by Franz Kafka (Author), EdwinMuir (Translator)
In America Karl Rossmann is 'packed off to America by his parents' to experience Oedipal and cultural isolation. Here, ordinary immigrants are also strange, and 'America' is never quite as real as it should be. Kafka, a Czech writing in German, never acutally visited America; so, as Max Brod commented, 'the innocence of his fantasy gives this book if advanture its peculiar colour.' Both Joseph K in The Trial and K in The Castle are victims of anonymous governing forces beyond their control. Both are atomised, estranged and rootless citizens decieved by authoritarian power. Whereas Joseph K is relentlessly hunted down for a crime that remains nameless, K ceaselessly attempts to enter the castle and so belong somewhere. Together these novels may be read as powerful allegories of totalitarian government in whatever guise it appears today.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 464
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Published: 03 Apr 2008
ISBN 10: 0099518449
ISBN 13: 9780099518440
Book Overview: The complete novels of one of the greatest German writers of all time, collected together in one edition.