Procesas; Pilis; Novelės

by Franz Kafka, Antanas Gailius (Translator), Jadvyga Bajarūnienė (Contributor)

Žymus austrų rašytojas F. Kafka (1883 – 1924), artimas ekspresionistams, savo romanuose, novelėse ir parabolėse atskleidė dvasinę savo epochos krizę, vienišo „mažojo žmogaus“ bejėgiškumą ir izoliaciją, neviltį ir ateities baimę.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

571 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking writer from Prague whose work became one of the foundations of modern literature, even though he published only a small part of his writing during his lifetime. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka grew up amid German, Czech, and Jewish cultural influences that shaped his sense of displacement and linguistic precision. His difficult relationship with his authoritarian father left a lasting mark, fostering feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inadequacy that became central themes in his fiction and personal writings.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.

Reviews

[Pavelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kafka siūlo tirštą literatūrinę sriubą, kurios per vieną prisėdimą daug nesuvalgysi. Tenka po kiekvieno šaukšto ilgai gromuloti, permąstyti, stebėtis. Valgai neskubėdamas ir stengiesi pasisavinti kiekvieną klampią metaforą. Supranti, kaip gerai šiame patiekale viskas randa savo vietą.

Tačiau ne mažiau svarbus ir kelias iki šios sriubos. Pirma tenka ilgai įrodinėti apsaugos poste, kad tu turi teisę patirti sriubos valgymo Procesą. Patekęs vidun, kažkaip manevruoji bandydamas palenkti savo pusėn gašliai žvelgiančią valgyklos darbuotoją. Dar prisistato du pagalbininkai, kurie primygtinai siūlosi padėti valgyti, nors tu jau ir sėdi pavalgęs prie tuščios lėkštės. Vis dėlto visi vargai verti to, kad galėtum išvysti “mįslingąjį Kafkos pasaulį”, kaip skelbiąs štai šios lėkštės dugnas.

[Mindaugas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apie F. Kafką žinojau tik iš mokykloje skaitytos "Metamorfozės" (žmogus netikėtai pavirsta baisiu vabalu). Tuomet šis kūrinys smarkokai pakratė smegenis. Paaiškėjo, kad literatūra gali būti kažkas daugiau nei Cvirka ar Žemaitė. Kad yra tokių dalykų, kaip metafora ir simbolis.
Dabar vėl į rankas pateko Kafka. Du romanai ("Procesas", "Pilis") ir eilė novelių (tarp jų ta pati "Metamorfozė").
Niūrios spalvos, slegianti nuotaika, siurrealūs personažai ir situacijos. Sunku suprasti, kur vyksta veiksmas, koks laikas. Sapnas.
Pagrindiniai herojai (Procese ir Pilyje) traiškomi biurokratinės mėsmalės. Aplink vien dviveidžiai, klastūnai arba idiotai. Ir jokios vilties, nes sistema visada laimi prieš žmogų.

Tikrai ne atostogų romaniūkštis.

[Rolandas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iš rinkinio įveikiau tik Procesą, Kafkos pasaulis per daug turi nevilties, bejėgiškumo ir vilties pakeisti likimą. Lapkričio mėnesiui norėtųsi kažkiek daugiau šviesos..

[Gediminas Kontrimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prikalkit prie Kafkos...