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RE: Kafka and his influence
Thank you very much for sharing the video with me. The letters of Kafka are so deep and shaking. Unfortunately, from his diaries has been translated too little in my language, and I really want to read them completely.
What language is that? Another thing to keep in mind is that Kafka has a very special way to use the words and build the sentences, and the underlying emotions can not be transported completely into a different language. For example, something not many people are aware of, is the fact that Kafka is quite a brilliant comedian. But it's precisely this very fine, subtle humor, that is often not even seen by translators who are not native German speakers. However, reading his diaries in any language should be a fascinating journey nevertheless :)
Yes, I feel his humor, but very rarely. In Nikolai Gogol I think it's something like that, but I laugh at his works aloud, though the stories are sad, his humor is very distinct. Chekhov had this problem that people thought he was writing tragedies and wondered why they did not laugh at what he wrote. In my opinion, it is not only the language, but also the mentality of people to capture the humor, because it is also very specific. Otherwise, the language I read Kafka is bulgarian.
I totall agree with you! I love the Russians, and I laughed tears at the Petersburger Tales. You are correct, it is a question of the mindset. I find Chekhov also to be a very big romantic :) Just like Dostojewskij, who is a huge romantic underneath his brilliant insanity.
Do you know the Master and Margarita?
Otherwise, I don't speak any bulgarian.
Mikhail Bulgakov, yes. I adore Master and Margarita, but the funny thing is that I have a prejudice because the book is so good and I do not want to read anything else from him not to be disappointed if it's not so good as "Master and Margarita" ... So many great Russian writers we have that I do not even need to start to enumerate them and they have much to do with Kafka's world. Maybe we can mention in this way "Invitation to a Beheading" from Vladimir Nabokov.
Oh.. and one not so popular thing - Bulgaria gave the cyrillic to the world and Russia so they could write those :)
My sister studied Eastern European languages, literature and culture and she introduced me to all these writers and also Master and Margarita, which is for both of us the best book ever written. Bulgakov also loved Goethe very much and there is a lot of Faust in the Master and Margarita. I also watched the Mini series probably more than ten times. The Invitation to a Beheading is new to me and I will look for it, I have heard the name Nabokov but haven't read anything of him. Thank you very much for the recommendation.
Funny thing, I do have two other books by Bulgakov which I also have not read because I think too that the Master can not be topped. The Russian writers from Gogol to Bulgakov do have a Kafkaesque touch, I agree.
The origin of our letters is a very interesting subject and I believe the origin lies in the Runes. Runes are ancient European symbols and the cyrillic alphabet may very well have come out of it. The Runes also have many similarities to the "Latin" alphabet, which in my opinion is not Latin at all ;)
Yes, I also think it's the best book ever written. But the strange thing is when I read other authors and I love the book they wrote, I always read everything else from them. With Bulgakov it's different. And as I see it was the same with you. I don't know why, maybe we are afraid of cracking the perfection of his masterpiece.
Nabokov is a mandatory author. You will be surprised by his book "Invitation to a Beheading", which I recommended. The book have from Kafka's spirit, but not only. It's original and in my opinion it's the greatest work of the 20th century.
I think you are right about Bulgakov. He is the Master and that is his masterpiece. And the rest doesn't matter.
I am going to get the Nabakov tomorrow!
Super. I would be happy to read about your opinion after you finish it.