Kafkaesque : fourteen stories

by Peter Kuper

Other authorsFranz Kafka (Author)
Paper Book, 2018

Library's rating

½

Publication

New York : W. W. Norton & Company, [2018]

ISBN

9780393635621

Language

Description

Long fascinated with the work of Franz Kafka, Peter Kuper began illustrating his stories in 1988. Initially drawn to the master's dark humor, Kuper adapted the stories over the years to plumb their deeper truths. Kuper's style deliberately evokes Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel, contemporaries of Kafka whose wordless novels captured much of the same claustrophobia and mania as Kafka's tales. Working from new translations of the classic texts, Kuper has reimagined these iconic stories for the twenty-first century, using setting and perspective to comment on contemporary issues like civil rights and homelessness. Longtime lovers of Kafka will appreciate Kuper's innovative interpretations, while Kafka novices will discover a haunting introduction to some of the great writer's most beguiling stories, including "A Hunger Artist," "In The Penal Colony," and "The Burrow." Kafkaesque stands somewhere between adaptation and wholly original creation, going beyond a simple illustration of Kafka's words to become a stunning work of art.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member villemezbrown
Kuper wonderfully illustrates Franz Kafka's short and inscrutable tales of torment, torture and death in his trademark jagged style.

Apparently, Kafka was an early adopter of flash fiction, as the original stories adapted here are often less than a thousand words, and at least one was basically
Show More
just a single paragraph. Despite the length, they are packed with symbolism and unspoken depth that just left my poor head spinning.

Worth a look, but too dark and bleak to ever enjoy.
Show Less

Original publication date

2018
Page: 0.1346 seconds