A Hunger Artist
Ratings12
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings12
Average rating4.3
The last book published during Kafka's lifetime, A Hunger Artist (1924) explores many of the themes that were close to him: spiritual poverty, asceticism, futility, and the alienation of the modern artist. He edited the manuscript just before his death, and these four stories are some of his best known and most powerful work, marking his maturity as a writer. In addition to "First Sorrow," "A Little Woman," and "Josephine, the Singer," is the title story, "A Hunger Artist," which has been called by the critic Heinz Politzer "a perfection, a fatal fulfillment that expresses Kafka's desire for permanence." The three volumes Twisted Spoon has published: Contemplation, A Country Doctor, and A Hunger Artist represent the collections of stories that Kafka had published during his lifetime. Though each volume has its own distinctive character, they have most often appeared in English in collected editions. They are presented here as separate editions, in new translations, each with its own illustrator from the Prague community.
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August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
This story hits differently when you know Kafka was dying of starvation while he was writing this book.
Was Franz Kafka writing about his own life when he wrote this? A Hunger Artist is his last work and he died shortly after editing it.
This is a story of a man who lives his life in the moment through suffering. While he suffers he's given great attention. While he physically starves himself, the world feeds his ego. Until they don't, and he has forgotten how to stop suffering.
