What was cold kafka made of. Biography and amazing work of French Kafka. Assessment of creativity in the biography of Franz Kafka

Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 in the Czech Republic. The first education in the biography of Franz Kafka was received in elementary school (from 1889 to 1893). The next step in education was the gymnasium, from which Franz graduated in 1901. He then entered Charles University in Prague, after which he became a Doctor of Law.

Having started working in the insurance department, Kafka spent his entire career working in small bureaucratic positions. Despite his passion for literature, most of Kafka's works were published after his death, and he disliked his official work. Kafka fell in love several times. But things never went beyond novels; the writer was not married.

Most of Kafka's works are written in German. His prose reflects the writer's fear of the outside world, anxiety and uncertainty. Thus, in “Letter to Father,” the relationship between Franz and his father, which had to be broken early, was expressed.

Kafka was a sick man, but he tried to resist all his illnesses. In 1917, Kafka's biography suffered from a serious illness (pulmonary hemorrhage), as a result of which the writer began to develop tuberculosis. It was for this reason that Franz Kafka died in June 1924 while undergoing treatment.

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So Franz Kafka was a Jewish boy. He was born in July 1883, and, it is clear that at that time the persecution of this people had not yet reached its apogee, but there was already a certain disdainful attitude in society. The family was quite wealthy, the father ran his own shop and was mainly involved in wholesale trade in haberdashery. My mother didn’t come from a poor background either. Kafka's maternal grandfather was a brewer, quite famous in his area and even rich. Although the family was purely Jewish, they preferred to speak Czech, and they lived in the former Prague ghetto, and at that time in the small district of Josefov. Now this place is already attributed to the Czech Republic, but during Kafka’s childhood it belonged to Austria-Hungary. That is why the mother of the future great writer preferred to speak exclusively in German.

In general, while still a child, Franz Kafka knew several languages ​​perfectly and could speak and write in them fluently. He gave preference, like Julia Kafka (mother) herself, to German, but he actively used both Czech and French, but he practically did not speak his native language. And only when he reached the age of twenty and came into close contact with Jewish culture, the writer became interested in Yiddish. But he never began to teach him specifically.

The family was very large. In addition to Franz, Hermann and Julia Kafka had five more children, a total of three boys and three girls. The eldest was just the future genius. However, his brothers did not live to be two years old, but his sisters remained. They lived quite amicably. And they weren’t allowed to quarrel over various little things. The family highly respected centuries-old traditions. Since “Kafka” is translated from Czech as “jackdaw,” the image of this bird was considered the family coat of arms. And Gustav himself had his own business, and the silhouette of a jackdaw was on the branded envelopes.

The boy received a good education. At first he studied at school, then moved to a gymnasium. But his training did not end there. In 1901, Kafka entered Charles University in Prague, from which he graduated with a Doctor of Laws degree. But this, in fact, was the end of my professional career. For this man, as for a true genius, the main work of his whole life was literary creativity, it healed the soul and was a joy. Therefore, Kafka did not move anywhere along the career ladder. After university, he accepted a low-level position in the insurance department, and left the same position in 1922, just two years before his death. A terrible disease plagued his body - tuberculosis. The writer struggled with it for several years, but to no avail, and in the summer of 1924, just a month before his birthday (41 years old), Franz Kafka died. The cause of such an early death is still considered not to be the disease itself, but exhaustion due to the fact that he could not swallow food due to severe pain in the larynx.

Character development and personal life

Franz Kafka as a person was very complex, complex and quite difficult to communicate with. His father was very despotic and tough, and the peculiarities of his upbringing influenced the boy in such a way that he only became more withdrawn into himself. Uncertainty also appeared, the same one that would appear more than once in his works. Already from childhood, Franz Kafka showed a need for constant writing, and it resulted in numerous diary entries. It is thanks to them that we know how insecure and fearful this person was.

The relationship with the father did not work out initially. Like any writer, Kafka was a vulnerable person, sensitive and constantly reflective. But the stern Gustav could not understand this. He, a true entrepreneur, demanded a lot from his only son, and such upbringing resulted in numerous complexes and Franz’s inability to build strong relationships with other people. In particular, work was hell for him, and in his diaries the writer more than once complained about how difficult it was for him to go to work and how fiercely he hated his superiors.

But things didn’t go well with women either. For a young man, the time from 1912 to 1917 can be described as first love. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, like all the subsequent ones. The first bride, Felicia Bauer, is the same girl from Berlin with whom Kafka twice broke off his engagement. The reason was a complete mismatch of characters, but not only that. The young man was insecure in himself, and it was mainly because of this that the novel developed mainly in letters. Of course, distance was also a factor. But, one way or another, in his epistolary love adventure, Kafka created an ideal image of Felicia, very far from the real girl. Because of this, the relationship collapsed.

The second bride was Yulia Vokhrytsek, but with her everything was even more fleeting. Having barely concluded the engagement, Kafka himself broke it off. And literally a few years before his own death, the writer had some kind of romantic relationship with a woman named Melena Yesenskaya. But here the story is rather dark, because Melena was married and had a somewhat scandalous reputation. She was also the main translator of the works of Franz Kafka.

Kafka is a recognized literary genius not only of his time. Even now, through the prism of modern technology and the fast pace of life, his creations seem incredible and continue to amaze quite sophisticated readers. What is especially attractive about them is the uncertainty characteristic of this author, the fear of existing reality, the fear of taking even one step, and the famous absurdity. A little later, after the death of the writer, existentialism made a solemn procession around the world - one of the directions of philosophy that tries to understand the significance of human existence in this mortal world. Kafka saw only the emergence of this worldview, but his work is literally saturated with it. Probably, life itself pushed Kafka to just such creativity.

The incredible story that happened to the traveling salesman Gregor Samsa in 1997 has many similarities with the life of the author himself - a closed, insecure ascetic prone to eternal self-condemnation.

Absolutely “The Process”, which actually “created” his name for the culture of world postmodern theater and cinema of the second half of the 20th century.

It is noteworthy that during his lifetime this modest genius did not become famous in any way. Several stories were published, but they brought nothing but a small profit. Meanwhile, novels were gathering dust on the tables, the very ones that the whole world would talk about later and would not stop talking to this day. This includes the famous “Trial” and “Castle” - all of them saw the light of day only after the death of their creators. And they were published exclusively in German.

And this is how it happened. Just before his death, Kafka called his client, a person quite close to him, a friend, Max Brod. And he made a rather strange request to him: to burn all the literary heritage. Leave nothing, destroy to the last sheet. However, Brod did not listen, and instead of burning them, he published them. Surprisingly, most of the unfinished works were liked by the reader, and soon the name of their author became famous. However, some of the works never saw the light of day, because they were destroyed.

This is the tragic fate of Franz Kafka. He was buried in the Czech Republic, but in the New Jewish Cemetery, in the family grave of the Kafka family. The works published during his lifetime were only four collections of short prose: “Contemplation”, “The Village Doctor”, “Gospodar” and “Punishments”. In addition, Kafka managed to publish the first chapter of his most famous creation “America” - “The Missing Person”, as well as a small part of very short original works. They attracted virtually no attention from the public and brought nothing to the writer. Fame overtook him only after his death.

Today interesting-vse.ru has prepared for you interesting facts about the life and work of the mystical writer.

Franz Kafka

In world literature, his works are recognized for their unique style. No one has ever written about the absurd, it’s so beautiful and interesting.

Bography

Franz Kafka (German Franz Kafka, July 3, 1883, Prague, Austria-Hungary - June 3, 1924, Klosterneuburg, First Austrian Republic) is one of the outstanding German-language writers of the 20th century, most of whose works were published posthumously. His works, permeated with absurdity and fear of the outside world and higher authority, capable of awakening corresponding anxious feelings in the reader, are a unique phenomenon in world literature.

Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, into a Jewish family living in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (now the Czech Republic, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Herman (Genykh) Kafka (1852-1931), came from the Czech-speaking Jewish community in Southern Bohemia, and since 1882 he was a wholesale merchant of haberdashery goods. The surname "Kafka" is of Czech origin (kavka literally means "daw"). On Hermann Kafka's signature envelopes, which Franz often used for letters, this bird with a quivering tail is depicted as an emblem.

Kafka's relationship with his oppressive father is an important component of his work, which was also refracted through the writer's failure as a family man.

Kafka published four collections during his lifetime - “Contemplation”, “The Country Doctor”, “Punishments” and “The Hunger Man”, as well as “The Stoker” - the first chapter of the novel “America” (“The Missing”) and several other short works. However, his main creations - the novels “America” (1911-1916), “The Trial” (1914-1915) and “The Castle” (1921-1922) - remained unfinished to varying degrees and were released after the author’s death and contrary to his last will .

Data

Franz Kafka is one of the main mascots of Prague.

mascot – from fr. mascotte - "person, animal or object that brings good luck" – Mascot character

Franz Kafka was an Austrian writer of Jewish origin who was born in Prague and wrote primarily in German.

The Franz Kafka Museum is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Franz Kafka. Located in Prague, Mala Strana, to the left of Charles Bridge.

The museum's exhibition includes all first editions of Kafka's books, his correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, photographs and drawings. In the museum's bookstore, visitors can buy any of Kafka's works.

The permanent exhibition of the museum consists of two parts - “Existential Space” and “Imaginary Topography”.

“Between the Spanish Synagogue and the Church of the Holy Spirit in the Old Town there is an unusual monument - a monument to the famous Austro-Hungarian writer Franz Kafka.
The bronze sculpture, designed by Jaroslav Rona, appeared in Prague in 2003. The Kafka monument is 3.75 meters high and weighs 700 kilograms. The monument depicts the writer on the shoulders of a gigantic suit, in which the one who should wear it is missing. The monument refers to one of Kafka’s works, “The Story of a Struggle.” This is the story of a man who, riding on the shoulders of another man, roams the streets of Prague."

During his lifetime, Kafka had many chronic diseases that undermined his life - tuberculosis, migraines, insomnia, constipation, abscesses and others.

After receiving his doctorate in jurisprudence, Kafka served his entire life as an official of an insurance company, earning his living from this. He hated his job, but, having worked a lot on insurance claims in industry, he was the first to invent and introduce a hard helmet for workers; for this invention, the writer received a medal.

In the courtyard in front of the house-museum of Franz Kafka there is a Fountain-monument to pissing men. The author is David Cerný, a Czech sculptor.

Franz Kafka published only a few short stories during his lifetime. Being seriously ill, he asked his friend Max Brod to burn all his works after his death, including several unfinished novels. Brod did not fulfill this request, but, on the contrary, ensured the publication of the works that brought Kafka worldwide fame.

The writer's stories and reflections are a reflection of his own neuroses and experiences that helped him overcome his fears.

His novels "America", "The Trial" and "The Castle" remained unfinished.

Despite the fact that Kafka was the grandson of a kosher butcher, he was a vegetarian.

Kafka had two younger brothers and three younger sisters. Both brothers, before reaching the age of two, died before Kafka turned 6 years old. The sisters were named Ellie, Valli and Ottla (all three died during World War II in Nazi concentration camps in Poland).

The Castle by Franz Kafka is recognized as one of the main books of the 20th century. The plot of the novel (the search for the road leading to the Castle) is very simple and at the same time extremely complex. It attracts not because of its twisted moves and intricate stories, but because of its parabolism, parable-like nature, and symbolic ambiguity. Kafka’s artistic world, dream-like, unsteady, captivates the reader, draws him into a recognizable and unrecognizable space, awakens and extremely intensifies sensations that were previously hidden somewhere in the depths of his hidden “I”. Each new reading of “The Castle” is a new drawing of the path that the reader’s consciousness wanders through the labyrinth of the novel...

“The Castle” is probably theology in action, but first of all it is the individual path of the soul in search of grace, the path of a person who asks the objects of this world about the secret of mysteries, and in women looks for manifestations of the god slumbering in them.”
Albert Camus

“All Kafka’s works are highly reminiscent of parables, there is a lot of teaching in them; but his best creations are like a crystalline solid, permeated with a picturesquely playing light, which is sometimes achieved by a very pure, often cold and precisely maintained structure of the language. “The Castle” is just such a work.”
Hermann Hesse

Franz Kafka (1883-1924) – interesting facts from the life of the world famous Austrian writer updated: December 14, 2017 by: website

Franz Kafka was one of the most important German writers of the twentieth century. He spent his entire life in his hometown of Prague, the capital of Bohemia. Kafka is famous for his grotesque stories and novels, many of which were published only posthumously, under the editorship of his close friend Max Brod. Kafka's works, spanning various literary periods, are consistently unique and popular with a wide range of readers.

Childhood

Franz Kafka was born on June 3, 1883 into a family of German-speaking Ashkenazi Jews living in a ghetto in the area of ​​present-day Prague. He was the first child of Hermann and his wife Julia, née Löwy.

His father, strong and loud-voiced, was the fourth child of Jacob Kafka, a butcher who came to Prague from Oseka, a Jewish village located in southern Bohemia. After working for some time as a sales representative, he established himself as an independent retailer of men's and women's haberdashery and accessories. About 15 people were involved in the business, and the office used the “tick” sign as its logo, representing the meaning of the surname in Czech. Kafka's mother was the daughter of Jacob Löwy, a prosperous brewer from Poděbrady, and was an educated woman.

Franz was the eldest of six children. He had two younger brothers who died in infancy, and three younger sisters: Gabrielle, Valerie and Ottla. During the week, during working hours, both parents were absent from the house. His mother helped manage her husband's business and worked 12 hours a day. The children were largely raised by a succession of governesses and servants. The warm-hearted mother was a great outlet for the children, but Franz's tendency to be lonely and withdrawn remained for many years. It was from his mother that he inherited his sensitivity and dreaminess. In his literary works, Kafka transformed the complete lack of communication and understanding in the relationship between authority figures and the little person.

He grew up in a German-speaking Jewish community, rarely interacting with Czech-speaking citizens of Prague. Despite this, throughout his life he acquired a deep knowledge of the Czech language and an understanding of literature. The guy had a serious character and was a little talkative. He spoke in a calm and quiet voice and wore mostly dark suits and sometimes a black round hat. He tried not to show his emotions publicly. Moreover, the non-believer Kafka was an outsider even within the Jewish community. Jewish identity was marked by attending a bar mitzvah at age 13 and attending synagogue with his father four times a year.

The passion for writing began in childhood. For his parents' birthdays, he composed small plays that were performed at home by his younger sisters, while he himself acted as director of home performances. He was an avid reader.

Kafka and his father

Father Herman wanted to raise his children in accordance with his ideals. He left them little room for personal development, and all social contacts of adolescents were strictly controlled. The father especially controlled Franz and his younger sister Ottla. Despite the friendly and peacemaking nature of the mother, conflicts periodically arose between Herman and the children.

In his letters, diaries and prose, the writer repeatedly addressed the topic of relationships with his father. Herman, a physically strong, energetic, strong-willed, self-satisfied choleric, served as a kind of catalyst for his children. The shy Franz became increasingly anxious, which in turn made him a target for his father's ridicule. He never managed to break this vicious circle until the end of his days.

In 1919, Kafka wrote “A Letter to My Father,” which describes his conflictual relationship with Hermann over more than a hundred pages. He strives for reconciliation with all his heart, but believes that this is impossible. There remains only hope for peaceful coexistence. His works Metamorphosis and Judgment are characterized by powerful father figures.

Years of education

From 1889, Kafka attended the boys' primary school on Masna Street. His secondary education was received at the German State Gymnasium on Old Town Square, where he studied from 1893 to 1901. It was an eight-year academic secondary school, where teaching was conducted in German, located in the Kin Palace in the Old Town. Among his first friends were the future art critic Oscar Pollak and the poet, translator and journalist Rudolf Illovi. The family lived at that time on Celetna Street. As a teenager, he told a school friend that he would become a writer. From this time his first literary attempts began.

Having passed his school final exams, Franz was admitted to the University of Prague, founded by Charles Ferdinand in 1348. The training took place from 1901 to 1906. He started studying chemistry, switched to German literature and philosophy after a couple of weeks, but switched departments to study law in the second semester. This was a kind of compromise between the father's wishes for his son to acquire a profession in order to build a successful career and a longer period of study, which gave Kafka additional time to engage in research and study art history. During his studies, he was an active participant in student life, within the framework of which many public literary readings and other events were organized. At the end of his first year of study he met Max Brod, who became his close friend throughout his life, and the journalist Felix Welch, who was also studying law. The students were brought together by a boundless love of reading and a common sense of the world. This period included a deep study of the works of Plato, Goethe, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Grillparzer and Kleist. Czech literature was of particular interest.

In June 1906, he received a full higher education, becoming a doctor of jurisprudence at the age of 23. In October, he began his working career with a mandatory unpaid legal practicum for graduates and spent a year working as a civil servant. For a total of 14 years he worked as a lawyer at the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute in the Czech Kingdom.

Beginning of literary activity

Franz was frustrated by the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. work schedule, as it was extremely difficult to combine the routine processing and investigation of injured workers' compensation claims with the required focus of his work. At the same time, Kafka worked on his stories. Together with their friends Max Brod and Felix Welch, they called themselves the "close circle of Prague". Being at the same time a hardworking and diligent worker, Kafka sometimes left work early to indulge in writing. At 24, Kafka published his first works in a magazine, after which the stories were published in book form called Reflections.

The most productive years for the writer were the years after graduating from university. His works were written in the evenings after work or at night. This is how the novel “Wedding Preparations in the Countryside” was born.

Kafka spent his holiday in northern Italy on Lake Garda with Max and Otto Brod. On September 29, the Prague daily Bohemia published a short story, “Airplanes in Brescia.” In 1910, he began to write in a diary and intensively study Judaism, Zionism, Jewish literature and his own Jewish roots, and mastered Hebrew.

Two years later, he began working on the novel The Missing and wrote its first chapters. The work became famous with the light hand of Max Brod, under the name “America”. That same year, he was writing a novel and a collection of 18 short stories. His first big story, “The Verdict,” was written in one night in 1912. The story contains all the elements associated with the author's inner world, in which a bedridden, authoritarian, overbearing father condemns his principled son. His next work, completed in May 1913, was the short story "The Stoker", later included in his novel The Missing in Action and awarded the Theodore Fontane Literary Prize in 1915, his first public recognition in his lifetime.

If it were not for the efforts of his friend Brod, the world would not have known Kafka's best novels. While editing them after the author's death, Max ignored his friend's request to destroy all his unpublished works after his death.

Thus, thanks to Brod, the following works saw the light of day:

• "America";
• "Process";
• "Lock".

Mature years

Kafka never married. According to his friend's memoirs, he was overcome by sexual desire, but fear of intimate failure prevented personal relationships. He actively visited brothels and was interested in pornography. He had close relationships with several women in his life.

On August 13, 1912, Kafka met with Felice Bauer, a distant relative of Brod, who was passing through Prague. Their relationship lasted five years, interspersed with active correspondence; twice during this period they approached the point of marriage. The marriage was not destined to happen, and they separated in 1917.

That same year, Kafka showed the first symptoms of tuberculosis. During his relapses, his family supported him. He moved in with his sister Ottla in northwestern Bohemia and devoted time to studying Kierkegaard's work. He was afraid of possible physical limitations caused by the disease; he impressed others with his neat and strict appearance, quiet and calm reactions, intelligence and specific humor. He begins to write down aphorisms. They were later published in the book “Reflections on Sin, Suffering, Hope and the True Path.”

In October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell and Czechoslovakia was proclaimed. The official language in the capital became Czech. The year also brought personal turmoil to the author. Kafka fell ill with the Spanish flu. The subsequent physical weakness negatively affects the writer’s psyche. Kafka did not trust doctors. He was a supporter of naturopathy. He attributed non-specific symptoms such as insomnia, headaches, heart problems or weight loss that he suffered to psychosomatics.

At this time, a new relationship emerges with Juliek Vochrycek, who came from a modest merchant family. This connection greatly upset his father, which prompted Franz to write the appeal “Letter to My Father.” The young people were unable to rent housing. Kafka saw this as a sign and left. In the spring of 1922 he wrote The Hungry Artist and in the summer The Study of a Dog. The next passionate relationship with the translator and journalist Milena Jesenskaya did not work out. Despite her lover’s unhappy marriage, she was not ready to leave her husband. In 1923 he broke up with her. Between 1920 and 1922, Franz's health deteriorated and he was forced to quit his job.

In 1923, Kafka, while recovering on the Baltic Sea, met kindergarten teacher Dora Diamant, the twenty-five-year-old daughter of Polish Jews. Dora, who spoke Yiddish and Hebrew, charmed the writer. I was struck by the natural and modest manner of her behavior with quite mature views. Kafka left Prague at the end of July 1923 and moved to Berlin-Steglitz, where he wrote his last, relatively happy story, “Little Woman.” Dora cared for her lover in such a way that at the end of his life he finally managed to free himself from the influence of his family. It was in tandem with her that he developed an interest in the Talmud. Kafka wrote his last work, “Josephine, or the Folk of Mouse,” which was included in the collection “The Hunger Man.” However, his health is rapidly deteriorating. He returned to Prague three months before his death on June 3, 1924. In April he goes to a sanatorium, where the diagnosis is confirmed. For treatment he goes to the University Clinic of Vienna, then to the sanatorium of Dr. Hugo Hoffmann in Klosterneuburg. Dora Diamant takes care of and supports Kafka in every possible way, who is rapidly losing weight, has difficulty swallowing food and cannot speak. On June 3 around noon, Kafka died. The writer was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Prague.

Life

Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, into a Jewish family living in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (Czech Republic, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Herman (Genykh) Kafka (-), came from the Czech-speaking Jewish community in Southern Bohemia, and was a wholesale merchant of haberdashery goods. The surname "Kafka" is of Czech origin (kavka literally means "daw"). On Hermann Kafka's signature envelopes, which Franz often used for letters, this bird with a quivering tail is depicted as an emblem. The writer's mother, Julia Kafka (née Etl Levi) (-), the daughter of a wealthy brewer, preferred German. Kafka himself wrote in German, although he also knew Czech perfectly. He also had a good command of French, and among the four people whom the writer, “without pretending to compare with them in strength and intelligence,” felt as “his blood brothers,” was the French writer Gustave Flaubert. The other three are Franz Grillparzer, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Heinrich von Kleist. Being a Jew, Kafka nevertheless practically did not speak Yiddish and began to show interest in the traditional culture of Eastern European Jews only at the age of twenty under the influence of Jewish theater troupes touring in Prague; interest in learning Hebrew arose only towards the end of his life.

Kafka had two younger brothers and three younger sisters. Both brothers, before reaching the age of two, died before Kafka turned 6 years old. The sisters were named Ellie, Valli and Ottla (all three died during World War II in Nazi concentration camps in Poland). In the period from to Kafka attended primary school (Deutsche Knabenschule) and then gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1901 by passing the matriculation exam. After graduating from Charles University in Prague, he received a doctorate in law (Kafka’s work supervisor on his dissertation was Professor Alfred Weber), and then entered the service as an official in the insurance department, where he worked in modest positions until his premature retirement due to illness in the city. Work for the writer was a secondary and burdensome occupation: in his diaries and letters he admits to hatred of his boss, colleagues and clients. In the foreground there was always literature, “justifying his entire existence.” After a pulmonary hemorrhage, long-term tuberculosis ensued, from which the writer died on June 3, 1924 in a sanatorium near Vienna.

Franz Kafka Museum in Prague

Kafka in cinema

• "It's a Wonderful Life of Franz Kafka" ("Franz Kafka's 'It's a Wonderful Life'", UK, ) Blend "Transformations" Franz Kafka with "This Wonderful Life" Frank Capra. Academy Award" (). Director: Peter Capaldi Starring Kafka: Richard E. Grant
• "The Singer Josephine and the Mouse People"(Ukraine-Germany, ) Director: S. Masloboishchikov
• "Kafka" ("Kafka", USA, ) A semi-biographical film about Kafka, whose plot takes him through many of his own works. Director: Steven Soderbergh. As Kafka: Jeremy Irons
• "Lock " / Das Schloss(Austria, 1997) Director: Michael Haneke / Michael Haneke /, in the role of K. Ulrich Mühe
• "Lock"(Germany, ) Director: Rudolf Noelte, in the role of K. Maximilian Schell
• "Lock"(Georgia, 1990) Director: Dato Janelidze, as K. Karl-Heinz Becker
• "Lock "(Russia-Germany-France, ) Director: A. Balabanov, in the role of K. Nikolai Stotsky
• "The Transformation of Mr. Franz Kafka" Director: Carlos Atanes, 1993.
• "Process " ("The Trial", Germany-Italy-France, ) Director Orson Welles considered it his most successful film. As Josef K. - Anthony Perkins
• "Process " ("The Trial", Great Britain, ) Director: David Hugh Jones, in the role of Joseph K. - Kyle MacLachlan, in the role of the priest - Anthony Hopkins, in the role of the artist Tittoreli - Alfred Molina. Nobel laureate Harold Pinter worked on the script for the film.
• "Class Relations"(Germany, 1983) Directors: Jean-Marie Straub and Daniel Huillet. Based on the novel "America (Missing)"
• "America"(Czech Republic, 1994) Director: Vladimir Michalek
• "The Country Doctor by Franz Kafka" (カ田舎医者 (jap. Kafuka inaka isya ?) ("Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor"), Japan, , animated) Director: Yamamura Koji

The idea of ​​the story "The Metamorphosis" has been used in films many times:

• "Metamorphosis"(Valeria Fokina, starring Evgeny Mironov)
• "The Transformation of Mr. Sams" ("The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa" Carolyn Leaf, 1977)

Bibliography

Kafka himself published four collections - "Contemplation", "Country Doctor", "Kara" And "Hunger", and "Fireman"- first chapter of the novel "America" ("Missing") and several other short essays. However, his main creations are novels "America" (1911-1916), "Process"(1914-1918) and "Lock"(1921-1922) - remained unfinished to varying degrees and saw the light of day after the death of the author and contrary to his last will: Kafka explicitly bequeathed the destruction of everything he had written to his friend Max Brod.

Novels and short prose

• "Description of one struggle"(“Beschreibung eines Kampfes”, -);
• "Wedding Preparations in the Village"(“Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande”, -);
• "Conversation with a Prayer"(“Gespräch mit dem Beter”);
• "Conversation with a Drunk Man"(“Gespräch mit dem Betrunkenen”);
• "Airplanes in Brescia"(“Die Aeroplane in Brescia”), feuilleton;
• "Women's Prayer Book"(“Ein Damenbrevier”);
• "First long journey by rail"(“Die erste lange Eisenbahnfahrt”);
• Co-authored with Max Brod: "Richard and Samuel: a short journey through Central Europe"(“Richard und Samuel – Eine kleine Reise durch mitteleuropäische Gegenden”);
• "Big Noise"(“Großer Lärm”);
• "Before the Law"(“Vor dem Gesetz,”), a parable later included in the novel “The Trial” (chapter 9, “In the Cathedral”);
• “Erinnerungen an die Kaldabahn” (, fragment from a diary);
• "School teacher" ("Giant Mole") (“Der Dorfschullehrer or Der Riesenmaulwurf”, -);
• "Blumfeld, the old bachelor"(“Blumfeld, ein älterer Junggeselle”);
• "Crypt Keeper"("Der Gruftwächter" -), the only play written by Kafka;
• "Hunter Gracchus"(“Der Jäger Gracchus”);
• "How the Chinese Wall was Built"(“Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer”);
• "Murder"(“Der Mord”), the story was subsequently revised and included in the collection “The Country Doctor” under the title “Fratricide”;
• "Riding on a Bucket"(“Der Kübelreiter”);
• "In our synagogue"(“In unserer Synagoge”);
• "Fireman"(“Der Heizer”), subsequently the first chapter of the novel “America” (“The Missing”);
• "In the attic"(“Auf dem Dachboden”);
• "One Dog's Research"(“Forschungen eines Hundes”);
• "Nora"(“Der Bau”, -);
• "He. Records of 1920"(“Er. Aufzeichnungen aus dem Jahre 1920”), fragments;
• “To the series “He””(“Zu der Reihe “Er””);

Collection “Punishment” (“Strafen”, )

• "Sentence"(“Das Urteil”, September 22-23);
• "Metamorphosis"(“Die Verwandlung”, November-December);
• "In the penal colony"("In der Strafkolonie", October).

Collection “Contemplation” (“Betrachtung”, )

• "Children on the Road"(“Kinder auf der Landstrasse”), detailed draft notes for the short story “Description of a Struggle”;
• "The Rogue Exposed"(“Entlarvung eines Bauernfängers”);
• "Sudden Walk"(“Der plötzliche Spaziergang,”), version of a diary entry dated January 5, 1912;
• "Solutions"(“Entschlüsse”), version of a diary entry dated February 5, 1912;
• "Walk to the Mountains"(“Der Ausflug ins Gebirge”);
• "Sorrow of a Bachelor"(“Das Unglück des Junggesellen”);
• "Merchant"(“Der Kaufmann”);
• "Looking Absently Out the Window"(“Zerstreutes Hinausschaun”);
• "Way home"(“Der Nachhauseweg”);
• "Running By"(“Die Vorüberlaufenden”);
• "Passenger"(“Der Fahrgast”);
• "Dresses"(“Kleider”), sketch for the short story “Description of a Struggle”;
• "Refusal"(“Die Abweisung”);
• "For riders to think about"(“Zum Nachdenken für Herrenreiter”);
• "Window to the Street"(“Das Gassenfenster”);
• "The desire to become an Indian"(“Wunsch, Indianer zu werden”);
• "Trees"(“Die Bäume”); sketch for the short story “Description of a Struggle”;
• "Yearning"("Unglücklichsein",).

Collection “The Country Doctor” (“Ein Landarzt”, )

• "New Lawyer"(“Der Neue Advokat”);
• "Country Doctor"(“Ein Landarzt”);
• "On the gallery"(“Auf der Galerie”);
• "Old Record"(“Ein altes Blatt”);
• "Jackals and Arabs"(“Schakale und Araber”);
• "Visit to the Mine"(“Ein Besuch im Bergwerk”);
• "Neighboring Village"(“Das nächste Dorf”);
• "Imperial Message"(“Eine kaiserliche Botschaft,”), the story later became part of the short story “How the Chinese Wall was Built”;
• "The care of the head of the family"(“Die Sorge des Hasvaters”);
• "Eleven Sons"(“Elf Söhne”);
• "Fratricide"(“Ein Brudermord”);
• "Dream"(“Ein Traum”), a parallel with the novel “The Trial”;
• "Report for the Academy"("Ein Bericht für eine Akademie",).

Collection “The Hunger Man” (“Ein Hungerkünstler”, )

• "First Woe"(“Ersters Leid”);
• "Small woman"(“Eine kleine Frau”);
• "Hunger"(“Ein Hungerkünstler”);
• "The Singer Josephine, or the Mouse People"(“Josephine, die Sängerin, oder Das Volk der Mäuse”, -);

Short prose

• "Bridge"(“Die Brücke”, -)
• "Knock on the Gate"(“Der Schlag ans Hoftor”);
• "Neighbour"(“Der Nachbar”);
• "Hybrid"(“Eine Kreuzung”);
• "Appeal"(“Der Aufruf”);
• "New lamps"(“Neue Lampen”);
• "Railway Passengers"(“Im Tunnel”);
• "An Ordinary Story"(“Eine alltägliche Verwirrung”);
• "The Truth About Sancho Panza"(“Die Wahrheit über Sancho Pansa”);
• "Silence of the Sirens"(“Das Schweigen der Sirenen”);
• “Commonwealth of Scoundrels” (“Eine Gemeinschaft von Schurken”);
• "Prometheus"("Prometheus", );
• "Homecoming"(“Heimkehr”);
• "City coat of arms"(“Das Stadtwappen”);
• "Poseidon"("Poseidon", );
• "Commonwealth"(“Gemeinschaft”);
• “At Night” (“Nachts”);
• "Rejected Petition"(“Die Abweisung”);
• "On the issue of laws"(“Zur Frage der Gesetze”);
• “Recruitment” (“Die Truppenaushebung”);
• "Exam"(“Die Prüfung”);
• “Kite” (“Der Geier”);
• “The Helmsman” (“Der Steuermann”);
• "Top"(“Der Kreisel”);
• "Fable"(“Kleine Fabel”);
• "Departure"(“Der Aufbruch”);
• "Defenders"(“Fürsprecher”);
• "The Married Couple"(“Das Ehepaar”);
• “Comment (don’t get your hopes up!)”(“Kommentar - Gibs auf!”, );
• "About Parables"("Von den Gleichnissen",).

Novels

• "Process "(“Der Prozeß”, -), including the parable “Before the Law”;
• "America" ​​("Missing")(“Amerika” (“Der Verschollene”), -), including the story “The Stoker” as the first chapter.

Letters

• Letters to Felice Bauer (Briefe an Felice, 1912-1916);
• Letters to Greta Bloch (1913-1914);
• Letters to Milena Jesenskaya (Briefe an Milena);
• Letters to Max Brod (Briefe an Max Brod);
• Letter to Father (November 1919);
• Letters to Ottla and other family members (Briefe an Ottla und die Familie);
• Letters to parents from 1922 to 1924. (Briefe an die Eltern aus den Jahren 1922-1924);
• Other letters (including to Robert Klopstock, Oscar Pollack, etc.);

Diaries (Tagebücher)

• 1910. July - December;
• 1911. January - December;
• 1911-1912. Travel diaries written during a trip to Switzerland, France and Germany;
• 1912. January - September;
• 1913. February - December;
• 1914. January - December;
• 1915. January - May, September - December;
• 1916. April - October;
• 1917. July - October;
• 1919. June - December;
• 1920. January;
• 1921. October - December;
• 1922. January - December;
• 1923. June.

Notebooks in octavo

8 workbooks by Franz Kafka ( - gg.), containing rough sketches, stories and versions of stories, reflections and observations.

Aphorisms

• "Reflections on Sin, Suffering, Hope and the True Path"(“Betrachtungen über Sünde, Leid, Hoffnung und den wahren Weg”, ).

The list contains more than a hundred sayings by Kafka, selected by him based on materials from the 3rd and 4th notebooks in octavo.

About Kafka

• Theodor Adorno "Notes on Kafka";
• Georges Bataille "Kafka" ;
• Valery Belonozhko “Gloomy notes about the novel “The Trial””, "Three Sagas of Franz Kafka's Unfinished Novels";
• Walter Benjamin "Franz Kafka";
• Maurice Blanchot "From Kafka to Kafka"(two articles from the collection: Reading Kafka and Kafka and Literature);
• Max Brod "Franz Kafka. Biography";
• Max Brod “Afterwords and notes to the novel “Castle””;
• Max Brod "Franz Kafka. Prisoner of the Absolute";
• Max Brod "Kafka's Personality";
• Albert Camus "Hope and absurdity in the works of Franz Kafka";
• Max Fry "Fasting for Kafka";
• Yuri Mann "Meeting in the Labyrinth (Franz Kafka and Nikolai Gogol)";
• David Zane Mairowitz and Robert Crumb "Kafka for Beginners";
• Vladimir Nabokov "The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka";
• Cynthia Ozick "The Impossibility of Being Kafka";
• Anatoly Ryasov "The Man with Too Much Shadow";
• Nathalie Sarraute "From Dostoevsky to Kafka".

Notes

Links

• Franz Kafka "Castle" ImWerden Library
• The Kafka Project (In English)
• http://www.who2.com/franzkafka.html (In English)
• http://www.pitt.edu/~kafka/intro.html (In English)
• http://www.dividingline.com/private/Philosophy/Philosophers/Kafka/kafka.shtml (In English)