Reiner Stach

kāfkā as-sanawāt alʾūla

This volume of Reiner Stach's acclaimed and definitive biography of Franz Kafka tells the story of the final years of the writer's life, from 1916 to 1924--a period during which the world Kafka had known came to an end. Stach's riveting narrative, which reflects the latest findings about Kafka's life and works, draws readers in with nearly cinematic precision, zooming in for extreme close-ups of Kafka's personal life, then pulling back for panoramic shots of a wider world blighted by World War I, disease, and inflation. In these years, Kafka was spared military service at the front, yet his work as a civil servant brought him into chilling proximity with its grim realities. He was witness to unspeakable misery, lost the financial security he had been counting on to lead the life of a writer, and remained captive for years in his hometown of Prague. The outbreak of tuberculosis and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire constituted a double shock for Kafka, and made him agonizingly aware of his increasing rootlessness. He began to pose broader existential questions, and his writing grew terser and more reflective, from the parable-like Country Doctor stories and A Hunger Artist to The Castle. A door seemed to open in the form of a passionate relationship with the Czech journalist Milena Jesenská. But the romance was unfulfilled and Kafka, an incurably ill German Jew with a Czech passport, continued to suffer. However, his predicament only sharpened his perceptiveness, and the final period of his life became the years of insight.

Kafka, the Years of Insight

The eagerly anticipated final volume of the award-winning, definitive biography of Franz Kafka How did Kafka become Kafka? This eagerly anticipated third and final volume of Reiner Stach's definitive biography of the writer answers that question with more facts and insight than ever before, describing the complex personal, political, and cultural circumstances that shaped the young Franz Kafka (1883-1924). It tells the story of the years from his birth in Prague to the beginning of his professional and literary career in 1910, taking the reader up to just before the breakthrough that resulted in his first masterpieces, including "The Metamorphosis." Brimming with vivid and often startling details, Stach's narrative invites readers deep inside this neglected period of Kafka's life. The book's richly atmospheric portrait of his German Jewish merchant family and his education, psychological development, and sexual maturation draws on numerous sources, some still unpublished, including family letters, schoolmates' memoirs, and early diaries of his close friend Max Brod. The biography also provides a colorful panorama of Kafka's wider world, especially the convoluted politics and culture of Prague. Before World War I, Kafka lived in a society at the threshold of modernity but torn by conflict, and Stach provides poignant details of how the adolescent Kafka witnessed violent outbreaks of anti-Semitism and nationalism. The reader also learns how he developed a passionate interest in new technologies, particularly movies and airplanes, and why another interest--his predilection for the back-to-nature movement--stemmed from his "nervous" surroundings rather than personal eccentricity. The crowning volume to a masterly biography, this is an unmatched account of how a boy who grew up in an old Central European monarchy became a writer who helped create modern literature.

Kafka, the Early Years

Examines the influential writer's life and work between 1910 and 1915, during which Kafka became fascinated with early Zionism, shared an engagement with Felice Bauer, and wrote such works as "The Metamorphosis" and "The Trial."

The Decisive Years

Kafka

99 odhalení

To že je Kafka?

Out of the massive research for an authoritative 1,500-page biography emerges this wunderkammer of 99 delightfully odd facts about Kafka

99 Finds

Is that Kafka?

Roky poznání

Kafka. Roky rozhodování

Rané roky

Numa noite insone de 1912, Franz Kafka começou a compor a história que daria origem à novela O veredicto. Entusiasmado pelo processo da escrita, o jovem de 29 anos atravessaria a madrugada, colocando o ponto final na história quando os primeiros raios de sol apareciam do outro lado da janela. Esse momento é narrado com gosto e rigor informativo por Reiner Stach neste volume da monumental trilogia biográfica de Franz Kafka. Aqui, o biógrafo alemão, um dos maiores especialistas mundiais na obra do autor tcheco, concentra-se no que chama de "anos decisivos": o período entre 1910 e 1915, em que o jovem advogado experimenta a vida e a literatura. Trata-se de uma época movimentada para o autor de A metamorfose. Stach o captura durante suas incursões — nunca bem-sucedidas — no mundo sentimental de Kafka, com destaque para o relacionamento tortuoso com Felice Bauer, a relação com sua herança judaica, a vida social nos cafés literários, a chegada da Primeira Guerra Mundial. Reiner Stach revisita vida e obra com cuidado e sempre evitando oferecer uma chave interpretativa. Está interessado nos fatos. Fugindo do clichê do kafkiano, ele se dedica a esquadrinhar as pistas de como o próprio Kafka enxergava suas obras para além da vontade de leitores e críticos: "Não tenho interesse literário, sou feito de literatura, não sou nada além disso e nem posso ser nada além disso."

Os anos decisivos

Nel corso del lavoro per la sua monumentale biografia di Kafka, Reiner Stach ha isolato novantanove «reperti» che corrispondono ad altrettanti momenti ed episodi, testimoniati dallo scrittore stesso o da suoi amici e contemporanei. Tale mosaico ci mostra un Kafka poco conosciuto: frequentatore di casinò e bordelli, o di un collezionista di foto osé, o in ufficio in preda al fou rire di fronte al sussiegoso superiore, o fra gli appassionati di nuoto e d'aeroplani, o seduto in giostra in mezzo a ragazzine vocianti, ma anche abile falsificatore della firma altrui – si tratti di Thomas Mann o di una sedicenne vagheggiata a Weimar... Fra le sorprese che ci riserva il libro vi è la prima "Lettera al padre", rivolta ancora ai «Cari genitori», e la piantina dell'appartamento in cui Gregor Samsa si risveglia trasformato in un insetto. Se esilarante è la pubblica lettura della "Colonia penale" in una galleria di Monaco, dove gli astanti cadono in deliquio o fuggono, incapaci di reggere quell'«odore di sangue», mentre Kafka prosegue imperterrito, commovente è la storia delle lettere che lo scrittore attribuisce a una bambola persa in un parco di Berlino, per consolare una bambina in lacrime. Lettere perdute per sempre. Conservato è invece l'appello a Kafka di un infelice messo alle strette dalla cugina che non comprende il senso della "Metamorfosi".

99 reperti

Questo è Kafka?

Mientras se documentaba para su monumental biografía de Franz Kafka, Reiner Stach visitó numerosas bibliotecas y archivos de Praga e Israel, donde hizo incontables hallazgos fascinantes: manuscritos de una picardía o ternura extraordinarias, fotografías sorprendentes, fragmentos de cartas y testimonios de contemporáneos que vertían una inesperada luz sobre la personalidad y la obra del escritor praguense. En "¿Éste es Kafka?", Stach reúne los noventa y nueve hallazgos más inesperados, los sitúa comentando su procedencia o contrastándolos con la obra del escritor y nos descubre así algunas nuevas teselas del mosaico siempre incompleto de Kafka. Cada detalle examinado contribuye a desmontar el estereotipado mito del escritor neurótico y torturado, y pone al descubierto aspectos previamente ignorados de la colorida personalidad de uno de los mayores autores de todos los tiempos. "Stach tiene una mirada inquisitiva, ajena a los lugares comunes, que ve donde los demás no llegan". Elena Hevia, El Periódico "El Kafka que muestra Stach sorprende al lector de sus obras e incluso a quien conozca bien su biografía". César Cosas, El Correo "Probablemente sea Reiner Stach la persona que más sabe sobre Franz Kafka en todo el mundo. Después de la monumental biografía, ha seguido indagando y ha encontrado nuevas pistas que sirven para enriquecer un mosaico complejo. Fruto de esa labor es ¿Éste es Kafka?". Víctor Fernández, La Razón "Sin ser tan exhaustivo como en la biografía, pero sí igual de riguroso por las fuentes consultadas –diarios y correspondencia de Kafka, textos de sus allegados, fotografías, referencias de periódicos...– Stach esclarece desde 99 anécdotas el cliché de bicho raro". Jaime G. Mora, ABC "Esta serie de reflejos de Kafka en el espejo de contextos infrecuentes entrega al lector matices que favorecen la comprensión de su complejidad y sus contradicciones. Y sobre todo son un gozo añadido para el devoto. Un regalo". Héctor J. Porto, La Voz de Galicia "¿Éste es Kafka? alumbra anécdotas y vivencias que perfilan los gustos, emociones, deseos y aficiones de un creador, jovial y ocurrente". Iñigo Urrutia, El Diario Vasco "Stach repasa rigurosa y municiosamente cada detalle de la biografía del escritor y lo hace en una publicación tan ágil y entretenida como necesaria. Para cualquier admirador de Kafka los escritos de Reiner Stach son imprescindibles". Fulgencio Argüelles, El Comercio "Stach es un extraordinario e inteligente apéndice biográfico alternativo de la vida del gran autor praguense". Luis M. Alonso, La Nueva España "Este libro resulta algo desmitificador, un elemento que subraya la naturaleza terrenal del autor de La transformación". J. Ernesto Ayala-Dip, Las Provincias "¿Éste es Kafka? satisface nuestra curiosidad y humaniza a un creador que en el fondo y pese a sus inseguridades se sabía trascendente hasta el punto de confesar en sus diarios "yo soy la literatura"". Javier López Iglesias, hoyesarte "Un libro que nos invita a ir más allá del mito literario y los clichés sobre Kafka y su obra". Michael Dirda, The Whashington Post "Una maravillosa colección de curiosidades, en cada una de las cuales centellea la luz de ese faro siempre misterioso que fue Kafka". Jeffrey Zuckerman, The New Republic "Stach, increíblemente inspirado, ha complementado su monumental biografía con este breviario de detalles biográficos, en apariencia marginales, destinados a ofrecer lo que significativamente llama "imágenes alternativas" de Kafka". Morten Høi Jensen, Los Angeles Review of Books

99 hallazgos

¿Éste es Kafka?

Out of the massive research for an authoritative 1,500-page biography emerges this wunderkammer of 99 delightfully odd facts about Kafka In the course of compiling his highly acclaimed three-volume biography of Kafka, while foraying to libraries and archives from Prague to Israel, Reiner Stach made one astounding discovery after another: unexpected photographs, inconsistencies in handwritten texts, excerpts from letters, and testimonies from Kafka’s contemporaries that shed surprising light on his personality and his writing. Is that Kafka? presents the crystal granules of the real Kafka: he couldn’t lie, but he tried to cheat on his high-school exams; bitten by the fitness fad, he avidly followed the regime of a Danish exercise guru; he drew beautifully; he loved beer; he read biographies voraciously; he made the most beautiful presents, especially for children; odd things made him cry or made him furious; he adored slapstick. Every discovery by Stach turns on its head the stereotypical version of the tortured neurotic—and as each one chips away at the monolithic dark Kafka, the keynote, of all things, becomes laughter. For Is that Kafka? Stach has assembled 99 of his most exciting discoveries, culling the choicest, most entertaining bits, and adding his knowledge-able commentaries. Illustrated with dozens of previously unknown images, this volume is a singular literary pleasure.

Reiner Stach

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