Students of German language and literature will welcome this collection of 5 stories by one of the greatest modern writers. Included are "The Metamorphosis," "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor" and "A Report to an Academy." Original German texts accompanied by new, literal English translations on facing pages.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Dean Stroud
Format:Paperback
I have used this book at our university in a German class (Introduction to German Literature) and in a Literature in Translation class. Students appreciated the duel langauge format. For my students of German, the facing translation aids in setting the context so that they can deal mor quickly with the German text. I would recommend this book for those with some German who are interested in Kafka's short fiction. I would have liked having the " Hunger Artist" in the collection as well as a German vocabulary section (as one finds in other Dover texts), but otherwise I found the book most helpful. The entire series offers excellent books at wonderful prices!
By ian rogers
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The entire point of a dual language version is to compare the text. I realize you can't do facing pages on a Kindle but maybe alternating paragraphs would be good. What did this publisher do? The ENTIRE German version of each story, then the ENTIRE English version. The only reason I give it 2 stars is that it's still Kafka. Whoever thought this would be a good adaptation to the Kindle platform should be fired, and I regret spending my money on it. Dover is a really good print version publisher, and I have many of their books including a dual-language edition of some French poems - I expected more and am quite peeved. Save your money and dig up a used copy in the print version.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Sammy Jo
Format:Paperback
This edition offers a sample of Kafka's best short stories with the original German and English translation on facing pages. It is a wonderful sort of "training wheels" for those who are ready to tackle German literature in the original.
The stories themselves are highly challenging. Kafka is regarded as a profit of modern alienation, but that doesn't capture the complexity of his thought. His masterpiece, The Metamorphosis, is here. In it Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find he has turned into a giant bug. With that simple, but startling device, Kafka has a vehicle for exploring the inner dynamic of a family, and the mix of selfishness and altruism which informs our relationships with one another. On the surface, it would seem that Kafka is affirming the increasingly common notion that all altruism is really disguised selfishness - yet the story's bleakness suggests that Kafka himself knows that the vision is incomplete. This is the truth, he says. But is it the whole truth?
In another great story, In the Penalty Colony, Kafka presents us with a society that was once ordered around a great torturing device. The society is in the process of moving away from the torture device, and that would seem to be a good thing. But Kafka is more challenging than that. Does a vision of the world which imagines no role for suffering really speak to our deepest selves? We are repulsed by the old order, but the new order seems to be missing something.
So in one neat package, you can learn some German and struggle with a challenging vision of the world. That's a bargain, in my book!
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4.5 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for German Students
The most enjoyable aspect of language learning, for me, is the experience of reading literary masterpieces in the original. Read more
Published on Feb 14 2002 by "mdsfnelson"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great way to read Kafka's original writing
I am not a huge fan of Kafka's style of writing but I did enjoy reading this book due to the side by side english and german wording. Read more
Published on April 18 2000 by B. A. Pecenka
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