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Kafka or Camus

  • 18-12-2009 9:45pm
    #1
    DDastardly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7 ✭


    a bit of a general Q., but i just wanted to get a gneral opinion.
    Who is the better existentialist writer. Albert Camus or Franz Kafka
    (V. General i know):o


Comments

  • #2
    Joe1919
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭Joe1919


    DDastardly wrote: »
    a bit of a general Q., but i just wanted to get a gneral opinion.
    Who is the better existentialist writer. Albert Camus or Franz Kafka
    (V. General i know):o



    I read Camus 'The stranger' (outsider) and enjoyed. (fiction)
    I read some of the plague but found it slightly tedious and finished it by reading sparknotes (to find out how it ended).

    I have also read 'The myth of Sisyphus' collection of essays and was most impressed by his ideas on the absurdity of life and how we try to create meaning, often in absurd ways.

    I read the first half of 'The Trial' by Kafka and to be honest, never finished it as it never really gripped my attention.


  • #3
    Joycey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭Joycey


    Tbh I see it as a bit of an apples and oranges type question. They are both excellent writers and there is no absolute answer to your question. Im not even sure which one I prefer from my limited encounters with them.

    Instead of answering id just recommend you to read The Outsider by Camus and Metamorphosis by Kafka, the works I enjoyed most by both. I also failed to read the Trial all the way through but intend to give it another shot sometime soon after reading some Agamben and Derrida on a short parable in the trial. Here is the link:
    https://records.viu.ca/~Johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm

    Must have another go at reading the Myth of Sisyphus as well, I think ive started it 3 times now but never got more than 20 pages or so in :(


  • #4
    Joe1919
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭Joe1919


    Joycey wrote: »

    Must have another go at reading the Myth of Sisyphus as well, I think ive started it 3 times now but never got more than 20 pages or so in :(

    Read from 'The absurd man' onwards first as the second half of the book is easier and don't forget that there are good notes available. e.g. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/sisyphus


  • #5
    Valmont
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭Valmont


    I couldn't read Sisyphus either so I'm not going to force it even though I like the concept. I think The Stranger/Outsider probably represents his viewpoint well enough anyway without going into the logistics of it.

    Personally, I consider Kafka a horror writer. No book has filled me full of dread more than The Castle. If, in some parallel universe, hell existed, it would be living as K in the town! For me, Kafka represents the terror of helplessness in the face of uncertainty. His short stories are also very good, especially the one about the fox and his hole. Gripping stuff.

    ps. The Kafka museum in Prague is excellent. I read Metamorphosis on the way there on a bus as I had two days to kill and figured what better place to get into Kafka!


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