
Three by Kafka - benbreen
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/09/14/three-by-kafka/
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rfrank
Kafka is a lot of fun to read. All these stories are available online already,
by the way [1]. First story's title is translated as "On Parables" in this
version. Presumably the letters/journal entries are what will be new with this
book. I've always been a fan of his story "A Little Fable":

"Alas", said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the
beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I
was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls
have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in
the corner stands the trap that I am running into."

"You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.

1\. PDF warning: [http://www.vanderbilt.edu/olli/class-
materials/Franz_Kafka.p...](http://www.vanderbilt.edu/olli/class-
materials/Franz_Kafka.pdf)

~~~
hprotagonist
see also, David Foster Wallace on "Laughing with Kafka", which discusses that
story. [http://harpers.org/wp-
content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1998-0...](http://harpers.org/wp-
content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-1998-07-0059612.pdf)

~~~
barbs
Funny you should mention DFW. When I read the "Give It Up" story it reminded
me of one of the films in his book Infinite Jest called "Wave Bye-Bye To The
Beaurocrat", where a man hurries to the train late for work and knocks over a
child who mistakes him for Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of
the short films in the book were inspired by Kafka.

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hprotagonist
>What annoyed him the most—indeed the principle source of his displeasure with
the job—was the image mankind made of him forever gadding about with his
trident in the tides. While all the while he sat there in the watery depths
endlessly crunching numbers, a trip every now and then to check in with
Jupiter was his only break from the eternal monotony, a journey from which,
moreover, he generally returned in a rage. He hardly ever got a chance to
enjoy his journey through the seven seas, just sped through them on his way to
Olympus, never pausing to look around. He liked to joke that he was waiting
for the end of the world, then he’d find a free moment right before the end,
after completing his final calculation, to take a quick spin in the sea.

see yesterday's thread on the parodox of idleness:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12534067](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12534067)

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krisdol
I also recommend "Before the Law" by Kafka. Very short prose and it never
fails to give me pause.

[http://www.kafka-online.info/before-the-law.html](http://www.kafka-
online.info/before-the-law.html)

~~~
uxp100
Elaborate a little bit. I read it, and I'm not sure what to take from it. I
feel like I need a bit more context.

~~~
cgio
It's very deep. I wrote an analysis of this story when I was 14, that got me
the nickname le philosophe with my literature professor. Unfortunately, 22
years later, things don't look as bright, including me, and I fail to ask the
right answers. I think I were more of a man or boy then of faith, and could
draw the right analogies with light. Now I am worn, I sat on a stool with my
back facing the law in a twisted and forgetful demonstration of respect for
too long but maybe not long enough.Yet.

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f_allwein
Very brilliant. Somehow Kafka's writing appeals to many people around the
world, and everyone feels it's close to their experience, even though of
course there is no 'right' meaning in the stories. After reading his work for
a long time, I think he touched upon some general psychological mechanisms,
which is why we can relate.

Really beautiful prose too - feels like you can't change anything without
making it worse.

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david927
_Somehow Kafka 's writing appeals to many people around the world, and
everyone feels it's close to their experience_

I remember visiting his grave in Prague years ago and ahead of me, already at
the grave, was an older woman with plastic shopping bags draping heavily from
each hand, her head bowed deeply and silently as she stared at the grave. I
stopped and waited. Five minutes later, she lifted her head slightly and
turned and went on her way with her heavy shopping.

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xamuel
If you like these excerpts, you should definitely check out Kafka's novels.
"The Castle" is my favorite book of all time.

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edem
I thought this was about Apache Kafka.

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frutiger
> What annoyed him the most—indeed the principle source of his displeasure

Shouldn't that be "principal"?

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dang
Sure seems like it.

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leephillips
Interesting translation: "humongous".

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justinsaccount
[Not the message broker]

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haimez
Wonder if a posting bot miscategorized the article...

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sciurus
I wonder if people are voting the story up without reading it, mistakenly
thinking it must be related to the broker.

~~~
haimez
Gasp! The bot is us! Soylent is people, man!

