So, I literally just placed the book down. I haven’t read that much of Kafka, only his Metamorphosis and his letters to Milena. I want to start by saying that my expectations were high. I mean, I had heard a lot about how “sad” and “depressing” it was; yet, what really drew me in was to try and further advance with my attempt to truly understand what Metamorphosis is trying to represent.
First of all, I found the letter interesting and very productive to really figure out Kafka as a writer. However, I really didn’t get moved to tears by it. I have to say, I have a very difficult relationship with my mother. A relationship that is very similar to the one Kafka had with his father. I see a lot of her and how se raised me in his father. So everything that he expressed are not new to me, in that sense. It is all feelings and thoughts that I have already processed and digested on my own. So, perhaps, that’s why I wasn’t moved by the letters, to me they were strangely familiar.
When it comes to Metamorphosis, I think that reading this letter has really shed some light on the book. His obsession with “freedom”, his self-proclaimed smallness and fragility compared to his father, his relationship with his mother. I believe it all turns Metamorphosis in a much more comprehensive reading, in the sense that the plot reflect very clearly Kafka’s fears and desperate attemps to “free himself”. However, I cannot fully say I know for a fact what Metamorphosis’ goal is – if there is one.
Lastly, I’d like to say that after reading his letters to Milena, hearing Kafka describe his incapacity or fear, or even aversion to marriage was really heartbreaking. I truly believe had he had the chance and given himself the opportunity, he would have been great, and far from what he believed he would become, in order to be great – his father.
It is unfair to live constantly haunted by a shadow.
by bunnyju194