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A review by sidharthvardhan
Investigations of a Dog by Franz Kafka
4.0
Not the best of Kafka. A satire on scientific methods and too much dependence on logic in order to discover the truth. The dogs are too unable to see presence of a higher intelligence in form of human beings; perhaps are unwilling to even think of it - just as human atheists are unwilling to see chance of existence of a higher intelligence than themselves.
Also perhaps Kafka is satirizing his own methods.
It is something that narrator said about the dogs not speaking which interest me. Kafka must have felt inadequacy of ability to communicate, something like narrator (Dog) also feels. Whenever I try to imagine Kafka in my mind, I see a guy who has big ideas in his mind and is frustrated because he is unable to communicate them. If you have read his novels specially 'The Castle' you would recall the long monologues people get into in trying to understand things - analyzing, assuming, postulating, concluding, than conditioning their own conclusions. Now you may be like this is not how people talk in real life - but that is Kafka's entire point. His Dog complains dogs won't talk, speak out what they all know and hence keep knowledge stays limited. People, Kafka believes, are also like those dogs - they know the things worth talking about (may be he is giving too much credit to us) They may go around gossiping, fighting etc. but won't, perhaps are unable, to talk about real ideas.
Also perhaps Kafka is satirizing his own methods.
It is something that narrator said about the dogs not speaking which interest me. Kafka must have felt inadequacy of ability to communicate, something like narrator (Dog) also feels. Whenever I try to imagine Kafka in my mind, I see a guy who has big ideas in his mind and is frustrated because he is unable to communicate them. If you have read his novels specially 'The Castle' you would recall the long monologues people get into in trying to understand things - analyzing, assuming, postulating, concluding, than conditioning their own conclusions. Now you may be like this is not how people talk in real life - but that is Kafka's entire point. His Dog complains dogs won't talk, speak out what they all know and hence keep knowledge stays limited. People, Kafka believes, are also like those dogs - they know the things worth talking about (may be he is giving too much credit to us) They may go around gossiping, fighting etc. but won't, perhaps are unable, to talk about real ideas.