Essays on Kafka

3 July 1883

3 June 1924

Novelist, short story writer, insurance officer

• Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis)
• Der Process (The Trial)
• "Das Urteil" (The Judgment)
• Das Schloss (The Castle)

• “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
• “I am a cage, in search of a bird.”
• “Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.”
• “I am free and that is why I am lost.”

3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature.

The Metamorphosis, The Trial, The Judgment, The Castle, Contemplation, A Hunger Artist, Letters to Felice

Kafka's works typically feature isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity.

"Kafkaesque" got its name from Kafka's very own style. “Kafkaesque” style of writing is defined as the treatment of grotesque and anxiety-producing social conditions in literature. Kafka's style is seen by many as a surreal. His stories are strange, symbolize and show absurdity of life.

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
“I am a cage, in search of a bird.”
“Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”