Amerika

Kafka’s incomplete first novel, sometimes referred to as Der Verschollene or The Man Who Disappeared, based on the short story “The Stoker,” and published posthumously by his literary executor, Max Brod. Muir’s English translation was first published in 1946.

Amerika is unique in being Kafka’s only novel in a comic vein. Like so many Europeans, Kafka dreamed of America, of the land of skyscrapers and opportunity. Amerika is his dream, a strange blend of fantasy and realism. It’s hero is Karl Rossman, a young immigrant who comes to New York to seek his fortune. He no sooner lands than his troubles begin, a series of misadventures, some comic, some pathetic, all mysterious, which suggest the riddles of our own dreams or subconscious fears.

Klaus Mann has contributed an informative introduction which tells us something about Kafka’s life and background, and relates Amerika to his other masterworks, The Castle and The Trial.