Saul FriedlÃ¤nder
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a highly original and engaging appraisal of Kafkaâ€™s life, work, legacy, and thought,Franz Kafka was the poet of his own disorder. Throughout his life he struggled with a pervasive sense of shame and guilt that left traces in his daily existenceâ€”in his many letters, in his extensive diaries, and especially in his fiction. This stimulating book investigates some of the sources of Kafkaâ€™s personal anguish and its complex reflections in his imaginary world.,In his query, Saul FriedlÃ¤nder probes major aspects of Kafkaâ€™s life (family, Judaism, love and sex, writing, illness, and despair) that until now have been skewed by posthumous censorship. Contrary to Kafkaâ€™s dying request that all his papers be burned, Max Brod, Kafkaâ€™s closest friend and literary executor, edited and published the authorâ€™s novels and other works soon after his death in 1924. FriedlÃ¤nder shows that, when reinserted in Kafkaâ€™s letters and diaries, deleted segments lift the mask of â€œsainthoodâ€ frequently attached to the writer and thus restore previously hidden aspects of his individuality.
Biography,Criticism,Literary Criticism,Nonfiction,History
Franz Kafka: The Poet of Shame and Guilt