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Franz Kafka - Collected Works
Table of Contents:
- The Metamorphosis
- A Country Doctor
- A Hunger Artist
- A Report for an Academy
- An Imperial Message
- Before the Law
- In the Penal Colony
- Jackals and Arabs
- The Great Wall of China
- The Hunter Gracchus
- The Trial
- Up in the Gallery
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2012
581 people are currently reading
358 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,043 books37.1k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 5, 2025
Wildly variable in quality, as would be expected in such a collection. For Kafka completists.
May 24, 2025
give us this day our daily bread and we will eat of it…
September 23, 2017
Great collection of German Author Franz Kafka. I'll admit, Metamorphosis was my favorite. This is literary reading and can be a little dry for some, but if you're looking for classic lit with some horror thrown in, this is good reading.
February 20, 2016
The shorter works and Metamorphosis are perfectly enjoyable. But the translation of The Trial in here is almost unreadable. It's shockingly stodgy prose. I'll have to seek out a much better translation of it. This review isn't really to do with the stories at all. I would recommend to any reader to do a bit more research into a quality translation than I did. I got this one because it was cheap on the Kindle Store. Not always the best idea.
September 10, 2018
Metamorphosis is CRAZY. AWESOME.
January 20, 2020
unlike anything I've ever read. sickening and disorientating
Read
January 22, 2023O maior
February 27, 2025
My first time reading Kafka. Not typically a fan of short stories but I liked these.
March 14, 2017
Kafka is one of those authors I have been putting off reading. I'm glad I finally decided to dive in. Now that I've read him, I can see his influence on other writers. I think he's a big influence on the new weird fiction movement, more so than Lovecraft. That sense of being at the mercy of these massive uncaring influences we have no control over - not elder gods, just bureaucracies made up of people, which is frightening enough! My only beef is with this edition. It's cheap, but there are way too many transcription errors. It's a bit distracting. It might be good to spend a bit more for a better edition.
March 8, 2017
A good collection. "The Metamorphosis" was of course very good, but I enjoyed "The Trial" especially. Some stories were only a few pages long, but I found the collection very interesting.
February 27, 2016
Just an incredible collection. His influence on literature is immense…..
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Kafka strongly influenced genres such as existentialism. Most of his works, such as "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), "Der Prozess" ("The Trial"), and "Das Schloss" ("The Castle"), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.
Table of Contents:
- The Metamorphosis
- A Country Doctor
- A Hunger Artist
- A Report for an Academy
- An Imperial Message
- Before the Law
- In the Penal Colony
- Jackals and Arabs
- The Great Wall of China
- The Hunter Gracchus
- The Trial
- Up in the Gallery (less)
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Kafka strongly influenced genres such as existentialism. Most of his works, such as "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), "Der Prozess" ("The Trial"), and "Das Schloss" ("The Castle"), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.
Table of Contents:
- The Metamorphosis
- A Country Doctor
- A Hunger Artist
- A Report for an Academy
- An Imperial Message
- Before the Law
- In the Penal Colony
- Jackals and Arabs
- The Great Wall of China
- The Hunter Gracchus
- The Trial
- Up in the Gallery (less)
August 21, 2019
To be fair, I only read a few stories, but wow. I'm totally obsessed with "In the Penal Colony." Kafka was a truly gifted writer, and I'm blown away that most of these works were written in Germany during WWI. I mean to dive back into this book.
December 27, 2020
The stories make me feel uncomfortable, which pushes me to think. It is important, in my opinion, to put yourself in very uncomfortable positions to get a different worldview. His life seems to be poured into the akwardeness and pain of his life.
October 23, 2024
Solid collection.
Many of the works demonstrate Maria's deep skill in describing characters and scenes. The Metamorphosis is the centerpiece, but the other works lend insight to his style and delivery.
Many of the works demonstrate Maria's deep skill in describing characters and scenes. The Metamorphosis is the centerpiece, but the other works lend insight to his style and delivery.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews