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Briefe 1900 - 1912
Im Werk Franz Kafkas nehmen Briefe eine zentrale Stellung ein. Im Schloss (1926) etwa hängt der Landvermesser K. ein Legitimierungsschreiben seiner Vorgesetzten wie ein Porträt an die Wand, um sich seiner Identität zu versichern. In Amerika (1927) wird der Protagonist Karl Roßmann durch ein paar Zeilen seines Onkels aus dessen Landhaus verstoßen. Und in Das Urteil (1916) beschuldigt ein Vater seinen Sohn, "falsche Briefchen" zu einem vermeintlichen Jugendfreund nach Russland geschickt zu haben, bevor er ihn zum "Tode des Ertrinkens" verurteilt. Kafkas eigener Brief an den Vater wiederum, mit dem der Prager Schriftsteller 1919 gegen das Schreckbild des autoritären Familienoberhaupts anzuschreiben versuchte, ist längst selbst Literatur geworden. In dem nun vorliegenden ersten Band von Kafkas Korrespondenz, der in kritischer Edition alle privaten und beruflichen Schreiben zwischen 1900 und 1912 versammelt, kann man nachlesen, wie wichtig der postalische Verkehr dem angehenden Autor auch im wirklichen Leben war. "Wenn man einander schreibt, ist man durch ein Seil verbunden", heißt es diesbezüglich in einem Brief an Oskar Pollack vom 20. Dezember 1903, "hört man dann auf, ist das Seil zerrissen". Und bereits hier erweist sich Kafka als kommender Meister der kurzen Prosaform. So sendet der damals 19-Jährige am 28. August 1902 auf einer Postkarte an den Schulfreund Paul Kisch folgende hübsche Zeilen nach "Was kann man am Vormittag besseres thun als mit Blinzelaugen zwischen dunklen Feldern und blühenden Wiesen liegen? Nichts. Womit kann man den Nachmittag besser beginnen als dass man dem Paulchen eine Karte schickt. Da hast Du sie. Franz". --Thomas Köster
- GenresNonfiction
687 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1999
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,045 books32.6k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 10, 2024
Was ein Einstieg in die Briefwelt Kafkas! Von der innigen Freundschaft zu Max Brod bis zur totalen Obsession für Felice Bauer. Ich bin so froh, daß ich mir die Briefe bis zum Schluss aufgehoben habe. Und teilweise schreibt Kafka so lustig, vor allem wenn man die amtlichen Schriften gelesen hat. Ein Fest aber auch ein wahnsinniger Ritt auf einen nie ruhenden Geist.
Displaying 1 of 1 review