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/lit/ - Literature

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14397151 No.14397151 [Reply] [Original]

Is this author unironically too high IQ for an average pleb? I've finished some of his works and I have no idea what I've just read. It's like I had a fever dream and it still lingers. Do I need to be German or/and Jewish to understand him?

>> No.14397195

>>14397151
That's the point. He's railing against diffuse power structures that appear non nonsensical to the outsider. It has a similar effect on the reader.

>> No.14397224

>>14397151
Don't forget that Kafka only ever wrote comedies! He would laugh himself out as he worked, they are not meant to be "horrors"

>> No.14397226

Albert Camus wrote a short piece on Kafka's work that will help you.

Camus explains it in the context of his own philosophy though.

>> No.14397229

>>14397151
>>14397151
Thats probably because he had no idea what he was writing exactly either. Read Nabokov's short note at the end of one of the Lolita editions. Authors don't have to have a particular meaning in mind, they usually just write and have unintentional meanings sprinkled about that describe their purpose and philosophies just through osmosis. Kafka was a bit of a mentally disturbed man and it shows through his writings his absolute hate for his father.

Just take a look at The Judgement, its hard to drag meaning from it exactly but i'm sure there are theories out there that arent too bad. The reason it's a famous short story of his is not the underlying meaning but the absolute absurdity, the bizarre nature and atmosphere he able to create and this is true for a lot of his stuff. He was able to create a unique and different atmosphere in his writings that was never before seen, and often he kept it up for whole books i.e. The Trial, The Castle, Metamorphosis etc.

Personally I don't think he wrote with meaning for every work but that doesen't mean he didnt write knowing he was pushing some kind of feeling/thought unconsciously. He was probably well aware.

>> No.14397242

>>14397151
I think it helps to read various critics and writers on Kafka. Also have you just read the stories? I found The Trial was a lot more helpful in showing what Kafka’s work does than the stories.

>> No.14397263

>>14397224

Based poster. It's meant to be funny.
The only reason people don't understand Kafka is because they approach it with this high-brow intellectual seriousness.

>> No.14397372

>>14397151
No, he is distinctly middle-brow. He has some interesting ideas, but his manifestation of them and his technical ability as a writer prevent them from attaining their true potential.

>> No.14397376

>>14397151
Dude what, do you have no soul?

>> No.14398247

>>14397151
"Kafka was known to laugh uncontrollably when reading his work aloud to friends."

>> No.14398261
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>> No.14398270
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>> No.14398280
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>> No.14398284

He wrote for himself alone. Anyone who directly resolves his literature into "themes" especially pleb level themes like "totalitarianism" or "bureaucracy" is fucking regressing.

>> No.14398287
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>> No.14398556

>>14397151
Idk. Knowing german probably helps, given that Kafka was extremely precise and perfectionist about his writings and the way he would construct sentences and stories. Some of that might actually get lost in translation. As a native german speaker I sometimes get extremely hyped about the overall structure and ryhthm of his works.

>> No.14398607

>>14398284
Yes, I'm sure anyone who interpreted The Trial as critical of totalitarianism or bureaucracy is a low IQ pleb. The rest of us who are not as genius as yourself just don't realize that the correct way to interpret the book is to ignore the themes in it that are obvious from its very concept.

>> No.14398717

>>14398287
looks nice

>> No.14398917

>>14397151
Beginner: The Metamorphosis
Mid-tier: The Trial
Advanced: The Castle

>> No.14398950

>>14398917
Ascended: Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk

>> No.14398974

>>14397151
Understanding Jewishness is central. And then realizing there is no mystery, but only self-expression, he said something to this effect himself, that his works are him.