Well lads... is it true? Is Kafka overrated?
Well lads... is it true? Is Kafka overrated?
Zachary Edwards
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Isaiah Moore
>the atlantic
Jesus christ, what a fucking idiot. Who is Mr. fucking Atlantic to say what makes a great writer? Kafka was an absolute genius, one of the most truthful writers to ever exist. This idiot has such a narrow-minded conception of literature, seemingly based off of cliches he heard from other people. I hate modern society's arrogance in the face of the classics.
Matthew Adams
This. I can't believe The Atlantic ran that. Kafka was massively influential ... unlike Joseph Epstein or whatever fraud wrote that hit piece. That was almost painful to read due to its ignorance.
Robert Adams
>Great writers are impressed by the mysteries of life; poor Franz Kafka was crushed by them.
Is he saying here that Proust wasn't crushed by life? Because he definitely was, in a different way than Kafka, but in all honesty, all great writers are crushed and broken.
Christian Hill
It's true. Anyone who has ever read Flannery O'Connor knows it.
>It’s too long for a dream. Allegories should be short
Yep.
>dreams, however gripping they can be, are aesthetically unsatisfying, especially in their endings. Kafka himself did not find the ending of “The Metamorphosis,” his greatest story, satisfying, and it isn’t
Yep
>Without belief in Freud, Kafka’s stories lose their weight and authority.
Yep.
Fuck Freud, fuck psycho-sexual babble, fuck Kafka and fuck D.H. Lawrence.
Chase Powell
>Influential
Get the fuck back to /mu/ dipshit.
Wyatt Sullivan
>I hate modern society's arrogance
>one of the most truthful writers to ever exist
You must have your finger right on the pulse to see diagnose so trenchantly
Henry Collins
Why is a dream aesthetically unpleasing? You can't just say it is and not explain why it isn't.
Samuel Ortiz
*unsatisfying
Levi Russell
not unpleasing, unsatisfying, "especially in their endings"
A beautiful painting left unfinished is not a beautiful painting.
To think that Kafka, whose stories are digressive without purpose (or with a thought-stultifying Freudian purpose), has anything in common with Joyce is preposterous.
Evan Thompson
For the same reason Situationalism/Letterism/Dada is a dead end. It's "revolutionary" without being revolutionary, "thought-provoking" without provoking any real thought except for mind-numbing searches for allegory. Ever notice the people who most love Kafka are the ones who insist stories mean something? Who most insist on interpretation? Yet, as the article correctly points out, they always refuse to say that Kafka stories mean anything.
If you don't interpret Kafka stories, they're totally pointless; if you do interpret them you get nothing but Freudian sand slipping through your fingers.
Isaiah Lee
He got RageAfterStorm fired from her job.
Logan Collins
>especially in their endings
So not only in their endings
>A beautiful painting left unfinished is not a beautiful painting.
If you actually knew something about art you would know that statement is bullshit
No that's exactly the problem. People always need this interpretation of Kafka, when that's completely besides the point. The stories speak for themselves, you shouldn't explain them to death. Of course they "mean" something, but the meaning is completely evident, don't try and look for some hidden clues on what he 'mean by this'. Take what you read at face value, if you don't feel it, too bad.
Jordan Clark
Is paint accidentally spilled so that it looks like mona lisa beautiful art?
Jose Cruz
>Kafka, in other words, is given a pass on criticism. The argument is that he cannot finally be explained, but merely read, appreciated, and reread until his meaning, somehow, washes over you.
Gavin Cook
Never said he cannot be explained, I said he shouldn't be explained, as it is obvious what he is trying to convey. Do you also need an interpreter to tell you what Proust was saying in his work?
Henry Cox
>one of the most truthful writers to ever exist
How is he even a quarter as truthful as the Russians? Please tell me.
Jaxson Lewis
>The Russians
Which Russians? Quite a broad stroke my man.
Anthony Diaz
Judging Kafka by the English translations of his work is retarded
Ryan King
Why?
Mason Long
kafka is widely acclaimed because many people resonate with his stories although they don't really know why. his opaqueness is a feature and makes out his timelessness.
in kafka we found the rare example of someone who didn't understand life and still is right.
however we still have to move beyond kafka in order to overcome this fucking condition
Brody Ward
He is way too influential to be overrated
Jack Butler
>Kafka himself did not find the ending of “The Metamorphosis,” his greatest story, satisfying, and it isn’t
disagree.
Kevin Thompson
>Kafka himself did not find the ending of “The Metamorphosis,” his greatest story, satisfying, and it isn’t
Is it supposed to be, though?
Jeremiah Roberts
Why would you post a Google referral to a propaganda rag? (it can be ok sometimes so I don't blame you for reading it)
Matthew Harris
>His greatest proponents, insisting that he is, cannot say why, and ask for a permanent moratorium on conventional criticism of his writing.
False. Kafka's works are famously critical of parental abuse, the hard edges of capitalism, the disempowerment we find in bureaucracy, and many other key elements of modern society. These themes can and should be analyzed, and such analysis is, really, not that hard. Failure to see the point indicates remarkably shallow reading.
All that being said, in the words of le ebbin water man:
>Great short stories and great jokes have a lot in common. [. . .] The psychology of jokes helps account for part of the problem in teaching Kafka. We all know that there is no quicker way to empty a joke of its peculiar magic than to try to explain it.
Again, you can (and, if you want to, should) analyze Kafka. But when you do, you lose a bit of the magic. I'd contend that what makes great literature has little or nothing to do with analysis, but instead with feeling, and the skill the author uses to evoke feeling. In this, Kafka is nearly unrivaled.
Ryan Brooks
Don't cut yourself on that edge, kid. You seem not only to ignore freudian texts, but to ignore sexuality as well.
Liam Jackson
Oh, boy! Please show us something worth reading which does not require interpretation.
Andrew Howard
Realism approaches some aspects of truth. Kafka's writings speak for others. If youo miss that, then you should ask yourself why are you living such a simplistic life.