Book Review - Letter to His Father (1919), by Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) This sorrowful piece stands as the most melancholic I have held in my hand. Kafka’s writing deeply touches us for it originates from a more personal and authentic point of view. What makes him different from other novelists is that his works are based on existentialism and carry a passionate and depressing tone. In this letter, Kafka shares his feelings of inferiority and inadequacy, the impact of his complex father-son relationship on his personality and his life, and his deeply rooted psychological struggles. I felt mixed emotions stirring within me while reading this letter; curiosity, downheartedness, obscurity, oblivion, sympathy, and many more I cannot identify. For some reason, while reading this, it reflected my own thoughts and I could relate to him in many aspects. I am unable to phrase it in a way that conveys my personal experience and connection to his own, but this is one of the effects his writings have on me. It confuses me each time. How much