A review by bookish_arcadia
The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: Essential Stories by Franz Kafka

3.0

These are the stories that are quintessentially Kafka; by turns absurd, horrifying, melancholy and humorous. His writing is, of course, deft and crisp as always and his observation of human nature and caprice just as insightful and prescient but whether every story is of equal merit or deserving of the label “essential” I am less convinced. Some are mere fragments, barely more than a thought. The ones that are most effective and most powerful are also the best known, The Penal Colony, The Hunger Artist, A Report for the Academy. Although each piece is beautifully translated and, of course, the little volume is gorgeously produced by Pushkin Press I'm not altogether sure how valuable another collection of Kafka can be, especially with so much so brief and all, I think, to be found in English already. For Kafka completists and those who can't resist the lovely cover.