Reviews

Amerika by Franz Kafka

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msgtdameron's review against another edition

hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a weird work, but were talking about Kafka? It reads as if Kafka put all his travel log, news papers, and a few American works; specifically Upton Sinclairs, The Jungle. Since Kafka never traveled further than France, this makes sense. To start, Karl, our Main character has the serendipitous good fortune to meet his wealthy, Senator, businessman uncle: who takes young Karl in. Second after falling in with thieves he escapes and finds himself through good luck a position as a liftboy, elevator operator. His luck (?) continues to be both good and then bad all the rest of the way through the work. I was glad for the end as Karl seems to finally get a position that he will be happy and kept on at. The getting there to this final place left me, as I felt in Dry be Shusterman, feeling "How much more pain can poor Karl go through". SO it left me with a warm fuzzy. Great work. Great look at a fiction of what America could have been.

bruinuclafan's review against another edition

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3.0

Poor Karl Rossman is shipped to America from Germany after a sexual misadventure with a housemaid. Things look promising when he arrives, but his situation deteriorates through a series of increasingly absurd scenarios.

I liked the book, and I love Kafka's writing. The only ding against it is that these sorts of books are generally hard to read for me, since nothing good is ever happening to the main character.

mak99's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

riorda15's review against another edition

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4.0

Dense but the genius is clear. The way Kafka write the injustice and confusion of bureaucratic situations is so True and easy to identify with.

ekp10's review against another edition

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3.0

Not sure how I feel about it. As always, Kafka is a great storyteller. His story is interesting and full of ups and downs. You expect the extreme when you started it and you got that. There was never once a boring moment when you read it, and it does makes you want to know more of the missing gaps. You care for the well being of the character and you get frustrated when he’s choosing something wrong.
I read that it’s supposed to be an exaggeration of America since Kafka himself has not spent time here. I guess it makes sense, because it’s highlighting those american experience in a grandiose way. From the politic campaign, obesity, servitude, and the theater of Oklahoma. Everything is quiet exaggerated yet still believable.
Buster Keaton -esque