NO, you are saying he wasn´t "a German" in the way YOU claim.
You nationality stuff doesn´t work in his times, he was from a german minority in Prague.
His mothertongue was german and german culture was part of Bohemia since centuries.
He was cultural influnced by Flaubert, Nietzsche Kiekegaard and Freud, and never believed in the jewish god...

Jamie you should first think about what you say and look at reliable sources to confirm it.
I don´t know what you know about german culture and history, but saying he was no german author would even had insulted Kafka. Although he himself gave a damn about Austria-Hungary or the German Reich.

Miro's posts are like Texas longhorns- a point here, a point there, but a whole load of bull in between.

It really isn't worth responding to him.

That was the dumbest post of all time? Stop being such a troll mate. It doesn't suit you.

All I said was that the Austrian Empire was an Imperial entity, and that it included many national entities. Bulgarians had Bulgarian culture before it became a modern nation-state. So did Czechs and so did Jews. Don't give me this crap about State structure defining identity because it isn't true. That is all I was saying. It doesn't change things that Bohemia wasn't indepedent for centuries.

Now, regarding his influences; it is true that Kafka spoke German and was influenced by German culture, but that does not mean that he can be claimed as a primarily German cultural icon. He lived and breathed Jewish culture despite not being religious, and though he spoke German, the mother tongues of his parents were Czech and Hungarian.

Also, Flaubert as a German influence!?

Wasn't he a Frenchman?
Come to think of it, Kafka could also speak French. Hmmmm

Anyways, can we agree that your nationalistic silliness of calling Kafka German is a bit of a stretch? We can all agree that he clearly influenced and was influenced by German culture, but this ought not to be an either - or thing.

Ghost only because i know more stuff about that issue, it´s not ment to to make you cry :-(
I don´t know where you are from, and why you feel so uncomfortable with the fact Kafka was a german author, but i guess you have prejudice about Germans. I recognized this behavior many times in forums.

I think if you keep your hate-behavior, it´s no worth for me responding you.

@sir richard = Jamiet99uk

Oh you are multiaccounting, nice to know...

Hmm sorry, take that as my rant. Didn't mean to be logged in to his account.

"We can all agree that he clearly influenced and was influenced by German culture, but this ought not to be an either - or thing. "
You made it an either - or thing, i spelled out he is a german author and i have a wider view on german culture than you.

sir richard = friendly sword

nice multiaccounting, jamie your not guilty of cheating, my failure

Your stupid and a jackass.

Nice combo

Frank Who?

Sweet, something obiwan and I can both be excited about. I'm a really big fan of Kafka, especially The Trial and "The Metamorphosis". My favorite, by far though, is "In the Penal Colony."

It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

I am 100% definetely not 'Sir Richard' - but I don't think Friendly Sword would be a multi either.

Sir Richard / FS, can you explain Sir Richard's post please? Perhaps FS is sitting for Sir Richard, or vice versa?

Isn't Sir Richard and FS a father and son sharing the same computer? I think I saw that a while back.

I would suspect he's sitting for SR. I've done this myself while sitting for others.

Now who brought Gandhi into this *smacks ghosts head*

And that said, learn to spell his name for chrissakes. All of you.

Whoever said we should destroy his works and obey his wishes:

Sorry, but forget THAT- as much as I admire a great writer like Kafka, that's precisely why I say screw his wishes here, his works are good and as the poor fellow's dead it'll cause the greatest possible good for the greatest number to release the works, we get more of his great writing, and he's dead, so even if he were living and would be miserable about it if he knew...he's not.

Plus since we already know of his other works since they weren't burned according to his wishes, the genie's out of the bottle anyway, really...

kafka sucks.


for proof, see the trial

"Miro's posts are like Texas longhorns- a point here, a point there, but a whole load of bull in between."

HEY TGM I TAKE ISSUE!!!!!!!

lol

@ Thucy: I agree that the trial is not a great novel. However you must bear in mind that it was unfinished when he died, and he did not want it to be published.

@Obiwan: So, once people are dead, there is no need to observe their wishes?

Setting aside Kafka's creative integrity, and his right to decide whether his work should be published or not, ignoring the wishes of the dead causes direct harm to society. People need to be able to write a will, etc, in the reasonable certainty that their wishes will be respected out after their death. Think of the amount of worry and concern you would cause to people by undermining that.

Now, turning to Kafka himself, if you are a fan of his (which you seem to be), don't you think you are being massively disrespectful to him by calling for his clearly-expressed wishes to be ignored?

@Jamiet, remarkably, I am in full agreement with you r.e. last wishes, but how far would you extend it, given that your beliefs prohibit you from giving my answer: they have the right to decide what happens to their own property.

I just think that if we have a society where writing wills and expressing your last wishes is an accepted practice that most, if not all people, consider acceptable, then we have a duty to respect those wishes, because if we don't, we undermine the whole process.

Why would I write a will if I had no idea whether or not my instructions would be followed?