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'In recent decades, interest in hunger artists has greatly diminished.'
Kafka published two collections of short stories in his lifetime, A Country Doctor: Little Tales (1919) and A Hunger Artist: Four Stories (1924). Both collections are included in their entirety in this edition, which also contains other, uncollected stories and a selection of posthumously published works that have become part of the Kafka canon.
Enigmatic, satirical, often bleakly humorous, these stories approach human experience at a tangent: a singing mouse, an ape, an inquisitive dog, and a paranoid burrowing creature are among the protagonists, as well as the professional starvation artist. A patient seems to be dying from a metaphysical wound; the war-horse of Alexander the Great steps aside from history and adopts a quiet profession as a lawyer. Fictional meditations on art and artists, and a series of aphorisms that come close to expressing Kafka's philosophy of life, further explore themes that recur in his major novels. Newly translated, and with an invaluable introduction and notes, Kafka's short stories are haunting and unforgettable.
THE AEROPLANES AT BRESCIA
A COUNTRY DOCTOR: LITTLE TALES
The New Advocate
A Country Doctor
In the Gallery
An Ancient Manuscript
Before the Law
Jackals and Arabs
A Visit to the Mine
The Next Village
A Message from the Emperor
Odradek, or Cares of a Householder
Eleven Sons
A Brother's Murder
A Dream
A Report to an Academy
THE RIDER ON THE COAL-SCUTTLE
A HUNGER ARTIST: FOUR STORIES
First Sorrow
A Little Woman
A Hunger Artist
Josefine, the Singer or the Mouse-People
BLUMFELD, AN ELDERLY BACHELOR
AT THE BUILDING OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
THE HUNTSMAN GRACCHUS
INVESTIGATIONS OF A DOG
THE BURROW
SELECTED SHORTER PIECES
The Bridge
The Knock on the Courtyard Gate
TheTruth about Sancho Panza
The Spinning-Top
Cat and Mouse
On Parables
Give it up!
APHORISMS
Description
'In recent decades, interest in hunger artists has greatly diminished.'
Kafka published two collections of short stories in his lifetime, A Country Doctor: Little Tales (1919) and A Hunger Artist: Four Stories (1924). Both collections are included in their entirety in this edition, which also contains other, uncollected stories and a selection of posthumously published works that have become part of the Kafka canon.
Enigmatic, satirical, often bleakly humorous, these stories approach human experience at a tangent: a singing mouse, an ape, an inquisitive dog, and a paranoid burrowing creature are among the protagonists, as well as the professional starvation artist. A patient seems to be dying from a metaphysical wound; the war-horse of Alexander the Great steps aside from history and adopts a quiet profession as a lawyer. Fictional meditations on art and artists, and a series of aphorisms that come close to expressing Kafka's philosophy of life, further explore themes that recur in his major novels. Newly translated, and with an invaluable introduction and notes, Kafka's short stories are haunting and unforgettable.
