
Kafka: the Impossible Biography - lermontov
http://www.publicbooks.org/kafka-the-impossible-biography/
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mabub24
Isn't the literariness of biography precisely how it approaches the questions
asked in this article, and in the biography on Kafka? It comes up again and
again in most renowned biographies. On the surface they are about an
individual, in their depths, they are about how one tells the story of a life
and the many conceptual choices one takes while writing. The best make that
superficial/deep relationship seamless. I guess these ones on Kafka don't.

Aside, can anyone recommend the best work to start with for Kafka?

~~~
pmoriarty
Here is one of my favorite Kafka stories, _Before the Law_.[1] It's very
short. You can read it in maybe five minutes.

[1] -
[http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm](http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm)

~~~
rexpop
I don't understand. Is this a reification of the social construct of "law" to
which he desires entrance, or do I not understand an archaic idiom?

~~~
pmoriarty
To my eyes, what "the law" is is actually immaterial to the story's point.
It's something the protagonist desperately desires, and the story is about how
he goes about trying to attain that desire and what stands in his way. That's
the important part.

~~~
_asummers
To me, it was getting obsessed with breaking through the first obstacle, but
forgetting the eventual end goal. Despite gifts and conversation, he never
once made his own luck. He trusted that the guardian was telling the truth,
until it was too late for him to even try. Better to fall down trying than to
never succeed without even attempting. I've never been one for literary
analysis, however, and may be missing the point.

~~~
pmoriarty
Part of the story does have to do with the protagonist's passivity and lack of
initiative, but also with his deference to authority. Kafka has the gatkeeper
speak in ambiguous ways, hinting at something that's never made clear. Is he
on the supplicant's side, or is he against him? Does he wield vast power, or
is it all a bluff?

Kafka does not give us any answers to these questions, but really challenges
us to reflect on them ourselves, and to perhaps see some parallels to this in
our own lives. The whole story could be seen as a miniature version of all too
many desperate, futile lives that people live today -- they yearn for
something, but meekly, perhaps out of some defect in their characters (a
defect but perhaps also a virtue -- that of trust and obedience or deference
to authority) fail to attain what they yearn for.

We could probably go on analyzing this tale for some time. I find the it to be
quite deep and rich in meaning, and that's why I love it.

~~~
terminalcommand
I'd like to offer a different perspective. I read this story in high school in
class.

Kafka intended to be a chemical engineer, but he studied law at his father's
request. He had talent for writing, but stuck being a clerk drafting legal
documents.

I had (have) a very similar story. At the time I read Kafka's "the process"
and then consecutively this story, I had felt helplessness in insufferable
amount. Computers were all that interested me, I believed I was really
talented, I always believed that İ had a calling. But in real life, I had
little prospects for getting into college, although I was a real good student.

At the end I conceded like I always do, and started Law School.

I guess Kafka's trying to say that don't be a conformist, stand up for your
self. The protagonist (of the Process, which includes this story as far as I
can remember) had a job (but he didn't like it), he had a girlfriend (but he
didn't care for it). He didn't enjoy life, he He believed that he had to
accept everything imposed upon him and this got him killed.

