The Castle

Name: The Castle
Rating: 3.811965811965812 (117 reviews)
Author: Franz Kafka
ISBN: 9780141183442

by Franz Kafka

3.8

(117 ratings)

304 pages2000Penguin UKISBN 9780141183442

Fiction Classics

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About this book

A surreal work of psychological horror, Franz Kafka's The Castle is translated by J. A. Underwood with an introduction by Idris Parry in Penguin Modern Classics. The Castle is the story of K., the unwanted Land Surveyor who is never to be admitted to the Castle nor accepted in the village, and yet cannot go home. As he encounters dualities of certainty and doubt, hope and fear, and reason and nonsense, K.'s struggles in the absurd, labyrinthine world where he finds himself seem to reveal an inexplicable truth about the nature of existence. Kafka began The Castle in 1922 and it was never finished, yet this, the last of his three great novels, draws fascinating conclusions that make it feel strangely complete. Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was a Czech-born German-speaking insurance clerk who despised his job, preferring to spend his time writing. Nevertheless, Kafka published little during his lifetime, and ordered his closest friend to burn the mass of unpublished manuscripts, now familiar to us as some of the most influential novels and short stories of the twentieth century, after his death. Kafka's novels, all published posthumously, include The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika. If you enjoyed The Castle, you might like Kafka's Metamorphosis and Other Stories, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'Every time you read The Castle, you find something new in it' Sunday Times 'Kafka discovered the hitherto unknown possibilities of the novel' Milan Kundera 'Kafka may be the most important writer of the twentieth century' J.G. Ballard

Publication Details

Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 2000
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780141183442
Language: en

About Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka (gelegentlich tschechisch František Kafka, 3. Juli 1883, Prag, Österreich-Ungarn-3. Juni 1924, Kierling, Österreich) war ein österreichisch-tschechoslowakischer Schriftsteller. Er gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Vertreter der Prager deutschen Literatur und der deutschsprachigen Literatur des 20. Jahrhunderts. Seine Werke – darunter die drei Romanfragmente *Der Process, Das Schloss* und *Der Verschollene* sowie zahlreiche Erzählungen – gehören zum Kanon der Weltliteratur. Kafkas Werke wurden zum größeren Teil erst nach seinem Tod und gegen seine letztwillige Verfügung von Max Brod veröffentlicht, einem engen Freund und Vertrauten, den Kafka zu seinem Nachlassverwalter bestimmt hatte. Kafkas Schilderungen unergründlich bedrohlicher, absurder Situationen haben zur Bildung des auch im außerliterarischen Kontext verwendeten Adjektivs „kafkaesk“ geführt. ---------- Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language Jewish Czech writer and novelist born in Prague, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature, his work fuses elements of realism and the fantastique, and typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surreal predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. The term Kafkaesque has entered the lexicon to describe situations like those depicted in his writings. His best-known works include the novella *The Metamorphosis* (1915) and the novels *The Trial* (1924) and *The Castle* (1926). His work has widely influenced artists, philosophers, composers, filmmakers, literary historians, religious scholars, and cultural theorists. ([Source][1].) [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka