Amerika
Ahhh, new Kylie video is on TV. What a distraction… Ok, it’s over. Now one of the three versions of Dragostea Din Tei is on. Won’t this song please go away? Thank god for VIVA’s club rotation. Every Saturday at midnight I get a little taste of the club life I miss so much.
I finished reading Kafka’s Amerika last weekend. Finishing a book is a major accomplishment for me. My attention span is about half a book. My bookshelf used to be filled with books with bookmarks at various points. It is fitting that I finished this book, though, as Kafka never finished it himself. There is a huge gap between the second to last and last chapters and the last chapter just ends abruptly. People speculate about why Kafka ends Amerika the way he does. Some say he had learned what he could from his main character, some say the novel couldn’t continue once the struggle was over. Whatever the reason, it is perfect for my reading style since I actually finished. I will have to be sure to get a copy of The Castle and The Trial since he never finished writing them either.
The book is the story of a young German immigrant named Karl Rossman who is sent to America after a sexual misadventure with a servant. America, the land of the free, is anything but for Karl. He is constantly trying to escape one situation or another. Often he is faced with choices and for some reason makes things harder on himself. Kafka seemed to see his hero as a slave to others; this is evident by the somewhat shocking name Karl says others refer to him as in the last chapter.
It is interesting to read a story of life in America told by someone who had never been. Kafka used books, maps, interviews with returning immigrants and his imagination to create the America described in the novel. Anyone who has been to New York will notice a few descriptions that are a little off. To the modern reader though, a lot of the errors may just be written off as things that have changed since the book was written in 1912.
Toward the end of the book we see a European’s perspective on American democracy; a particularly relevant section given the recent presidential election. Campaigning in America is basically made to look akin to a mob scene. Living overseas during the election, it has been interesting to hear how the rest of the world viewed the election. There was a collective hope that Kerry would win, even though most admitted little would probably change if he did. When Bush was re-elected, it was almost shock. The headlines on the papers ranged from “Oops, they did it again!” to “God help us!” with a picture of Bush in cowboy garb pointing two revolvers at readers.
In the foreword written by E.L. Doctorow in 1996, he talks of how Kafka’s Amerika is historical transplant. He then goes on to pose the question, “And if the police did not ask people on the street for their identity papers in 1913, can we say that they won’t be more likely to do so in 2013?” The sad thing is that we can now answer this question with a definite yes.
Well, anyway, I'm tired.
I finished reading Kafka’s Amerika last weekend. Finishing a book is a major accomplishment for me. My attention span is about half a book. My bookshelf used to be filled with books with bookmarks at various points. It is fitting that I finished this book, though, as Kafka never finished it himself. There is a huge gap between the second to last and last chapters and the last chapter just ends abruptly. People speculate about why Kafka ends Amerika the way he does. Some say he had learned what he could from his main character, some say the novel couldn’t continue once the struggle was over. Whatever the reason, it is perfect for my reading style since I actually finished. I will have to be sure to get a copy of The Castle and The Trial since he never finished writing them either.
The book is the story of a young German immigrant named Karl Rossman who is sent to America after a sexual misadventure with a servant. America, the land of the free, is anything but for Karl. He is constantly trying to escape one situation or another. Often he is faced with choices and for some reason makes things harder on himself. Kafka seemed to see his hero as a slave to others; this is evident by the somewhat shocking name Karl says others refer to him as in the last chapter.
It is interesting to read a story of life in America told by someone who had never been. Kafka used books, maps, interviews with returning immigrants and his imagination to create the America described in the novel. Anyone who has been to New York will notice a few descriptions that are a little off. To the modern reader though, a lot of the errors may just be written off as things that have changed since the book was written in 1912.
Toward the end of the book we see a European’s perspective on American democracy; a particularly relevant section given the recent presidential election. Campaigning in America is basically made to look akin to a mob scene. Living overseas during the election, it has been interesting to hear how the rest of the world viewed the election. There was a collective hope that Kerry would win, even though most admitted little would probably change if he did. When Bush was re-elected, it was almost shock. The headlines on the papers ranged from “Oops, they did it again!” to “God help us!” with a picture of Bush in cowboy garb pointing two revolvers at readers.
In the foreword written by E.L. Doctorow in 1996, he talks of how Kafka’s Amerika is historical transplant. He then goes on to pose the question, “And if the police did not ask people on the street for their identity papers in 1913, can we say that they won’t be more likely to do so in 2013?” The sad thing is that we can now answer this question with a definite yes.
Well, anyway, I'm tired.
posted by jeff re: at 11:13 PM
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