{"product_id":"kafka-the-early-years-paperback","title":"Kafka: The Early Years - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eReiner Stach\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eShelley Frisch\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe eagerly anticipated final volume of the award-winning, definitive biography of Franz Kafka\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHow did Kafka become Kafka? This eagerly anticipated third and final volume of Reiner Stach's definitive biography of the writer answers that question with more facts and insight than ever before, describing the complex personal, political, and cultural circumstances that shaped the young Franz Kafka (1883-1924). It tells the story of the years from his birth in Prague to the beginning of his professional and literary career in 1910, taking the reader up to just before the breakthrough that resulted in his first masterpieces, including \"The Metamorphosis.\" Brimming with vivid and often startling details, Stach's narrative invites readers deep inside this neglected period of Kafka's life. The book's richly atmospheric portrait of his German Jewish merchant family and his education, psychological development, and sexual maturation draws on numerous sources, some still unpublished, including family letters, schoolmates' memoirs, and early diaries of his close friend Max Brod. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe biography also provides a colorful panorama of Kafka's wider world, especially the convoluted politics and culture of Prague. Before World War I, Kafka lived in a society at the threshold of modernity but torn by conflict, and Stach provides poignant details of how the adolescent Kafka witnessed violent outbreaks of anti-Semitism and nationalism. The reader also learns how he developed a passionate interest in new technologies, particularly movies and airplanes, and why another interest--his predilection for the back-to-nature movement--stemmed from his \"nervous\" surroundings rather than personal eccentricity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe crowning volume to a masterly biography, this is an unmatched account of how a boy who grew up in an old Central European monarchy became a writer who helped create modern literature.\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdvance praise for \u003ci\u003eKafka: The Early Years\u003c\/i\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eKafka: The Early Years\u003c\/i\u003e completes a masterful trilogy. One feature puts it at light-years' distance of superiority to anything previously written about Kafka's early years: Stach had unique access to Max Brod's notebooks, part of a celebrated cache of documents bearing on his friendship with Kafka. Far more fully than any other Kafka biographer, Stach gives us what Hegel calls 'the concrete vitality of the full individual.' \"\u003cb\u003e--Stanley Corngold, author of \u003ci\u003eLambent Traces: Franz Kafka\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdvance praise for \u003ci\u003eKafka: The Early Years\u003c\/i\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eKafka: The Early Years\u003c\/i\u003e is a remarkable conclusion to a momentous biography. It covers what is in many ways the most important and interesting period of Kafka's life, for these are the years during which he was shaped by the world around him and when his character emerged. This is an entertaining, informative account that has no equivalent among the many previous biographies of Kafka.\"\u003cb\u003e--Mark M. Anderson, author of \u003ci\u003eKafka's Clothes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReiner Stach\u003c\/b\u003e worked extensively on the definitive edition of Kafka's collected works before embarking on his three-volume biography of the writer. The other volumes are \u003ci\u003eKafka: The Decisive Years\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKafka: The Years of Insight\u003c\/i\u003e (both Princeton). \u003cb\u003eShelley Frisch's\u003c\/b\u003e translations of those volumes were awarded the Modern Language Association's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize. Her many other translations from the German include Karin Wieland's \u003ci\u003eDietrich \u0026amp; Riefenstahl\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 584\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.6 x 9.2 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 05, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51756996493600,"sku":"9780691178189","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/2d7afdf1d94df4b51c6a72ae29def504.webp?v=1780091228","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/kafka-the-early-years-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}