How Kafkaesque...A woman who recalls knowing Franz Kafka. You can review an earlier mention of the author/mystic and man about town (the town of Prague, that is), who died in 1924, here.
Working With Words
A weblog devoted to spurring a conversation among those who use words to varying degrees in their daily work. Hosted by John Ettorre, a Cleveland-based writer and editor. Please email me at: john.ettorre@gmail.com. "There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real." --James Salter
Friday, January 22, 2010
How Kafkaesque...About Me
- Name: John Ettorre
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
I'm a Cleveland, Ohio-based writer, editor and writing coach, with more than 25 years of experience, including stints in Chicago and Washington, D.C. My work has appeared in more than 100 print and online publications, from the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor to local and regional publications. My work has been recognized by awards (including an Emmy) from four journalism groups.
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4 Comments:
Thank you for posting this, John. I was at the MLA conference in Philly over break and attended various sessions, including a panel on Kafka translation. It was inspiring and fascinating--especially the discussion of how hard it is to capture linguistic innovation when translating. In other words...going beyond "word for word" to get at the spirit of the writer (sound, sense, rhythm, nuances...) What an endeavor.
My dad, long gone from this world, was born in 1904. Reading this article made me think of him, above all.
Glad you found value in it, Maria. And doubly glad it brought your late father to mind. Do let me know if you write about the MLA experience. I'd like to read it. I'm sure you know how often that conference becomes a springboard to the standby kind of article lampooning the looniest subjects (and there are certainly always plenty), which can come off as a bit anti-intellectual, when pushed too far.
I'm not sure what I was expecting to hear from the 106-year-old but somehow the fact that Kafka was "slightly strange" seemed to state the blinkin' obvious. And yet there was also something nice about having confirmation that he was a real person and not the figment of someone's imagination. It's reassuring but I have no idea of what I'm feeling reassured. It's not as if there was any chance that he was made up. Or is that what they want me to believe?
Jim, you've nicely put your finger on a vague notion I had in response to that piece. He died so long ago that you wouldn't ordinarily expect to hear from anyone who knew him as a contemporary, and yet not so long ago that he's begun evaporating into the mists of history. And of course he was a uniquely slippery person to understand on many levels. So it all added up into one odd situation.
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