Let's talk about Kafka. I've just finished Das Schloss,

>>8723391
>Somehow, his prose is awkward and clumsy yet at the same time very beautiful to read

I cant read German but they say that his prose is modeled off of legal works and bureaucratic paperwork type stuff. In English his work can be awkward or stiff but I think that is what gives it its character, there is nothing like it that I have ever read. I think his very short works, like the paragraph or page length work, is his best.

>>8723409
>I think his very short works, like the paragraph or page length work, is his best.
Which ones for example?

>>8723422
Lenghty
A country doctor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDjmW-gIsKs
The Judgement
In the penal colony

Very short
Short
The trees
The Departure
On Parables
A Little Fable

>>8723391
>What should I read next?
his diary desu

I've read everything he's written and discussed it all with Kafka scholars AMA

The usual path is chronological when it comes to his novels. There's only 3 novels and they're not especially long so just go for 'em all, Amerika is fun and playful but not as unwielding as Das Schloss or as divine Der Prozess. His diaries are really quite amazing, some entries he even adapts into short stories, some dream logs seem like they should be short stories (i.e. diary entry 'The Sword' in comparison to story 'The Bridge')

>>8723409
Lengthy
In the Penal Colony
Letter to the Academy
Blumfield
The Burrow (esp. if you like Das Schloss und auch "Forschungen eines Hundes")
A Hunger Artist

Short
The Trees
Excursion Into the Mountains
Wish to Be a Red Indian
Give It Up!
The Bridge

>>8723551
Have you read them in English or in German? If German, is it your native language?

>>8723441
/thread

>>8723551
who are the best commentators on his work? I know Benjamin and Deleuze are pretty popular but I have to think that there have been other people working on Kafka since then.

>>8723658
Haven't read it myself, but Adorno's commentary on Das Schloss is very popular