters really, all of the endings seem appropriate and don't leave much feeling unresolved.
Kafka creates mystic experiences in everyday life.
You often hear burocracy when discussing Kafka. The take away from this is that even though god is dead we still have something mystical and nonsense in our lives, and that's how society treats the individual.
Some of the best stuff in Kafka is very subtle and missable. First time I read metamorphosis I thought it was okay but just a story of a bug. Second time I realize it's about how long you can be sick or suspended in your ability to work before you stop mattering to people. Among other readings. Now when Gregor wakes up and realizes he's a bug I laugh when the first thing he worries about is how to tell his boss he can't come into work.
Work experience helps understand but like good authors I think If you read him close enough you can pick up everything you really need
>>7676963
As Wallace says of Kafka, reading him is like trying to enter a door only for it to open inwards. You were on the inside the whole time.
Thinking of him as a writer than you need to 'get' doesn't work. He's not someone like Huxley where everything means something very specific.
>>7674793
read again the hunger artist, and metamorphosis, but this time dont think about hunger as "hunger", but as "will to live".
maybe it helps.
>>7677502
Dat panther though.
I'm reading The Trial. It took me less than 80 pages to see how fucking influential he was.
I mean, all the meme shit you like wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him.
>>7677393
The feeling of reading The Metamorphosis for the third time and hysterically laughing for the first few pages is great. The way he nails how we think when we're obviously incapacitated but have things to do is perfect, the way Gregor doesn't mention being a bug at all but just tries to remember the train schedules and figure out how long it'll take him to put his pants on.
>>7677580
this
>>7677580
I was hysterically laughing at it the first time around.
