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OverviewA posthumously published Hungarian masterpiece that reflects on fragmented lives. Born in 1963, Szilárd Borbély emerged as one of the most important poets of post-communist Europe, exploring the themes of grief, memory, and trauma in his critically acclaimed work. Following the murder of his mother during a burglary in 2000, and the subsequent breakdown and death of his father, Borbély suffered from post-traumatic depression and tragically ended his own life in 2014. Among the manuscripts that Borbély left behind was Kafka’s Son, a fragmentary work, rendered still more fragmented through the author’s death. Through a series of haunting passages that explore early twentieth-century Prague, including the ruins of the ancient Jewish ghetto during the time of its demolition, Borbély inscribes the story of Franz Kafka and his father onto the city. We are used to hearing from Franz; here Hermann Kafka is also given a voice. “The son,” he tells us, “is the life of the father. The father is the death of the son.” By extension, then, this book is also an indirect telling of the story of Borbély and his father, and about sons and fathers in the Habsburg empire and the culture of brutality that defined Eastern Europe. A posthumously published Hungarian masterpiece, Kafka’s Son now appears in English in award-winning translator Ottilie Mulzet’s sensitive translation, a fragmentary yet iridescent work inviting us to reflect on our fragmented lives. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Szilárd Borbély , Ottilie MulzetPublisher: Seagull Books London Ltd Imprint: Seagull Books London Ltd Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.399kg ISBN: 9781803092683ISBN 10: 1803092688 Pages: 184 Publication Date: 26 January 2024 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock  We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsTo the Reader From the Notes of Hermann Kafka and the Streets Kafka and My Twin Kafka in the Bathroom An Evening Stroll Kafka and the Words Kafka at the Rabbi’s Kafka Writes Kafka and the Letters Journey to Leitmeritz My Dear Son Kafka by the Window Felice and the Applause Photograph Taken with a Flash The Cemetery of Language Kafka and the Blind The Enigma of the Sphinx Tiny Flowers on a Calico Dress Kafka and Palestine My Dear Son Lichtgasse A Gloomy Day The Silence of Nebuchadnezzar Memory of a Nearness Kafka and the Colours The Married Couple, Snow Kafka’s Fortieth Birthday Kafka and the Bicycle The Naked Hand Kafka on the Bridge Conversation at the Table The Fart The Case My Dear Son The Civil Servant My Dear Son Translator’s AfterwordReviews"""Kafka’s tortured relationship with his father is well known to the author’s readers, but Borbély adds to the lore by exploring the limits of how much anyone can understand another, whether a father and son, or a reader and writer, as Mulzet suggests in an illuminating afterword about Borbély’s long-held identification with Kafka. Kafka fans will enjoy this."" * Publishers Weekly *" Author InformationSzilárd Borbély was an authority on Hungarian literature of the late Baroque period as well as a writer and was widely considered to be one of the most important European poets of the post-Communist period. Ottilie Mulzet was awarded the National Book Award for Translated Literature for her translation of László Krasznahorkai’s Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming in 2019. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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