Franz Kafka

Born

in Prague, Austria-Hungary

July 03, 1883

Died

June 03, 1924

Genre

Fiction, Philosophy, Short Stories

Influences

Franz Werfel, Knut Hamsun, Robert Walser, Anton Chekhov, Søren Kierkeg ...more

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Franz Kafka was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Bohemia (presently the Czech Republic), Austria–Hungary. His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and which was mainly published posthumously—is considered to be among the most influential in Western literature.

His stories include The Metamorphosis (1912) and In the Penal Colony (1914), while his novels are The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).

Kafka's first language was German, but he was also fluent in Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of French language and culture; one of his favorite authors was Flaubert.

Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinan Franz Kafka was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Bohemia (presently the Czech Republic), Austria–Hungary. His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and which was mainly published posthumously—is considered to be among the most influential in Western literature.

His stories include The Metamorphosis (1912) and In the Penal Colony (1914), while his novels are The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).

Kafka's first language was German, but he was also fluent in Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of French language and culture; one of his favorite authors was Flaubert.

Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague, but switched after two weeks to law. This offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, who would become a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.

Kafka's writing attracted little attention until after his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels, unless "The Metamorphosis" is considered a (short) novel. Prior to his death, Kafka wrote to his friend and literary executor Max Brod: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod overrode Kafka's wishes, believing that Kafka had given these directions to him specifically because Kafka knew he would not honor them—Brod had told him as much. Brod, in fact, would oversee the publication of most of Kafka's work in his possession, which soon began to attract attention and high critical regard.

Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling Kafka's notebooks into any chronological order as Kafka was known to start writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, etc.

All of Kafka's published works, except several letters he wrote in Czech to Milena Jesenská, were written in German. ...more

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Franz Kafka's Books

Average rating: 3.87 · 703,809 ratings · 20,675 reviews · 847 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Stanley Corngold (Translator) 3.77 avg rating — 368,621 ratings — published 1915 — 497 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Trial by Franz Kafka, Edwin Muir (Translator), Willa Muir (Translator) 3.98 avg rating — 143,472 ratings — published 1925 — 826 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka, Jason Baker (Introduction and Notes), Donna Freed (Translation) 3.99 avg rating — 33,558 ratings — published 1915 — 193 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Castle by Franz Kafka, Mark Harman (Translator) 3.98 avg rating — 28,706 ratings — published 1926 — 366 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, Nahum Norbert Glatzer (Editor), John Updike (Foreword) 4.34 avg rating — 19,779 ratings — published 1946 — 78 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amerika 3.73 avg rating — 15,238 ratings — published 1927 — 220 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka 4.01 avg rating — 12,556 ratings — published 1915 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In the Penal Colony 4.01 avg rating — 10,110 ratings — published 1919 — 122 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka, Kevin Blahut (Translator), Helena Vlčnovská (Illustrator) 4.15 avg rating — 8,042 ratings — published 1924 — 58 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letter to His Father by Franz Kafka, Ernst Kaiser (Translator), Eithne Wilkins (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 7,647 ratings — published 1919 — 163 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Franz Kafka

الأعمال الكاملة (1 book)
by Franz Kafka, إبراهيم وطفي (Goodreads Author) (ترجمة وإعداد), فرانز كافكا
3.96 avg rating — 232 ratings

Anlatılar (2 books)
by Franz Kafka, Tevfik Turan (Translator)
3.98 avg rating — 40 ratings

Quotes by Franz Kafka

“Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.”
― Franz Kafka

tags: books, castle, self

3201 likes

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
― Franz Kafka

tags: books

3125 likes

“I am a cage, in search of a bird.”
― Franz Kafka

tags: franz-kafka

3091 likes

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Polls

¿Qué autor creéis que tiene la mejor técnica narrativa?

Marcel Proust con la plasticidad del tiempo y su agónicas frases

1 vote, 100.0%

Virginia Wolf y su increíble experimentación de la narrativa

0 votes, 0.0%

William Faulkner con las distintas perspectivas

0 votes, 0.0%

Franz Kafka y el surrealismo de sus obras

0 votes, 0.0%

Dostoievski, el primer gran psicólogo

0 votes, 0.0%

Mishima en su tetralogía El mar de la fertilidad

0 votes, 0.0%

1 total vote

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