Although he studied law and worked in an insurance office for much of his life, he is now considered one of the most important writers of the 20th century. He died from tuberculosis in 1924 at just 40 years old.
Kafka is especially famous for writing stories that are strange, mysterious and sometimes a little unsettling. One of his best-known short stories is Die Verwandlung ("The Metamorphosis"), about a man who wakes up one morning and discovers that he has turned into a gigantic insect! His stories often explore feelings of loneliness, confusion and trying to understand a world that doesn't always seem to make sense.
Der Prozess is one of Kafka's most famous novels. It tells the story of a man named Josef K., who wakes up one morning to discover that he has been arrested. The strange thing is that nobody tells him what crime he has committed! As he tries to understand the charges against him and defend himself, he encounters a confusing legal system filled with mysterious officials, endless procedures and strange rules. The more he tries to understand what is happening, the more confusing everything becomes.
One fascinating thing about the book is that Kafka never actually finished it. He wrote it in 1914 and 1915, but it was only published in 1925 after his death by his friend Max Brod. Kafka had actually asked Brod to destroy his unfinished manuscripts after he died, but Brod decided to publish them instead. Today, we are very lucky that he did!
The novel is famous partly because it explores questions about power, justice and how difficult it can be for an ordinary person to understand complicated institutions. The word “Kafkaesque” has even entered the English language!
