• selokichtli@lemmy.ml
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      6 hours ago

      Metamorphosis is the go-to Kafka book. I personally find The Trial the most “kafkian” of his novels, and I love it, but Amerika has a special place in my heart as what defines his literature is trying to find a way out, like a little seedling.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      17 hours ago

      I did an entire semester on him, and maybe I’m just a philistine but for my money there was very little difference between Before the Law (a short story of ~650 words) and any of his longer works. So if you’ve read that and The Metamorphosis you know basically all you need to know about his writing.

      There are other interesting stories for sure (I’d recommend In the Penal Colony and The Trial as Bones also mentioned), but the themes are very much the same throughout-- which I suppose is why the work Kafkaesque exists.

    • mmddmm@lemm.ee
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      17 hours ago

      That one on the image. Metamorphosis is a fun short book that you show you what Kafka is about.

      On the other hand, The Trial is a long, heavy book that will make you feel like you have gone crazy. Personally, I can’t stand this one. (Though, it’s because it’s very good on what it intends to do.)