A Country Doctor by Franz Kafka is a short story about a doctor who struggles to reach a sick boy on a winter night. Louis H. Leiter writes about A Country Doctor:
“A Country Doctor” comments on man, who, buffeted by the scheme of things, is unable to transcend the part assigned him by the absurdity of that existence. Because he does not lack conscious knowledge of his condition, but refuses to act in the face of his portentous freedom, the doctor, an archetype of the anti-existential hero, deserves his fate.”
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Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor English Subtitle
Who was Franz Kafka?
Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. Born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka’s unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and was published posthumously—is considered to be among the most influential in Western literature.
His works are characterized by themes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, characters trapped in an incomprehensible system, and mystical transformations. Kafka’s writing blends elements of realism and the fantastic. He often created malevolent, absurd worlds and characters who struggled futilely and had a deep sense of existential angst.
Despite the posthumous publication of the majority of his works, Kafka’s influence has grown steadily, influencing a vast range of writers, critics, artists, and philosophers during the 20th and 21st centuries.
List of Works by Franz Kafka:
- Novels:
- “The Trial” (“Der Prozess”)
- “The Castle” (“Das Schloss”)
- “Amerika” (also known as “The Man Who Disappeared” or “Der Verschollene”)
- Short Stories:
- “The Metamorphosis” (“Die Verwandlung”)
- “In the Penal Colony” (“In der Strafkolonie”)
- “A Hunger Artist” (“Ein Hungerkünstler”)
- “The Judgment” (“Das Urteil”)
- “A Country Doctor” (“Ein Landarzt”)
- “The Great Wall of China” (“Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer”)
- “A Report to an Academy” (“Ein Bericht für eine Akademie”)
- “The Hunter Gracchus” (“Der Jäger Gracchus”)
- “The Burrow” (“Der Bau”)
- “Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk” (“Josephine, die Sängerin oder Das Volk der Mäuse”)
- Letter Collections:
- “Letters to Felice” (“Briefe an Felice”)
- “Letters to Milena” (“Briefe an Milena”)
- “Letters to Ottla and the Family” (“Briefe an Ottla und die Familie”)
- Diaries:
- “Diaries 1910-1923” (“Tagebücher 1910-1923”)
This list is not exhaustive, as Kafka wrote numerous other letters, fragments, and shorter pieces. Some of his works were destroyed, either by Kafka himself or by others after his death, so the full extent of his writings is unknown.