Book Review

Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories
by Franz Kafka

Publisher:  Schocken Books
ISBN:  0805210555

THE COMPLETE STORIES advertises itself as "the only available collection that brings together all of Kafka's stories." This is true as long as you remember that "stories" does not include any of his novels. But this volume is indeed a grand sampling of almost every one of Kafka's short stories and parables -- from "The Metamorphosis" to "A Chinese Puzzle" -- filling 512 pages!

As Joyce Carol Oates and others have already pointed out, Kafka was a master of the opening sentence:

"Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning." (The Trial/Der Prozess)

"'It's a remarkable piece of apparatus,' said the officer to the explorer..." (In the Penal Colony/In der Strafkolonie)

"Honored members of the Academy! You have done me the honor of inviting me to give you Academy an account of the life I formerly led as an ape." ("A Report to an Academy"/"Ein Bericht an eine Akademie")

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." (The Metamorphosis)

But Kafka's skill as a writer certainly does not end with his opening sentences. They lead us on into the surreal, nightmarish yet fascinating world of Kafka's mind. It is a mostly incomprehensible world in which few things make sense, but we are inevitably drawn to the similarities of that world to the "real" world -- a world that can at times be equally incomprehensible and mystifying. In a truly Kafkaesque twist of fate, almost two decades after his death, all three of Kafka's sisters would perish in the monstrous world of the Nazi Holocaust.

In addition to the thorough coverage of Kafka's shorter works, this volume includes several bonuses that I liked. These include a good bibliography, a chronology of Kafka's life, and notes on the works contained in COMPLETE STORIES. I particularly enjoyed the chronology's biographical and literary details, as well as the brief but interesting notes on each of the included works. I feel this helps increase one's enjoyment and understanding of Kafka's stories. For instance, one note draws on Kafka's "Diaries" (not included in this volume) to illuminate the author's frequent and intense dislike of his own work: "Great antipathy to 'Metamorphosis.' Unreadable ending. Imperfect almost to its very marrow." Of course, this is a sentiment with which few readers of Kafka would ever agree.

COMPLETE STORIES uses the skills of a variety of the better Kafka translators, including the team of Willa and Erwin Muir. I find the Muirs' translations of stories such as "The Metamorphosis" ("Die Verwandlung") superior to most other versions of Kafka in English. Kafka is not easy to translate (his style is deceptively simple and direct), but the Muirs succeed where others have been less successful.

Hyde Flippo, your Guide for German Language