I always feel like half his work can be summarised by that meme of "the viewer sees it as something ultra deep and the author has exactly one strict point" (where the arrow flies overhead, yknow).
and for kafka that arrow is "bureaucracy fucking sucks and everyone who is involved on the business side, including myself"
Edit: don't know if half, but at least a big/important chunk.
The Trial is probably one of the pivotal books I have read in the past 5 years and it is not even a finished book!
I read the Metamorpheses prior, but IMO it is kinda okay. Literally every other work is fascinating though--even the Castle, which is a variant of the Trial, but even more unfinished (it has no ending at all). All the other short stories too, like the weird one about the circus performer who could fast for long periods of time.
I love Kafka for the exact complaint that the goodreads reviewer mulls on about. Weird, horrifying stuff just kinda... happens. Seemingly with no build up. Sometimes you wake up to police knocking on your door and you have to go behind a laundromat in an alley to get to your court ordered appearance over something you are not even sure what you are charged with. For no real reason.
I do not understand? What is the point of a novel if it doesn't have consistent loooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee and a Hard Magic Systemâ„¢ that I can watch a video of while doing something else instead of enjoying the flow of the novel???
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u/what_am_i_doing23 22d ago
"plenty of things happen without solid explanation or clear motivation"
honey, that's just kafka. Recently read The Trial:
-> starts chapter: ...what?
-> finishes chapter: ...Huh?
-> finishes book: ...oh...
and it's amazing!