Letter to His Father

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Letter to His Father (German:Brief an den Vater) is the name usually given to the letter Franz Kafka wrote his father Hermann in November 1919. The letter, translated by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins, was published in a bilingual edition by Schocken Books in 1966.

Kafka hoped the letter would bridge the growing gap between him and his father, though in the letter he provides a sharp criticism of both:

"Dearest Father,

You asked me recently why I maintain that I am afraid of you. As usual, I was unable to think of any answer to your question, partly for the very reason that I am afraid of you, and partly because an explanation of the grounds for this fear would mean going into far more details than I could even approximately keep in mind while talking. And if I now try to give you an answer in writing, it will still be very incomplete..."^[1]

According to Max Brod, Kafka actually gave the letter to his mother to hand on to his father. His mother never delivered the letter but returned it to her son. The original letter, 45 pages long, was typewritten by Kafka and corrected by hand. Two and a half additional pages were written by hand.^[2]

[edit] Editions

• Letter to His Father. Bilingual edition. New York: Schocken Books, 1966.

The following collections include Kafka's letter to his father:

• Dearest Father. Stories and Other Writings. New York: Schocken Books, 1954.
• The Sons. New York: Schocken Books, 1989.

[edit] References

1. ^ Kafka, Franz. Letter to His Father. New York: Schocken Books, 1966. 7.
2. ^ "Publisher's Note" Kafka, 127.

The Works of Franz Kafka  v • d • e

Novels The Metamorphosis • The Trial • The Castle • Amerika Short Stories 1904-1912: Description of a Struggle • Wedding Preparations in the Country • The Judgment • Contemplation • The Stoker 1914-1917: In the Penal Colony • The Village Schoolmaster (The Giant Mole) • Before the Law • Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor • The Warden of the Tomb • A Country Doctor • The Hunter Gracchus • The Great Wall of China• A Message from the Emperor • A Report to an Academy • A Dream • Up in the Gallery • A Fratricide • The Next Village • A Visit to a Mine • Jackals and Arabs • The Bridge • The Bucket Rider • The New Advocate • An Old Manuscript • The Knock at the Manor Gate • Eleven Sons • My Neighbor • A Crossbreed (A Sport) • The Cares of a Family Man 1917-1923: The Refusal • A Hunger Artist • Investigations of a Dog • A Little Woman • The Burrow • Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk • A Common Confusion • The Truth about Sancho Panza • The Silence of the Sirens • Prometheus • The City Coat of Arms • Poseidon • Fellowship • At Night • The Problem of Our Laws • The Conscription of Troops • The Test • The Vulture • The Helmsman • The Top • A Little Fable • Home-Coming • First Sorrow • The Departure • Advocates • The Married Couple • Give it Up! • On Parables Diaries, Notebooks and Essays The Diaries 1910-1923 • The Blue Octavo Notebooks • The First Long Train Journey (with Max Brod) • The Aeroplanes at Brescia Letters Letter to His Father • Letters to Felice • Letters to Ottla • Letters to Milena • Letters to Family, Friends, and Editors Collections The Complete Stories • The Sons • The Penal Colony • Parables and Paradoxes • The Great Wall of China • Dearest Father