the Scott Stein

Max Brod was Franz Kafka's lifelong friend and literary executor. Kafka only published a few of his works before he died, and had instructed Brod to destroy his remaining unpublished work. Brod famously disobeyed his friend, and eventually even Kafka's personal letters and diaries could be had in bookstores. Kafka went on to become one of the twentieth century's most influential authors. If you have read anything by Kafka, likely it was "The Metamorphosis" or "A Hunger Artist," his most frequently anthologized stories. "Letter to His Father" is also in some textbooks. Of his novels, The Trial is the one you might be familiar with.

Franz Kafka is Brod's biography of the famous author. Himself a successful writer, Brod's narrative includes analysis of Kafka's family life, religion, and writing. The biography gave me a sense of Kafka the person that is different from the one I had from the author's works. I'm not sure whether it's more or less accurate. Brod was such a central figure in Kafka's life, I would recommend his book to those who already have more than a casual interest in the author. The biography has value in that context, but I doubt it would be of much interest to readers in and of itself. Brod's style and references to and quotations from his own works (which I don't guess most people are interested in, despite one of the characters being based on Kafka) made for sometimes slow-going, though I definitely learned things I didn't know about Franz Kafka, and gained some insight into his work.

Max Brod's Franz Kafka will survive for as long as there is interest in Kafka. Although I am years past my K obsession that led me to write my master's thesis on him, I do recommend that readers check out the works by the author mentioned above, as starting points. When I get around to it, I will be writing Book Notes about Kafka's books.

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