FRANZ KAFKA - THE COMPLETE STORIES (urspr publ 1970; utgåvan 1988)

ramble on.

created stuff that creator has no intention of making public being made public, that's hard to judge.

I understood the implications of 'kafkaesque' before reading but now no longer do. ( )

With a deft hand and masterful skill, Franz Kafka creates worlds that mirror our own. Usually, an unexpected event will take the character out of their daily lives and cares, but in this case, it does not. Take The Metamorphosis for instance, a classic that is included in this volume. Grefor Samsa wakes up to find he is an insect of no mean size and goes back to sleep.

It is too bad that many of the stories in this volume are incomplete or missing entire sections of text. ( )

There’s nothing that hadn’t already been said. Discovering him is the embodiment of one of his own quotes: "A book must be the axe to the frozen sea within us." K is that axe. ( )

Half of these stories are brilliant, and deserve 5/5 stars. However, the other half I found to be wanting and excruciatingly boring. ( )

I was very excited to read this collection because I loved The Trial when I read it. Unfortunately, I found the quality of writing in this collection to be very inconsistent. Kafka did not want most of these published, and it is clear why. Some of the stories are overly discursive and painful to read. Others are so short and to the point that the point became banal. Yet, I cannot exactly say that I didn't enjoy the collection, either.

Despite being included with some less enjoyable works, many of the stories in this collection are brilliant. They place the reader in a world where life is absurd and we are all subject to happenstance. They are at times terrifying and always thought provoking. These stories are Kafka at his best. For those who pick up this book, reading the whole thing is certainly worthwhile, I would suggest reading the following if you do not have time to read the whole thing.

"Before the Law"
"The Imperial Message"
"The Metamorphosis"
"The Penal Colony"
"A Country Doctor"
"A Hunger Artist"
"Jackals and Arabs"
"A Little Fable" ( )