From Keith:
"One hundred years have passed since the death of Franz Kafka, and published to mark this centennial is
Selected Stories, a new collection of Kafka's shorter work, edited and translated by Mark Harman, published by Belknap Press. This collection includes brand-new English translations of some of his best stories, plus a 65-page biographical introduction, photographs of Kafka and his world, and nearly 40 pages of scholarly notes that provide insightful context and commentary. There’s more than enough here to satisfy both Kafka admirers and those new to his work. But why should any of us read Kafka a century after his death?
"The exceptional Gabriel García Márquez said that it was his discovery of Kafka’s work that granted him permission to bend reality and invent new worlds of his own in the service of delivering a deeper truth (As in, 'I didn’t know anyone was allowed to write things like that.') I’ve found that many readers tend to form personal attachments to Kafka’s work. For those who revere it, we tend to love it fiercely; we tend to read him as if he was writing only for us, corresponding in confidence with each one of us. However, I was still somehow unprepared for how emotionally overwhelmed I would feel rereading his masterpieces 'The Transformation' and 'A Hunger Artist.'
"The stories in this collection are fables that lack tidy resolutions or singular and easily definable lessons. They’re disquieting, oneiric fairytales, characterized by an unparalleled capturing of the feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and alienation. They’re oblique, open-ended meditations on themes such as the nature of crime and punishment, our conception of performance and authenticity, and the power dynamics inherent in personal relationships and social structures—all shot through with moments of wry, grim humor.
"Kafka is an author who intimately understood our existential pain, and he possessed the imagination, audacity, and skill to express it in inimitable prose. His art serves as a testament of solidarity with those who suffer and endure life’s absurdities and indignities. For all these reasons, Kafka’s work is essential and eternal."
