3 Review(s)

Franz Kafka is among the most intriguing and influential writers of the last century. During his lifetime he worked as a civil servant and published only a handful of short stories, the best known being The Transformation. His other three novels, published after his death, helped to found his reputation as a uniquely perceptive interpreter of the twentieth century. Discussing both Kafka's crisis-ridden life and the subtleties of his art, Ritchie Robertson provides an intriguing and accessible look at the life of this fascinating author. Using Metamorphosis as a recurring example, Robertson shows how Kafka's work explores such characteristically modern themes as the place of the body in culture, the power of institutions over people, and the possibility of religion after Nietzsche had proclaimed "the death of God." Salient Features This is the most up-to-date book on Kafka, a much-read and much-studied writer of enduring appeal A short, accessible, and attractive book for general readers which focuses on the themes and motifs in Kafka's work Part of the VSI series; nearly 1 million VSIs have been sold