The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka

The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka - Paperback

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The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka
  • The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka
The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka - Paperback

The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka - Paperback

by Franz Kafka
$19.95
$19.95

Book Overview

by Franz Kafka (Author), Reiner Stach (Editor), Shelley Frisch (Translator)

A splendid new translation of an extraordinary work of modern literature--featuring facing-page commentary by Kafka's acclaimed biographer

In 1917 and 1918, Franz Kafka wrote a set of more than 100 aphorisms, known as the Zürau aphorisms, after the Bohemian village in which he composed them. Among the most mysterious of Kafka's writings, they explore philosophical questions about truth, good and evil, and the spiritual and sensory world. This is the first annotated, bilingual volume of these extraordinary writings, which provide great insight into Kafka's mind. Edited, introduced, and with commentaries by preeminent Kafka biographer and authority Reiner Stach, and freshly translated by Shelley Frisch, this beautiful volume presents each aphorism on its own page in English and the original German, with accessible and enlightening notes on facing pages.

The most complex of Kafka's writings, the aphorisms merge literary and analytical thinking and are radical in their ideas, original in their images and metaphors, and exceptionally condensed in their language. Offering up Kafka's characteristically unsettling charms, the aphorisms at times put readers in unfamiliar, even inhospitable territory, which can then turn luminous: "I have never been in this place before: breathing works differently, and a star shines next to the sun, more dazzlingly still."

Above all, this volume reveals that these multifaceted gems aren't far removed from Kafka's novels and stories but are instead situated squarely within his cosmos--arguably at its very core. Long neglected by Kafka readers and scholars, his aphorisms have finally been given their full due here.

Author Biography

Reiner Stach is the author of the definitive three-volume biography of Franz Kafka: Kafka: The Early Years; Kafka: The Decisive Years; and Kafka: The Years of Insight (all Princeton). He is also the author of Is That Kafka? 99 Finds. Shelley Frisch is an award-winning translator whose work includes Stach's Kafka biography, Karin Wieland's Dietrich & Riefenstahl, and Billy Wilder on Assignment (Princeton), among many other books.

Number of Pages: 256
Dimensions: 0.8 x 8.2 x 5.1 IN
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
ISBN9780691254784
Author Franz Kafka
PublisherPrinceton University Press
GenreEducation and Literature
FormatPaperback
PublishedOctober 2023
LanguageENG- English
Pages256
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Literary Criticism Nonfiction Reference

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About Franz Kafka

Stanley Corngold is a professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at Princeton. He has published widely on modern German writers and thinkers (Nietzsche, Musil, Kraus, Mann, Benjamin, Adorno, among others), but for the most part he has been translating and writing on the work of Franz Kafka. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

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