Introducing Kafka [Paperback]

David Zane Mairowitz (Author), Robert Crumb (Author), David Z. Mairowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994 | ISBN-10: 0878162828 | ISBN-13: 978-0878162826

"What do I have in common with the Jews? I don't even have anything in common with myself". Nothing could better express the essence of Franz Kafka, a man described by his friends as living behind a "glass wall". Kafka wrote in the tradition of the great Yiddish storytellers, whose stock-in-trade was bizarre fantasy, tainted with hilarity and self-abasement. What he brought to this tradition was an almost unbearably expanded consciousness. Alienated from his roots, his family, his surroundings and primarily from his own body, Kafka created a unique literary language in which to hide away, transforming himself into a cockroach, an ape, a dog, a mole or a circus artiste who starves himself to death in front of admiring crowds.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book is indeed a great introduction to Franz Kafka. Part illustrated biography, part comics adaptation, Introducing Kafka is the perfect starting point for those new to Kafka and a perfect next step for those who have read him for years. Robert Crumb's idiosyncratic illustrations add a new dimension to the already idiosyncratic world of Kafka. Includes adaptations of "The Judgment," "The Trial," "The Castle," "A Hunger Artist," and "The Metamorphosis." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Kitchen Sink Pr (Nrt) (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878162828
• ISBN-13: 978-0878162826
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,054,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kafka's World: The Visualization, June 25, 2002

By 

Gary Kern (NM USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Introducing Kafka (Paperback)

As a longtime reader of Kafka, I found this book to be an unqualified delight, for it not only reviews his life and work with pinpoint concision, but also portrays it in evocative visual detail. The narrative by Mairowitz is sharp and insightful, with a zesty peppering of invective against pedants and philistines, while Crumb's gloomy pen drawings take the reader's eye into the heart of Prague and into the mind and imagination of its most anxious and self-conscious denizen. It is especially delightful to track down the original photographs that Crumb used for his models, for example in the book Franz Kafka: Pictures of a Life by Klaus Wagenbach, and then to see how he animates the figure of Kafka, presenting him now as an ordinary person in ordinary life (such as exercising by the window or chewing each bite of food more than ten times), now as a cartoon caricature in his own nightmares (zapped out and fleeing a succubus), now as an idealized figure in his fantasies (the healthy workman, the contented farmer). He also contrives to make the characters of Kafka's fiction resemble the author, but only slightly and appropriately. The loves of Kafka's life, especially Milena, emerge from their photographs as sexy, desirable women, then their images echo through his works. Crumb's portrayals of the stories and novels are not mere impressions, but careful and useful illustrations, since some scenes and particulars in Kafka are not easy to visualize, for example the machine in the story "In the Penal Colony." And, of course, Crumb is absolutely fastidious in basing his drawings on historical materials, so that we can see streets, buildings and dress, including uniforms, just as they were at the time. The presentation of Kafka's works necessarily reduce them to their storyline or plot and cannot do justice to his elaborate narratives, yet even here Mairowitz fixes on a crucial scene or a characteristic twist, which Crumb then illustrates in all its demonic glory. All in all, the book is a total pleasure, as perfect as it could be.

Only one quibble. I would not want a person to look at it first, before reading Kafka. It is much more suitable as a summing up, a personal vision and inspired collaboration of two mad devotees of Kafka. Read Kafka first, a lot of Kafka, then buy this book to sharpen your vision. It's a work of art, comparable to the Expressionism of Kafka's time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Blend, November 22, 2005

By 

Dr. Lotto Budweiser "Lotto" (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introducing Kafka (Paperback)

There's an irreplaceable feeling attached to reading Kafka directly. Furthermore, Kafka himself probably would have hated the idea of images being made of his stories. That being said, I can't think of any better artist than Crumb to illustrate that over-used term "Kafkaesque."
This book is a great introduction - as titled - and a perfect blend in at least two ways: 1) The juxtaposition of Kafka's life and work presents the depth of his stories as well as some of the possible inspirations from his real life - like the role his overbearing father played in his creation of authoritative characters. And 2) as already mentioned, the at-times-terrifying-but-always-amusing art of Robert Crumb with the similarly dark-comedic styling of Kafka himself. (Kafka is said to have been inclined to laugh when reading his own work)
This is the only book of this introductory series I've read so far, but I would take this as an indication of a set of worthwhile books.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ideal Match: Crumb and Kafka, June 21, 2000

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Introducing Kafka (Paperback)

Mairowitz writes a lucid intorduction to the work of the great writer but the real treasure here is the copious artwork by R. Crumb. It's almost like he was born to illustrate Kafka. This is a fully satisfying three-dimensional consideration of the author, his times, and his postumous fame. *Not* just a comic book. Highly recommended, and not just for Kafka or Crumb fans, but anyone who loves writing and comedy.