Franz Kafka - Biography and Works

Franz Kafka, a Jewish Czechoslovakian who wrote in German, ranks among the twentieth-century’s most acclaimed writers. He is often cited as the author whose works best evoke the bewildering oppressiveness of modern life, and though his writing accommodate a vast range of interpretation, his general perspective is inevitably one of anxiety and alienation.

His characters constantly face failure and futility, and they struggle to survive in a world that is largely unfeeling and unfamiliar. Kafka’s protagonists subject themselves to extraordinary torture contraptions, negotiate unfathomable bureaucratic mazes, and execute astounding transformations. It is a world in which a man becomes an insect and an ape becomes a sophisticate. Today, with genocide, madness, and even impending doom seen as everyday possibilities, Kafka’s voice sounds vital and prophetic. As Ernst Pawel wrote in The Nightmare of Reason: A Biography of Franz Kafka, Kafka articulates "the anguish of being human."

His major works are: The Trial (Der Prozess), The Castle (Das Schloss), Amerika and The Metamorphosis. Most of his works were published after his death.