Save a Penguin, Ride a Norwegian + Some quality journalism
Again, here is a newsbrief from the (currently rainy) shores of the Oslo Fjord:
-I just realized that there is a country music channel on the cable at my parents' place. This fills me with fear and loathing, especially when I accidentally saw the video of "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". Anywho, people who dance to this music dance like this.
-Here's the quality journalism I promised you.
-Later today I'm going to attempt the Stunt Of the Summer (aptly abbreviated S.O.S.), namely diving from the ten-meter (30 ft.) platform at the local beach. This fills me with almost as much fear as the country music channel, but I think I can do it.
-Book update: Just finished Kafka's "The Process", which was good, but I think the book was essentially flawed as the reader never learns what K. was accused of. It's strange that a writer like Kafka would forget to include such a central fact, but I guess even the masters sometimes mess up. I'm also halfway in Homer's "Odyssey", and Joyce's "Ulysses" is up next.
posted by Thor at 3:09 AM
2 Comments:
On Kafka, I think the unresolved question of K.'s crime is a central strength of the book. Of course, I think I remember reading that Kafka never really finished that novel (which I know by the name "The Trial"), and if he had, perhaps all would have been revealed. But K. could never learn anything from his accusers, so why should Kafka's readers.
And, having successfully navigated the Prague bureaucracy to obtain legal working status in the Czech republic, I can understand why Kafka perhaps made this choice. The first time I tried to register at the Prague police office for foreigners, I was told to leave and fix something, but never learned what it was. When I returned, my application was magically accepted. Some things are better left uncertain.
9:08 PM
Well, my comment was intended as kind of ironic, as K's uncertainty and confusion, along with the apparent meaninglessness of his trial are the themes of the entire book, at least in my opinion. We actually read this book in high school, I think, so I guess I was just re-visiting an old friend. I think you should also read it from an anti-semitic perspective (Kafka was Jewish), and the book kind of foreshadows the meaninglessness of the persecution of Jews (and many other groups, an often overlooked fact) during the holocaust. Maybe it has some relevance for our treatment of Muslims today too.
On Prague, I guess we now know where he got his inspiration :-) Since Kafka, as you certainly know, was born there (although it was then Austria-Hungary.) I felt kind of the same way when I had to check a box in my Visa application stating I was NOT a terrorist, NOT a smuggler, and NOT a pimp.
2:17 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home