{"id":90,"date":"2014-04-12T15:42:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-12T15:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mytwostotinki.com\/?p=90"},"modified":"2015-04-24T17:45:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T17:45:48","slug":"there-goes-kafka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mytwostotinki.com\/?p=90","title":{"rendered":"There Goes Kafka"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere Goes Kafka<\/em>\u201d is a small but interesting collection of essays related to Franz Kafka and the circle of friends in the early 20th<\/sup> century Prague to which also the book\u2019s author, Johannes Urzidil, belonged. Although a strictly biographical reading is not appropriate for an understanding of Kafka\u2019s works, it helps to know\u00a0about the background of his life and work and here Urzidil can add quite a lot of material that seems to be interesting to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kafka is asking a friend in 1916, shortly after the publication of Metamorphosis (<\/em>\u201cDie Verwandlung\u201d):<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat have you to say about the dreadful things going on in our house?\u201d \u2013<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere Goes Kafka<\/em>\u201d is full of such details and it sheds also a light on some lesser known literary figures of the \u201cPrague Circle\u201d, an\u00a0extremely interesting and productive group of (mostly Jewish) German-speaking authors.\u00a0Ok, now we have the ultimate biography on Kafka by Reiner Stach, but I still like the small work by Urzidil – his \u201cGoethe in Bohemia<\/em>\u201d is also excellent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ThereGoesKafka\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Urzidil\u2019s style was very elegant and elaborated. Unfortunately the English translation is so awkward that it sounds sometimes almost like a parody. That\u2019s a real pity. So, if you can, read the German original and let\u2019s hope a publisher will give Urzidil\u2019s work a new chance in the English-speaking world by commissioning a new \u2013 and better! \u2013 translation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johannes Urzidil: There Goes Kafka, Wayne State University Press 1968; Da geht Kafka, Langen & Mueller 2004<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Da<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a9\u00a0Thomas H\u00fcbner\u00a0and mytwostotinki.com, 2014. Unauthorized use and\/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog\u2019s author and\/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to\u00a0Thomas H\u00fcbner\u00a0and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.<\/pre>\n
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