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The Helmsman
"The Helmsman" (German: "Der Steuermann") is a short story by Franz Kafka, written sometime between 1917 and 1923. The story deals with a man who is deposed from his role as a helmsman and complains that his shipmates refuse to help him regain his rightful position. Plot summary The story begins with a struggle between the helmsman, who narrates, and a stranger who refuses to accept his position, takes over the helm and drives the narrator away. The helmsman goes to his shipmates to complain and get their help, but, although they agree that he is the true helmsman, they seem to be hypnotized by the stranger, and do nothing to drive him away. When the stranger tells them not to disturb him, they withdraw, leaving the narrator to wonder, "What kind of people are these? Do they ever think, or do they only shuffle pointlessly over the earth?" The story was not published in Kafka's lifetime. It first appeared in ''Beschreibung eines Kampfes'' (Prague: Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1936). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include the short story "The Metamorphosis" and novels ''The Trial'' and '' The Castle''. The term ''Kafkaesque'' has entered English to describe absurd situations, like those depicted in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class German-speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the capital of the Czech Republic. He trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal education was employed full-ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Stern (writer)
James Stern (26 December 1904 – 22 November 1993) was an Anglo-Irish writer of short stories and non-fiction. He was also known for his extensive letter writing and being a friend of the famous, Malcolm Cowley once remarked to Stern, “My God, you’ve known everybody, his wife, his boyfriend, and his natural issue!” Life and career The son of a British cavalry officer of Jewish descent and an Anglo-Irish Protestant mother, Stern was born in County Meath, Ireland, and educated at Wixenford School in the south of England. After working in Southern Rhodesia as a young man, he worked for his family's bank in London and Germany, which he loathed. He escaped to Paris, where he met his German wife Tania Kurella, whom he married in 1935. They moved to New York in 1939, returned to England in the early 1950s and in 1961 moved to Hatch Manor, in Wiltshire. His fiction includes ''The Heartless Land'' (1932); ''Something Wrong'' (1938); ''The Man who was Loved'' (1952); ''The Storie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schocken Books
Schocken Books is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works. Originally established in 1931 by Salman Schocken as Schocken Verlag in Berlin, the company later moved to Palestine and then the United States, and was acquired by Random House in 1987. History Schocken Books was founded in 1931 by Schocken Department Store owner Salman Schocken. Schocken has published the writings of Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Franz Kafka and S. Y. Agnon, among others. After being shut down by the Germans in 1939, Schocken, who immigrated from Germany to Palestine in 1934, founded the Hebrew-language ''Schocken Publishing House'' in Mandatory Palestine. Schocken moved to the United States in 1940. In 1945 he founded the English-language Schocken Books in New York City. In 1987 it was bought up by Random House. Schocken Books continues to publish Jewish literary works. Selected English publications Franz Kafka * ''The Trial'' * '' The Cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Kuper
Peter Kuper (; born September 22, 1958) is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations. Besides his contributions to the political anthology ''World War 3 Illustrated'', which he co-foundedNeil Gaiman, ed., The Best American Comics 2010 (Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), 321 in 1979 with Seth Tobocman, Kuper is currently best known for taking over ''Spy vs. Spy'' for ''Mad'' magazine. Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels which have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Slovenian and Greek, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka's '' Give It Up!'' and ''the Metamorphosis''. Early life Peter Kuper was born in Summit, New Jersey, and moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was six years old, where he graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1976. He lived in Israel with his parents in 1969–70. In 1970 Kuper and his childhoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Give It Up! (comics)
''Give It Up!'' is a comics adaptation of nine short stories by Franz Kafka drawn by Peter Kuper. In the introduction, by Jules Feiffer, Kuper's adaptations are described as "riffs, visual improvisations." The Stories * A Little Fable * The Bridge * Give It Up! * A Hunger Artist * A Fratricide "A Fratricide" (German: Ein Brudermord) is a short story by Franz Kafka written between December 1916 and January 1917. It is one of Kafka's most realistically descriptive and graphically violent stories, and tells the story of a murderer, Schmar ... * The Helmsman * The Trees * The Top * The Vulture References Kafka, Franz (Writer) and Peter Kuper (Illustrator). ''Give It Up! And Other Short Stories''. Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing. 1995. Adaptations of works by Franz Kafka {{comics-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
