Reviews

The Essential Kafka: The Castle; The Trial; Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

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imafraidofwoolf's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

crisca's review

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

hayley_cook2's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Kafka is know for creating worlds that are so simple yet so confusing. I would recommend a deep dive into the various interpretations of this book and the life of Kafka before reading.

perky's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

fbarone's review against another edition

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5.0

Bela coleção de textos para entender melhor um dos maiores autores do século passado.

booksnpunks's review against another edition

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4.0

I genuinely adore Kafka and I'm so glad I got to read a lot of his work this month. This collection contains some of his most well known works such as The Trial, The Castle, and The Metamorphosis. As for it being 'essential' though, I was disappointed that it doesn't contain The Hunger Artist because that's a story I really wanted to read.
I read everything in here apart from the last half of The Castle because I wasn't enjoying the translation, and so I'm going to find a better translation of it and read that story again. However, I fell in love with The Trial and thought it was eerie, bleak and provided a dark portrayal of authoritarian rule. What works in this collection is the way many of Kafka's works connect with each other, such as A Letter to my Father which gives a bit of background to why Kafka's settings are very patriarchal and dominating.
Though I'm sad this wasn't the best translation I could've got I still absolutely loved reading these and think he's one of my favourite writers now. I'm only knocking off a star simply because I couldn't finish the Castle and there were more stories of Kafka's that I think should've been included.
If you're new to Kafka or want to try him out, definitely read the stories in this collection. He is a brilliant, tortured writer who grasps the absurdity of existence with a strange ease.