Like George Orwell, Franz Kafka has given his name to a world of nightmare, but in Kafka's world, it is never completely clear just what the nightmare is. The Trial, where the rules are hidden from even the highest officials, and if there is any help to be had, it will come from unexpected sources, is a chilling, blackly amusing tale that maintains, to the very end, a relentless atmosphere of disorientation. Superficially about bureaucracy, it is in the last resort a description of the absurdity of 'normal' human nature. Still more enigmatic is The Castle. Is it an allegory of a quasi-feudal system giving way to a new freedom for the subject? The search by a central European Jew for acceptance into a dominant culture? A spiritual quest for grace or salvation? An individual's struggle between his sense of independence and his need for approval? Is it all of these things? And K? Is he opportunist, victim, or an outsider battling against elusive authority? Finally, in his fables, Kafka deals in dark and quirkily humorous terms with the insoluble dilemmas of a world which offers no reassurance, and no reliable guidance to resolving our existential and emotional uncertainties and anxieties.

Only yesterday, Gregor Samsa was a meek salesman, browbeaten by his unappreciative employer and depended on fiercely by his ungrateful family. This morning, Gregor awakens to discover that, overnight, he has been transformed into a monstrous insect. As Gregor frantically tries to conceal his predicament, neither his family nor his unsympathetic employer accept that a terrible metamorphosis has upended his existence. Is Gregor’s condition only temporary? Will he eventually revert back to the person he was and resume his normal life? Or might he have to accept that his transformation is only an outward expression of how he—and those in his life—actually see him? First published in 1915, Kafka’s best-known tale has inspired numerous interpretations for more than a century and helped to establish the term “Kafkaesque� as a reference to a bizarre and nightmarish experience. This collection of his short fiction, in a new translation, includes more than 30 of his short stories and sketches, including “In the Penal Colony,� “The Stoker,� “The Judgment,� “A Country Doctor,� “A Hunger Artist,� and more.  

The story itself, Kafka's most famous, hardly needs describing - a travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, wakes up one morning to find he has been transformed into an enormous bug - but Faber Finds is offering something rare, the very first English translation which has been out of print for over sixty years.

This pioneering translation by A. L. Lloyd was first published in 1937. A. L. Lloyd was multi-talented: ethnomusicologist, journalist, radio and television broadcaster, and translator. In this his centenary year (2008) Faber Finds is celebrating him in his first and last roles. His major work, Folk Song in England, is being reissued as are his Lorca and Kafka translations. As well as both being published in 1937 both were firsts; has anyone else had Spanish and German translations published in the same year?

It should also be mentioned that A. L. Lloyd was a lifelong communist. It is a delicious irony therefore that one of the first reviews of the Kafka was by Evelyn Waugh in the short-lived "Night" "and Day"; it was a good one too.

Kafka first made the acquaintance of Milena Jesenska in 1920 when she was translating his early short prose into Czech, and their relationship quickly developed into a deep attachment. Such was his feeling for her that Kafka showed her his diaries and, in doing so, laid bare his heart and his conscience. Milena, for her part, was passionate and intrepid, cool and intelligent in her decisions but reckless when her emotions were involved. Kafka once described her as living her life 'so intensely down to such depths'. If she did suffer through him, it was part of her great appetite for life. However while at times Milena's 'genius for living' gave Kafka new life, it ultimately exhausted him, and their relationship was to last little over two years. In 1924 Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna, and Milena died in 1944 at the hands of the Nazis, leaving these letters as a moving record of their relationship.

Superb collection by modern master explores the complexity, anxiety and futility of modern life. Excellent new English translations of the title story (considered by many critics Kafka's most perfect work), plus "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor" and "A Report to an Academy." Note.

Franz Kafka's letters to his one-time muse, Milena Jesenska - an intimate window into the desires and hopes of the twentieth-century's most prophetic and important writer Kafka first made the acquaintance of Milena Jesenska in 1920 when she was translating his early short prose into Czech, and their relationship quickly developed into a deep attachment. Such was his feeling for her that Kafka showed her his diaries and, in doing so, laid bare his heart and his conscience. While at times Milena's 'genius for living' gave Kafka new life, it ultimately exhausted him, and their relationship was to last little over two years. In 1924 Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna, and Milena died in 1944 at the hands of the Nazis, leaving these letters as a moving record of their relationship.

On the day after his thirtieth birthday, Josef K, a bank teller, is arrested by two mysterious agents of an unspecified organization. Confused and shocked, Josef inquires about the crime he is being accused of, but the agents will not answer, leaving Josef to decide what he feels most guilty for. Though he is not imprisoned, Josef is told to await further instructions. Tortured by the unknown, Josef returns to his home and tries to guess what he could be charged for. His landlady, Frau Grubach, feels amicably about Josef despite the arrest and wishes to help. She speculates that he is likely being punished for his promiscuous behavior involving one of his neighbors. Josef is unable to confirm this, but he does go to his neighbor, Fraulien, for comfort. While she does accept his affection and kiss at first, Fraulien later rejects Josef's advances. When he returns home, he is given unclear instructions for his court appearance. With an address, but not a specific report time, Josef arrives late to his trial, angering the assembly. When Josef vents his frustrations about the absurdity of the trial, he upsets the court even more. Still unclear on the charges he faces and the possible punishment, Josef feels the weight of guilt and the immeasurable high stakes as the trial proceeds. While he is thrown in a whirlwind of chaos and uncertainty, Josef pleas his innocence as he still investigates what crime he is being tried for. Through brilliant symbolism and excellent characterization, The Trial by Franz Kafka is an intelligent and intriguing perspective on the innerworkings of the justice system, told from the point of view of the guilty or accused. Published posthumously in 1925, The Trial has become one of Franz Kafka's most popular works, and has been adapted for film, radio, and theater. With several interpretations and possible meanings, Franz Kafka's The Trial provides a thrilling and thought-provoking reading experience for contemporary audiences. This edition of The Trial by Franz Kafka is accessible for modern readers with features such as its new, striking cover design and the stylish, readable font it is printed in.

'The supreme fabulist of modern man's cosmic predicament' John Updike 'The stories are dreamlike, allegorical, ghoulishly detached, exquisitely comic, numinous, and prophetic' New York Times The essential stories of one of the twentieth century's greatest and most influential writers No one has captured the modern experience, its wild dreams, strange joys, its neuroses and boredom, better than Franz Kafka. His vision, with its absurdity and twisted humour, has lost none of its force or relevance today. This essential collection, translated and selected by Alexander Starritt, casts fresh light on Kafka's genius. Alongside brutal depictions of violence and justice are jokes and deceptively slight, mysterious fables. These unforgettable pieces reflect the brilliance at the core of Franz Kafka, arguably most fully expressed within his short stories. Together they showcase a writer of unmatched imaginative depth, capable of expressing the most profound reality with a wry smile. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Alexander Starritt Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born to Jewish parents in Prague and wrote in German. He published only a few story collections and individual stories in literary magazines during his lifetime. The rest of his work was published posthumously. He is now considered one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.

A collection of Kafka's greatest short fiction, translated by Michael Hofmann Kafka's masterpiece of unease and black humour, Metamorphosis, the story of an ordinary man transformed into an insect, is brought together in this collection with the rest of his works that he thought worthy of publication. It includes Contemplation, a collection of his earlier short studies; The Judgement, written in a single night of frenzied creativity; The Stoker, the first chapter of a novel set in America; and an eyewitness account of an air display. Together, these stories, fragments and miniature gems reveal the breadth of his vision, his sense of the absurd, and above all his acute, uncanny wit. Translated with an introduction by Michael Hofmann

"Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."-W.H. Auden "The common experience of Kafka's readers is one of general and vague fascination, even in stories they fail to understand, a precise recollection of strange and seemingly absurd images and descriptions-until one day the hidden meaning reveals itself to them with the sudden evidence of a truth simple and incontestable." -Hannah Arendt With the profoundly unsettling story of Gregor Samsa's transformation into a gigantic insect, The Metamorphosis (1915) is Franz Kafka's best-known work and one of the most influential pieces of 20th century literature. Without ever leaving the setting of a single apartment, the notion of a vast disaffection takes on universal truths about the tolls of modern work and the mind-body divide. In the defining opening, "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a giant insect.", Franz Kafka begins what is one of the most analyzed and debated works of existential dread. As Gregor becomes acquainted with his new form, his boss arrives to reprimand him on his tardiness at work, and his family discovers the horrifying truth of his shocking condition. Although his sister takes measures to care for Gregor, eventually his family resents his existence as the reader is inexplicable drawn into his terrifying state of isolation. Both humane and repulsive, The Metamorphosis is an essential read of the modern classics.

Selected by the preeminent Kafka biographer and scholar Reiner Stach and newly translated by the peerless Michael Hofmann, the seventy-four pieces gathered here have been lost to sight for decades and two of them have never been translated into English before. Some stories are several pages long; some run about a page; a handful are only a few lines long: all are marvels. Even the most fragmentary texts are revelations. These pieces were drawn from two large volumes of the S. Fischer Verlag edition Nachgelassene Schriften und Fragmente (totaling some 1100 pages). "Franz Kafka is the master of the literary fragment," as Stach comments in his afterword: "In no other European author does the proportion of completed and published works loom quite so...small in the overall mass of his papers, which consist largely of broken-off beginnings." In fact, as Hofmann recently added: "'Finished' seems to me, in the context of Kafka, a dubious or ironic condition, anyway. The more finished, the less finished. The less finished, the more finished. Gregor Samsa's sister Grete getting up to stretch in the streetcar. What kind of an ending is that?! There's perhaps some distinction to be made between 'finished' and 'ended.' Everything continues to vibrate or unsettle, anyway. Reiner Stach points out that none of the three novels were 'completed.' Some pieces break off, or are concluded, or stop-it doesn't matter!-after two hundred pages, some after two lines. The gusto, the friendliness, the wit with which Kafka launches himself into these things is astonishing."

Franz Kafka s 1915 novella of unexplained horror and nightmarish transformation became a worldwide classic and remains a century later one of the most widely read works of fiction in the world. It is the story of traveling salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect. This hugely influential work inspired George Orwell, Albert Camus, Jorge Louis Borges, and Ray Bradbury, while continuing to unsettle millions of readers. In her new translation of Kafka s masterpiece, Susan Bernofsky strives to capture both the humor and the humanity in this macabre tale, underscoring the ways in which Gregor Samsa s grotesque metamorphosis is just the physical manifestation of his longstanding spiritual impoverishment."

A terrifying psychological trip into the life of one Joseph K., an ordinary man who wakes up one day to find himself accused of a crime he did not commit, a crime whose nature is never revealed to him. Once arrested, he is released, but must report to court on a regular basis - an event that proves maddening, as nothing is ever resolved. As he grows more uncertain of his fate, his personal life - including work at a bank and his relations with his landlady and a young woman who lives next door - becomes increasingly unpredictable. As K. tries to gain control, he succeeds only in accelerating his own excruciating downward spiral.

On the day after his thirtieth birthday, Josef K, a bank teller, is arrested by two mysterious agents of an unspecified organization. Confused and shocked, Josef inquires about the crime he is being accused of, but the agents will not answer, leaving Josef to decide what he feels most guilty for. Though he is not imprisoned, Josef is told to await further instructions. Tortured by the unknown, Josef returns to his home and tries to guess what he could be charged for. His landlady, Frau Grubach, feels amicably about Josef despite the arrest and wishes to help. She speculates that he is likely being punished for his promiscuous behavior involving one of his neighbors. Josef is unable to confirm this, but he does go to his neighbor, Fraulien, for comfort. While she does accept his affection and kiss at first, Fraulien later rejects Josef's advances. When he returns home, he is given unclear instructions for his court appearance. With an address, but not a specific report time, Josef arrives late to his trial, angering the assembly. When Josef vents his frustrations about the absurdity of the trial, he upsets the court even more. Still unclear on the charges he faces and the possible punishment, Josef feels the weight of guilt and the immeasurable high stakes as the trial proceeds. While he is thrown in a whirlwind of chaos and uncertainty, Josef pleas his innocence as he still investigates what crime he is being tried for. Through brilliant symbolism and excellent characterization, The Trial by Franz Kafka is an intelligent and intriguing perspective on the innerworkings of the justice system, told from the point of view of the guilty or accused. Published posthumously in 1925, The Trial has become one of Franz Kafka's most popular works, and has been adapted for film, radio, and theater. With several interpretations and possible meanings, Franz Kafka's The Trial provides a thrilling and thought-provoking reading experience for contemporary audiences. This edition of The Trial by Franz Kafka is accessible for modern readers with features such as its new, striking cover design and the stylish, readable font it is printed in.

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil. One morning, ordinary salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach. Metamorphosis, Kafka's masterpiece of unease and black humour, is one of the twentieth century's most influential works of fiction, and is accompanied here by two more classic stories. 'He is the greatest German writer of our time. Such poets as Rilke or such novelists as Thomas Mann are dwarfs or plaster saints in comparison to him' - Vladimir Nabokov

The Trial has been adapted for theatre, radio and cinema, including a major stage adaptation at the Young Vic in London 2015.

Franz Kafka is one of the most important figures in twentieth-century culture. The fascination of his work has long since reached international proportions, and the concept 'Kafkaesque' has entered the English Language as an everyday part of speech. This new edition of Kafka's famous story contains a critical introduction and notes which help to explain how the author achieves his particular effects. The editors are concerned less with what the story means then with how it blocks and baffles its reader, provoking them into an interpretation through its combination of clues and counter-clues, its questions and its uncertainties. Careful attention is therefore paid to the 'openness' of the text, to point of view, and to Kafka's use of language. The editors also consider the important biographical and cultural influences which shaped the writing of the story, and they outline some of the very different ways in which it has been interpreted --biographically, socially and psychologically. A select vocabulary, aimed at the demands of the sixth-form pupil, is also included, and the text itself is taken from the original hardback edition.