New Releases by Franz Kafka

This is an illustrated edition featuring striking illustrations, a detailed summary, an author biography, and a complete list of characters. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is one of the most powerful and haunting works of twentieth-century literature — a profound exploration of alienation, identity, and the absurdity of human existence. The story follows Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect. As Gregor grapples with his shocking new reality, his family’s reaction reveals the fragility of compassion and the isolating nature of modern life. This illustrated edition vividly captures the unsettling beauty and psychological depth of Kafka’s masterpiece. With expressive artwork accompanying the text, readers can experience the surreal world of Gregor Samsa like never before. In addition, this edition includes: A comprehensive summary to deepen understanding of the novel’s themes and symbolism A biography of Franz Kafka, offering insight into the author’s life and literary vision A character list to guide readers through the story’s complex relationships Both timeless and thought-provoking, Metamorphosis remains a cornerstone of modern literature — a tale that continues to challenge and captivate readers around the world.

This beautifully designed hardcover edition in the Dover Bookshelf series presents five riveting short stories capturing Franz Kafka''s blend of the mundane and surreal. Includes "The Metamorphosis," "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy." English translation by Stanley Appelbaum.

The Trial (German: Der Process) is a novel Franz Kafka about a character named Josef K., who awakens one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime. According...

The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka best known works, The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect subsequently struggling to adjust to this new condition. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, with differing interpretations being offered.

Since his death in 1924, Kafka has come to be regarded as one of the greatest modern writers, one whose work brilliantly explores the anxiety, futility, and complexity of modern life. The precision and clarity of Kafka''s style, its powerful symbolism, and his existential exploration of the human condition have given his work universal significance. In addition to the title selection, considered by many critics Kafka''s most perfect work, this collection includes "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy."

The Squashed edition of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Abridged from the original text to read in an hour or so. Squashed editions are precise abridgements - the original ideas, in their own words, the full beam of the book, the quotable quotes and all the famous lines, but neatly honed down to the length of a readable short story. ""Like reading the bible without all the begats"" - Prof. Jim Curtis

The Metamorphosis

In the Penal Colony is a short story by Franz Kafka written in German in October 1914, revised in November 1918, and first published in October 1919. The story is set in an unnamed penal colony. Internal clues and the setting on an island suggest Octave Mirbeau''s The Torture Garden as an influence. As in some of Kafka''s other writings, the narrator in this story seems detached from, or perhaps numbed by, events that one would normally expect to be registered with horror. "In the Penal Colony" describes the last use of an elaborate torture and execution device that carves the sentence of the condemned prisoner on his skin before letting him die, all in the course of twelve hours. As the plot unfolds, the reader learns more and more about the machine, including its origin and original justification. The story focuses on the Explorer, who is encountering the brutal machine for the first time. Everything about the machine and its purpose is told to him by the Officer. The Soldier and the Condemned (who is unaware that he has been sentenced to die) placidly watch from nearby. The Officer tells of the religious epiphany the executed experience in their last six hours in the machine. Eventually, it becomes clear that the use of the machine and its associated process of justice – the accused is always instantly found guilty, and the law he has broken is inscribed on his body as he slowly dies over a period of 12 hours – has fallen out of favor with the current Commandant. The Officer is nostalgic regarding the torture machine and the values that were initially associated with it. As the last proponent of the machine, he strongly believes in its form of justice and the infallibility of the previous Commandant, who designed and built the device. In fact, the Officer carries its blueprints with him and is the only person who can properly decipher them; no one else is allowed to handle these documents.

Description of a Struggle is a three-part story written by Franz Kafka between 1903 and 1907. It constitutes his oldest surviving work and was only published after his death. The first and third sections describe Prague society- and night-life from the point of view of the author and his acquaintance. The central section can be viewed as a fantastical dream sequence divided into several sub-sections. Kafka wrote two versions of this story.

The Trial (original ger title: Der Prozess) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 but not published until 1925. One of Kafka''s best-known works, it tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed to neither him nor the reader. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

A son’s poignant letter to his father—from the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial, and one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. • “One of the great confessions of literature.” —The New York Times Book Review Franz Kafka wrote this letter to his father, Hermann Kafka, in November 1919. Max Brod, Kafka’s literary executor, relates that Kafka actually gave the letter to his mother to hand to his father, hoping it might renew a relationship that had lost itself in tension and frustration on both sides. But Kafka’s probing of the deep flaw in their relationship spared neither his father nor himself. He could not help seeing the failure of communication between father and son as another moment in the larger existential predicament depicted in so much of his work. Probably realizing the futility of her son’s gesture, Julie Kafka did not deliver the letter but instead returned it to its author.

"Brings together, for the first time in English, Kafka''s most interesting professional writings, composed during his years as a high-ranking lawyer with the largest Workmen''s Accident Insurance Institute in the Czech Lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire"--Publisher marketing.

From the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial—one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century—the haunting tale of K.’s relentless, unavailing struggle with an inscrutable authority in order to gain access to the Castle. Translated and with a preface by Mark Harman. Arriving in a village to take up the position of land surveyor for the mysterious lord of a castle, the character known as K. finds himself in a bitter and baffling struggle to contact his new employer and go about his duties. The Castle''s original manuscript was left unfinished by Kafka in 1922 and not published until 1926, two years after his death. Scrupulously following the fluidity and breathlessness of the sparsely punctuated original manuscript, Mark Harman’s new translation reveals levels of comedy, energy, and visual power previously unknown to English language readers.

The first and most charming of Kafka''s three great novels is given full justice in this new translation that returns to the manuscript version of the book