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piloteer

I done been thinkin bout readin me some Kafka. Any thoughts on where I should start, and what his best work was?

MayCaesar

Kafka is a very tough read, and my attempts to get into his writing failed miserably. His mind existed in some other dimension, as is the case with many geniuses, and to fully appreciate his ideas and references, one needs to prepare to having to constantly untangle the thick web of connections between ideas in order to dig out the source.

Orwell is essentially a less extreme and more pessimistic version of Kafka, and his works are much more accessible. "1984" is a must read for people of all political alignments, and "Animal Farm", while satirical beyond a reasonable extent, is a very hard blow on collectivist ideologies, as it shows without pretense where exactly those ideologies come from and why they lead to such disastrous outcomes.

Ampersand

Metamorphosis is probably a good starting point. Well regarded critically and a novella so it's shorter than a novel, you can work through it pretty quickly and get an idea of whether you liked his writing. Personally I thought it was good but didn't exactly compel me to go read everything of his.

piloteer

"@MayCaeser ;

Tis a tad ironic that the trouble you've described while trying to read Kafka is considered to be "Kafkaesque". I've read that much of his work is based off of nightmarish absurdities, and overwhelming bureaucratic entanglement. I've also read that German to English translations have rendered his work, virtually unreadable for English-speaking people. Don't be disappointed if you don't get it. I'm next in line for that same failure. Thank you for the insight. 

"@Ampersand ;

You make a good point, it's probably wise to start with the shorter stuff. Thanks for the suggestion.