Seryozha has challenged me to read some quality literature for a change, instead of the pulp fiction spy stories I generally favour - those wonderful cheap ‘dime novels’ featuring my boys, I mean Men from U.N.C.L.E. – Napoleon and Illya!
(The, “…all-American Adonis and the resourceful Russian...”©TNT.)
I’m a librarian in “real” life so this seems fair enough. Y’know, keeping my hand in and reading the odd piece of classic literature every once in a while…
Still, I maintain that, “there’s no such thing as trashy fiction, only trashy readers”. Sergio knows better and assures me I’ve just got lousy taste. (Drat. Rumbled!)
Which brings me to Franz Kafka’s short story, “A Hunger Artist”, and our experiment in “paired reading”. So far I’ve read the word, “relay”. (Yep, that’s all... Heh, I know, I should be ashamed. This is in no way a reflection on the great Kafka of course!) I claim that this is terribly avant guarde of me. Sergio knows better and assures me that I’m just lazy. (Drat. Rumbled again! Damn the man.) But he’s a swot and read the whole story in about 3 seconds.
Anywho. Serge, today’s word is, “cage”. Your thoughts? Members of the kollektive?
Axasha.
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1 comment:
'Cage' is a avery emotive word on a number of levels, physically and mentally. I think Kafka used it as a metaphor for his own alienated entrapment. All he ever wanted to be was a writer, but found himself 'doing the right thing' following a university career and getting a 'proper' job as a civil servant, basically.
How we are so trapped by the 'preconceived and often shallow' notions of others.
His work is all about being trapped within circumstances which are nigh impossible to change, Gregor Samsa in Metamorphoses was trapped inside the loathesome body of a beetle, and so on. So 'cage, has a resonance within Kafkaesque writings.
Well you did ask!!!
Sergio
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