Kafka's "The Castle" Chosen As Guardian 'Good Winter Read'
I would take note of any book by Kafka, chosen for anything, and make a comment. I am - as may have been noted - a devoted fan of all things Kafka. That might explain my novel devoted to him. However, I am doubly interested in this commentary by William Burrows because The Castle is one of my favourite works by Kafka. And I won't quibble with this pithy comment about Kafka by the reviewer: "Kafka is the syringe that draws out the reader's blood, and then the pen that writes in it." That in itself is top notch Kafkaesque.
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Winter read: The Castle by Franz Kafka
Reader William Burrows finds that K's struggle with bureaucracy is only the surface of a story that plunges into the deep end of pain, aloneness and the longing for companionship
by William Burrows
Kafka's snow-bound castle is almost unbearably evocative
The Castle is Kafka at his most beautiful and, perhaps, his most emotional. The Trial and Metamorphoses are full of their own depth, and their own complicated sadness, but they don't strike the heart with the same poignancy as Kafka's final, unfathomable novel. The Castle is the story of K, who claims to be a Land Surveyor, sent by someone unknown, for some purpose unknown, to the Castle, itself an unknown quantity. What K is supposed to accomplish we never discover. Rather than a narrative that moves towards any substantive satisfaction, Kafka presents the reader with a series of frustrations, K trying again and again to progress his work, but never moving beyond the Castle's snowy environs.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/22/franz-kafka-winter-reads?newsfeed=true
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About Dale
I owe my life to Hitler, though I never met the man. My father was paid to stop Hitler, so there is no conflict of interest. I was given a thunk on the back o' the head by God when I was fifteen, and within a week began to write. I haven't stopped. My first...
Connections
Kafka's Letter To His Father
Dale,
In a passing conversational reference about my own dominating father, I mentioned Kafka to a friend, and she insisted on loaning me a slender volume that included Kafka's letter to his father (was there just this one?).
It turns out my strong-willed dad was practically a wimp compared to what Kafka sketches for us. What particularly stood out for me were such lines as "In your armchair, you ruled the world, your opinion was right, any other was mad" and "You forbade me to speak from an early age, threatening not a word in contradiction." Probably from such intimidation, as you know, Kafka first began stuttering and then remained silent. How long did that period last?
What I concluded was the father essentially atrophied his son's development, leaving him with the "mother" of all inferiority complexes: "I felt a puny wretch" and "I lost faith in my abilities."
As a Kafka expert, what would you say was this dad's own psychological problem that made him so compulsive about "putting down" his son? ("I'll gut you like a fish.") Was the Freudian theory of the father fearing "replacement" and a competitive challenge by the son at play here or what?
Any insights you have on this unusual relationship (its extremity beyond all reason) would be much appreciated.
Brenden
Kafka's Father
Hi, Brenden:
This letter by Kafka is the only one known that he wrote to his father. And - being Kafka - he instigated a method to get the letter to his father (never thinking of handing it to him on his own) which he knew would be a failure. He gave it to his mother to give to Hermann. She never did. His father never saw it.
Oddly enough I have a lot of sympathy for Hermann Kafka. He was indeed rough on his children (Kafka's youngest sister, Ottila, took as much abuse) but never mistreated them physically or deprived them materially. He wanted them to succeed in the terms he considered as successful (supporting Franz to go to university for instance, while he himself had next-to-no formal education). He was ignorant about dealing with people and single-minded in his quest for material success.
I don't think there was any Freudian component in the way Hermann acted. He was genuinely perplexed (and unjustifiably enraged) how anyone (particularly his own children) would want anything more in life than material and social success.
Your comments clearly provide
Your comments clearly provide a more balanced perspective than one gets from the son's letter only, making me wonder if one can trust Kafka's more "incriminating" quotes about his father. My appreciation for your insights.
Your comments clearly provide
Your comments clearly provide a more balanced perspective than one gets from the son's letter only, making me wonder if one can trust Kafka's more "incriminating" quotes about his father. My appreciation for your insights.