The Basic Kafka [Mass Market Paperback]

Franz Kafka (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (June 3, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067153145X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671531454
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > General
  • #75 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > British > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you ready for Kafka?, January 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Basic Kafka (Mass Market Paperback)

If you are, then this book is the perfect introduction. For those of you (like me) whose short-story tastes were formed reading stories based on action-filled plots and scantily-clad women, or at least stunning climaxes (i.e., "The Lottery", "The Necklace", "Witness for the Prosecution") then all I can say is, expand your mind a little and read these stories. If they have any theme at all, it's alienation. Beyond that, it's every man, woman, and unknown creature for him, her, or itself. To this day I think about the protaganist in "The Burrow" and still wonder "what the *hell* was going on?" Kafka exposes the sick, malformed, diseased and twisted through his characters and situations, and by doing so (hopefully) helps purge the same in ourselves.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contains All of Kafka's great works...well almost, September 22, 2003

By 

Daveda J. Campbell "tcmanifesto" (Friendswood, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Basic Kafka (Mass Market Paperback)

Introduced to Kafka by a news section comparing American Military Tribunals for Afghani POW's to Kafka's work "the trial", provoked me to pick up a copy of The basic Kafka from the local library's annual book sale. Realizing that this book didn't have the story "the trial." I put it down for a few months, eventually picking it up again and reading the most enjoyable short stories I have ever read.

The highlights of this book are "The metamorpheses", "Josephine the Singer", and "The Hunger Artist" all of which contain a strong social statements in an almost surreal setting. The influence of existentialist thought on Kafka's writings, anyone interested in the application of existentialism on literature would be wise to begin here. Concise stories that are just as interesting as thought provoking.

There are also diary entries and letters for those who wish to delve into Kafka's personal life. I just skimmed through this section, but it was apparent he was a mysterious and intelligent man. This book is recommended to anyone whether their interest in modern schools of thought are high or not. Even if the stories dont exhibit a strong social messag, the stories themselves are interesting enough to carry you through this introductory book with ease.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great primer, July 29, 2005

By 

Bryan Thao Worra (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basic Kafka (Mass Market Paperback)

Kafka has exerted tremendous influence on a great many writers and communities of writers around the world. Although most of his writing comes from a 10-year span of his life just before he died, the impact of that writing on literature, cinema and many other elements of our culture can't be denied.

He embodies a complex writer whom you'll either love or you'll hate. I picked up my copy of this edition back in 1990, and have kept it a part of my essential library ever since.

I'm well aware there are better translations, better editions, etc. out there from a Kafka scholar's perspective.

But for my purposes it's more than adequate as an encapsulation of the man's writings. This may be pure sentimentality on my part of course.

For anyone who wants to read more than the old standbys of the Metamorphosis and the Trial, and to see some great examples of Kafka's total work, this volume is a wonderful gateway.

Its size is particularly useful for travelers and the very sorts of people who might populate Kafka's world.

In particular, I rather like Poseidon.

This edition gets a very positive recommendation for first-time Kafka readers, and even those who have a little more experience with him.