Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121556 in Books
• Published on: 1988-11-01
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Synopsis
Journal entries share Kafka's thoughts and observations during the ten years before his death.

Customer Reviews

An invaluable resource for anyone studying Kafka.
Kafka left instructions with Max Brod to burn all of these journals. Max, however, believed they were too important to be lost and devoted himself to organizing the diaries for publication. Kafka made his entries in a manner convenient for himself: starting at the back, writing upside down, changing journals daily. All of this made the task of organizing them very difficult. Max Brod did a tremendous job and only misjudged the placement of a handful of entries. The diaries themselves contain a lot of things no writer would want seen. They are fragments, drafts, and sketches he worked on during the nights. Most are not very good--as they are. Their value comes in the later, published, incarnations. These writings give us a little insight into the way Franz Kafka worked. Several of the entries are worked and reworked over a period of years. They show subtle shifts in Kafka's insight, perspective, and craftsmanship.