Kafka in 90 Minutes

Great Writers in 90 Minutes

by Paul Strathern

Building on his enormously successful series of Philosophers in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern now applies his witty and incisive prose to brief biographical studies of the world's great writers. He brings their lives and ideas to life in entertaining and accessible fashion. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the writer and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.
Applause for Paul Strathern's Philosophers in 90 Minutes
"Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character....I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization."―Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe

"Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them....I find them hard to stop reading."―Richard Bernstein, New York Times

"Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise."―Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, History, Philosophy, Literature, Biography Memoir

128 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2004

About the author

Paul Strathern (born 1940) is a English writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.

Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.

Reviews

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب های کوتاه پل استراترن و ویدئوهای کوتاه آلن دوباتن در مدرسهٔ زندگی، راه های خوبی هستن برای آشنایی مختصر با شخصیت های بزرگ، برای کسی که نمی خواد یا وقت نمی کنه تخصصی وقت بذاره.

[Fereshteh · Rating 3 out of 5]

برای یافتن آشنایی اولیه با شخصیت ، زندگی و آثار کافکا مناسبه، کتاب حجم کمی در حدود صد صفحه داره و شناخت بیشتر فرانتس کافکا رو مستلزم مطالعه بیشتر میکنه. نویسنده علاوه بر مرور اتفاقات مهم زندگی کافکا، بیشتربه روان رنجوری های فرانتس جوان پرداخته و شخصیت پدر مستبد کافکا رو عاملش دونسته . همزمان محتوای برخی آثار کافکا رو هم از جمله "مسخ" ، "امریکا" ، "قصر" و "محاکمه" به اختصار تحلیل کرده

[Aynaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

«هرچه زندگی کافکا بیشتر با احساس پوچی ناشی از ناکامی و ضعف عجین می‌شد، نیازش به نوشتن برایش واضح‌تر می‌شد. به نظر می‌رسید نوشتن تنها چیزی بود که زندگی بی‌ارزشش را ارزنده می‌کرد. کافکا بی‌توجه به ضعف جسمانی، وضع مزاجی و حساسیت‌های ذهنی شکننده‌اش به نوشتن ادامه داد. چیزی نگذشت که از خود گذشتگی‌اش در راه این وظیفه از مرز لجاجت گذشت و تبدیل به محقق کننده‌ی یک نیاز غایی معنوی شد.خودش می‌گفت:«نوشتن همانا نیایش است.». »

[Cosmic Arcata · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think this quote from Conversations with Kafka was very perceptive:

"The League is it in any real sense a league of nations?. It seems to me the title League of Nations is only a disguise for a new battle field."
"Do you mean the League is not a peace organization?"
"The League is a machinery for localizing the battle. The war continues w/ other weapons. Banks take the place of divisions the fighting capacity of finance takes the place of the war potential of industry. It is not a League of Nations it is a stock exchange for various groups of interest."

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

the narrator did a great job reading. this is very informative and I hope accurate.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to sum up someone as complex as Kafka in 90 minutes. Here is the one insightful paragraph that reflects presciently on this most peculiar of writers:

“It is always worth remembering that when Kafka himself read his works, he played them for laughs. The seamless objectivity of his fables and allegorical adventures allows for a great breadth of reaction. And it is this breadth which allows for a plethora of interpretation. A human insect can be seen as ridiculous, tragic, farcical, a psychological parable, a philosophical fable—one reads in whatever one needs to take out. Here, Kafka, in revealing himself, lets us reveal ourselves, hopefully to ourselves as to others. Any interpretation of Kafka involves self-revelation. Kafka laughed, and perhaps had to laugh to protect himself, to play it as a game. Yet it also becomes clear that Kafka is laughing at us, playing with us. What is it we see reflected in the mirror of his works?”

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Say what you will about the "in 90 Minutes" series, but they are really great introductory texts if you want to have a sufficient and well written background to new ideas/authors/historical figures. Having read this before Kafka's 'The Castle' I was armed with a little knowledge that certainly helped me appreciate the text.

[Anuraag Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems intresting.
Adding Metamorphosis and The Trial to the to-read list now.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mesmo na morte, Kafka não escapou de sua família e da falta de reconhecimento de suas realizações por parte deles", se teve um artista que mais demonstrou essa dificuldade de entendimento por parte dos seus pares, dos seus quase iguais, esse foi Kafka. Nascido sob a pressão e exigência perfeccionista de um pai judeu, isso marcou Franz para sempre, muito revelado nos seus escritos. Por essa razão, seus escritos viraram um pote de mel para as abelhas da Psicolândia. Isso quase impediu o mundo de conhecer suas grandes obras: a pressão da família por esmero era tão grande, que ele pediu ao seu amigo Max para queimar todas as suas escrituras. O que o amigo não fez, pelo contrário, as publicou. Se fosse depender de sua família, nunca saberíamos quem foi Franz Kafka. Por sorte, ele tinha os amigos. Família é bom, mas quando interfere demais na vida das pessoas acaba criando psicoses irrecuperáveis e perdendo talentos que poderiam ser reconhecidos mas que, por algum recalque desses integrantes da mesma família, acabam repreendidos, reprimidos e relegados ao esquecimento. Que bom que esse não é o caso de Franz Kafka.

[Elham Ghafarzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

آشنایی با کافکا کتابی جمع و جور است برای آشنایی با آثار کافکا و اندیشه‌ی او! از عنوان کتاب هم می‌شود این را فهمید اما نکته‌ی مهم این است که اگر آثار کافکا را نخوانده‌اید این کتاب به هیچ وجه مناسب شما نیست چون داستان هممه‌ی آنها را لو می‌دهد. گرچه به زندگی و روابط تاثیرگذار بر زندگی کافکا می‌پردازد و از این منظر خواندنش می‌تواند جذاب باشد. از طرفی هم به نظرم ترجمه‌ی خوبی ندارد و مترجم سعی کرده از جملات پیچیده‌ای استفاده کند که شاید برای خواننده‌ای که با این نثر آشنایی ندارد خواندنش مشکل باشد.

برای من دانستن هر چیزی در رابطه با کافکا و اندیشه‌ها و زندگی‌اش لذت‌بخش است. از طرفی حس عذاب وجدانی توامان هم دارم از اینکه او نخواسته که نوشته‌ها و آثارش چاپ شود و با این وجود حالا سا‌ل‌هاست که شهرت کافکا جهانی است و نمی‌شود تاثیر او را ازادبیات گرفته تا روانشناسی و فلسفه و نقاشی و هنر و... نادیده گرفت.. برای خیلی از ما دنیای ادبیات و جهان به طور کلی بدون کافکا غیرقابل تصور است. امیدوارم او ما را ببخشد و اگر تناسخی باشد و اکنون در قالب حشره یا حیوان و کلاغی در میان ماست، از ما راضی باشد!
ممنون آقای کافکا.

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is what it is and what it is is a published wiki entry

[MaKensie Tully · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always been curious about this self-loathing author. This provides great insight and background into Kafka’s life. What’s great is this book features actual diary entries of Kafka and his friend Max. It also showcases context of what’s happening in the local and global world around Kafka that in turn is reflected in his writing. Before reading this I’d suggest brushing up on The Metamorphosis, The Castle and The Trial as these are the main works referenced and analyzed.

I’m completely interested in this 90 Minute series now. It’s the perfect drink for those thirsty with curiosity but not wanting to read hundreds of pages of an auto-biography. My base level curiosity has been quenched.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Brief and very informative. Enlightening.

[Anya · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not the most in-depth Kafka biography, but it's pretty much exactly as advertised, with a good amount of info for its brevity. I'm planning on rereading it alongside some of his published (and unpublished) works to compare both the book's analysis of some of these stories/novels/diaries with the actual stories. Additionally, I want to read his works with insight into the context of his life at the time that he wrote each work (basically I'm using this book as a shorthand guide to his life lol). Interesting and well put together, I would have given it four stars for lack of more in-depth info, but like, it really does tell you upfront that it's not going to be long lol so for honesty in advertising and delivering an accurate product, I gave them a solid five

[Laya A · Rating 2 out of 5]

جزئیات بی‌اهمیت.

تا این‌جا دو نکته را درباره‌ی شناخت آثار کافکا فهمیده‌ام:
اول این که تعبیرهای بی‌ربط و شخصی و مکتبی درمورد کارهای کافکا آن قدر زیاد است که اگر بخواهید آثار کافکا را از خلال شناخت دیگران از او بشناسید کاملا گیج و گمراه می‌شوید. کافکا بی‌نهایت تعبیرپذیر است و بهتر است سعی کنید شخصا به شناخت کارهای او برسید.
دوم این که اصولا برای شناخت نوشته‌های کافکا، دانستن همان سه چهار نکته‌ی کلی درباره‌ی شخص او کافی ست. همواره از طرف پدرش تحقیر می‌شده، زندگی کارمندی ساده‌ای داشته، نامه‌ و یادداشت روزانه زیاد می‌نوشته. بعد از آن باید با نوشته‌های او خلوت کنید و جزئیات زندگی شخصی‌اش را کنار بگذارید.

نوت‌برداری از کتاب:
همواره با حیوانات هم‌ذات‌پنداری می‌کرد و خود را به آنها تشبیه می‌کرد.-
احساس گناه، بی‌معنایی زندگی، رهاشدگی زندگی-
داستان کوتاه: گروه محکومین، حفره، ژوزفین آوازه‌خوان-
درگیری‌های جنسی-
نامه به فلیسه، ملینا، زندگی با دورا-
تاثیر زیاد بر بورخس و بکت. تاثیر بر نقاشان سوررئالیست-
کافکا از بسیاری جهلت نهایت ضد وجود باوری یا اگزیستانسیالیسم بود. زندگی او را می‌توان شانه‌خالی‌کردنی طولانی از زیر اصالت دید.-

[Mboconnor31 · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reader of the Strathern collection. Awesome!

[Dan Lurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful "crash course" in Kafka.

Made it with two minutes to spare. ;)

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

i stumbled halfway round the othersided corner of a semi-rational thought (i have to ration them for they are few and far between), did a nosedive 9 eleven blaze it viral backslide crooked heelslip tuck, out out out into the smog, a diseased fog, containing large swaths of psychosis that precipitates in delusional self-aggrandisement, leading me to think there is a singular defining personality difference between me n kafka. sadly, to achieve this broken logic, i had to baptismally plunge kafka down down down thru my own endless self-pity party from purgatory (which dante to this day won’t even go near beatrice or no!) till the forthcoming comparison of a few supposed aspects of kafka with a few supposed aspects of myself became unclear. forgive me for that? or don’t. i don’t find it worthwhile forgiving myself for any one of my thoughts. identity is its own stockholm syndrome. anywayyyssss… to move this troubled explanation along, which i clearly have difficulty doing: isn’t it so perfectly telling that the spindly over-neuroticised kafka took the beetle as his anti-fur fursona? don’t get me wrong, (as if there was another way to be got), i have all the necroses and guilt complexes, the daddy issues and isolationists tactics, u name it, out the wazoo (the people’s populist orifice), but i still ain’t got nothing on kafka’s bertie bottoms beetle n bard shit. considering this/THEREFORE hithertofoward, without any real orientational presence to reference, you wont see me writing some of the most brilliant literature of a generation and every generation that precedes it for this very beetle-browed reason.

after this startling discovery i:

(1) might find it difficult to continue to unceremoniously purge my nonsense ramblings to my notes app about every book read only to then narrow-cast them within the senile at infancy cyber commons, pooling and trickling dregs.

(2) won’t be having any difficulty with fighting, petitioning, bribing my local government officials, and voting as hard as i can to introduce separate frassing stations and frass pellet disposal units in every school for every germinal by zola beetle furry as is their right. that’s my promise to you, the people of prague, for they are literatures only hope.
at this jumbled n junketed juncture i must unhumbly sign out and log tf off, offington to purchase a very sober suit and get a very boring job in the hopes it improves something of my situation. (it won’t). the very least this paul strathern could do for me is knock up a quick “Alana in under 5 minutes”. blank pages and cricket sounds, an occasional sigh of contempt.

[Hsandlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read a few of this ___ in 90 minutes books and this one may be my least favorite. I certainly enjoyed it and thought it had a well written and concise story of Kafka’s life but found some choices a little surprising. Given that Kafka exclusively wrote fiction (outside of his journals and letters), I would expect more careful selection of words around the plots. While spoiling a Kafka book hardly ruins it (you haven’t read one of his books until you‘ve read it more than once) but it certainly dulls the excitement of the first read. This book went through the entire plot of The Trial and The Metamorphosis is some detail, explaining away every twist and turn new reader might have enjoyed experiencing first hand. A books like “Kafka in 90 Minutes” presents itself as a good place to start with the author so spoiling two of his most popular works doesn’t seem thoughtful.

Worst of all, I didn’t find either of these stories’ summary to be necessary. I don’t know if the author decides you can’t have an introduction to Kafka if you don’t know the plot of a couple of his works but I found no real reason for either. The summary of The Trial took up a significant amount of the book, which I should remind you is marketed on how concise it is. Furthermore, and a very nit picky note, the author explained a the end of The Trial’s parable incorrectly. It was a minor mistake that a slip of the tongue could explain but it changes the possible meaning of the parable. Kafka even explored the importance of this nuance in The Trial itself - how this mistake slipped past the author and editors is beyond me, especially considering the end of this book quotes the parable in it entirety (which, at the very least, did save me a trip to my bookshelf to confirm the author made a mistake).

With that all said, the book still does it’s job and wouldn’t try to prevent anyone from picking it up. Just be sure to read The Trial and The Metamorphosis first if you want to go into those stories blind.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my third or fourth Paul Strathern summary of someone, and it was my favorite. That might be because I knew absolutely nothing of Franz Kafka before this little book. Or it might be the writing or story-telling was better, who knows.

That said - here's what to expect: a thorough biography of the man along with his historical context, and a brief summary and interpretation of his major works. For me, that was just what I was looking for. I do believe I'm going to try and read/listen to Kafka's Metamorphosis and the Trial, and given my shallow taste in literature, I honestly expect I won't like them. Hah. I felt that way about Camus, Lewis Carroll and Flannery O'Connor - there's little doubt that the great writers write in layers I don't understand. Kafka leaves his stories up to interpretation, which normally I'm impatient with, and probably means I'm more of prose-type-o-fellow.

The thing I'll probably most remember though is Kafka's story. He died at 40 with TB, practically unheard of and left a pile of manuscripts with his only friend Max Bord, and told him to not read them and then to burn the lot of it. Thankfully he did not. Bord, himself a successful writer - lived to the ripe age of 84 and published (I believe it was) 83 works. Today Kafka is revered as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Bord seems to be barely remembered as little more than Kafka's biographer. My question is this: if you could chose to live one of their lives, which would you choose? :)

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kafka is an amazing writer, and this is a good summary of his biography and key works. While a lot of visual artists often get "discovered" after they die, Kafka as an author was much more successful after his death, thanks to a friend who saved and promoted his work.

Interesting how he sublimated his personal insecurities into somewhat-unhinged personal letters and amazing books, separating the two pretty clearly. Also what a big role tuberculosis played in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Kafka wrote before some of the events of the 20th century which could best be described as "Kafkaesque" happened or were widely known (peak state Communism/Stalinism, the Nazis, the hypertrophied bureaucratic state of today), but his writing was open-eneded enough to allow a lot of interpretations of each story.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me perturbó un poco que las marcas de subjetividad del autor del libro estuviesen tan presentes, pero a pesar de aquello creo que presenta de forma muy sintética puntos claves de la vida y obra de Kafka, cuestiones que en algún sentido pueden ayudar a comprender mejor su visión de mundo y, por ende, su trabajo.

Está bien, pero es más nutritivo leer a Kafka directamente.

Si alguien no ha leído nada de lo que Kafka ha escrito, no le recomendaría que leyera este libro ya que habla explícitamente sobre el argumento de sus obras, entonces podría producir spoilers (aunque bueno, todo va a depender de cuánto le importe a quien lea el spoilearse xd).

[Kyle Bartsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exactly what it says, a biography of Franz Kafka read in 90 minutes. It succinctly tells the story and life of the titular author, going through his personal life as well as his works, delving into psycho-analytics of his writings. Due to the content and nature of the book, spoilers for his writings are prevalent so if you have a desire to read his books for yourself, I suggest doing so before reading this one, namely, the trial, investigations of a dog, the metamorphosis, the castle, letter to my father, and a smattering of his short stories.
Good little book about one of the greatest writers in modern history.

[Amy]

These series are interesting, and fits my purpose very well, since it gives a memorable high level picture of the person, complete with the period background and the major life events, in highly colloquial language. The hope is that now I have a general understanding of who they are and their main ideas, and when (if) I go on to read their works I can better see how details from them fit into their framework. This may well be a good structure building process for me.

[Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب کوتاه ولی مفیدی هست که زندگی نامه کافکا از تولد تا مرگ شرح میدهد همچنین تاثیر پدرش بر کافکا و کمک دوستش برای معروف کردن کافکا ، شرح و تفسیر آثار قصر مسخ آمریکا محاکمه در کتاب آمده ولی یه ایرادی که داره پایان داستان هارو اسپویل کرده آخر کتاب نوشته های کافکا اومده تا با قلم نویسنده بیشتر آشنا بشوید

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mistake not, there are better books about Kafka, but if you have read perhaps one of his books and want to brief introduction to the writer and his work you will find it here. Do not skip the readings at the end. You might want to consult the timeline every so often while reading the text.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not find this to be quite satisfactory as I don't think I learned very much about Kafka or about his work that I couldn't have learned from the Wikipedia article.

To be fair, Kafka seems to be a difficult person to really understand.

[Jun · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short introduction, Kafka’s life and work are beautifully integrated and clearly explained without need to understand the context beforehand. It is a great help to get an overall understanding of the writer without having read any of his work.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

«همیشه چیزها در خانه طور دیگری است. موطنِ کهنهٔ انسان، اگر با آگاهی در آن زندگی کند، با آگاهی کامل نسبت به بستگی‌ها و وظیفه‌هایش در برابر دیگران، همیشه تازه است. انسان در واقع تنها از این راه، از راهِ بستگی هاست که آزاد می‌شود..» گفتگو باکافکا، اثر گوستاو یانوش

[Kara Mealer · Rating 2 out of 5]

And now I know I don't ever want to read Kafka