Within the past 6 months or so, I’ve been getting into classics for the first time, specifically existentialism and absurdism. So I’m still finding the right words for what I am trying to describe.
But I have read The Trial and The Castle by Kafka (The Castle being the most fresh in my mind), and every time I see someone describe Kafka’s work as being “about bureaucracy,” I get so frustrated.
To me, yes, the bureaucracy is present in the stories, but the books speak more so to the unending labyrinth of life. How for some of us, things will never quite make sense. We’re wandering around aimlessly, wondering what the meaning of it all is. It can be dark, eerie, and depressing, but what else is there to do besides try to find our way through the maze?
I remember a similar frustration after reading The Stranger by Camus, in that I couldn’t see “the meaning” or why everyone loved it. Granted it’s been a while, but I think I felt like the book was trying to convey the absurdity of life and the strangeness of the world, which is just how I live my day to day life. I felt like I didn’t understand “the meaning” of the book because the meaning is just how I naturally relate to the world, and the book didn’t reveal anything new to me.
I’m curious if anyone has interpreted Kafka’s works in a different way than the standard message about bureaucracy?
by Uteraz
4 Comments
I would describe them as surprisingly hilarious and modern.
Surreal and absurd
People always argue about the meaning of “kafkaesque”, but imo, I would definitely describe Kafka’s works as kafkaesque
I’ve never heard anyone describe Kafka as being “about bureaucracy.” I don’t think I’d be frustrated, more surprised that someone read all of a Kafka novel and that was their only reaction.