Aphorisms (The Schocken Kafka Library)

About this book

Kafkas aphorisms are fascinating glimpses into the lure and the enigma of the form itself. From the acclaimed author of The Metamorphosis and The Trialand one of the most acclaimed writers of the twentieth century. The aphorism eludes definition: it can appear to be a random jotting or a more polished observation. Whether arbitrary fragment or crystalline shard an aphorism captures the inception of a thought. Franz Kafka composed aphorisms during two periods in his life. A series of 109 was written between September 1917 and April 1918 in Zrau West Bohemia while Kafka was on a visit to his sister Ottla hoping for a brief respite following the diagnosis of the tuberculosis virus that would eventually claim his life. They were originally published in 1931 seven years after his death by his friend and literary executor Max Brod under the title Betrachtungen ber Snde Hoffnung Leid und den wahren Wag (Reflections on Sin Hope Suffering and the True Way). The second sequence of aphorisms numbering 41 originally appeared as entries in Kafkas diary from January 6 to February 29 1920. They too were published posthumously under the title Er: Aufzeichnungen aus dem Jahr 1920 (He: Reflections from the Year 1920).